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Upon arriving at their homebase, the three newcomers were agape in awe at the place. James and Navarro grinned secretly upon their reaction after all the work they put into restoration, the central meeting area well-lit and stocked with all amenities, the storefront fixed up to look invitingly cozy, and the rooms in the back all completely aired out of any dust and bugs. Not that there were any after only two months absence between clan ownership, but Fayne was first to speak on their new home's conditions. "What a wonderful little home!" "Thanks," said FG, "took a while to clean out but I think we did good on it." "Indeed kupo," said the moogle proudly. "Now, before anything, we must-" "I CALL MY ROOM!" Baldwin immediately raced down towards the bedroom hallway and grabbed the first room that felt suitable for him, joyful at seeing a single bed in it as he proclaimed his territory loudly to his clan on the other side of the hall. "THISSZH ONE ISSZH MINE! I CALL THISSZH ROOM!" "Oy," said Fayne eyes rolling, "Baldwin, could you not have WAITED before claiming-" "NOPE! WE'RE NOT SSZHARIN' ROOMSSZH ANYMORE NOW, FINALLY!" "What do you mean by that?!" "YOU SSZHNORE LIKE A DIRESAUR!" "I HAVE A DEVIATED SSZHEPTUM YOU OAF!" James and Navarro looked at each other secretly as the bishop stomped his way over towards the brother hiding in his new room, with Dahlia left behind in the confusion looking around softly. "Well...I would be happy with any room I'm given so long as it's nice and clean." "No worry about that," said FG gladly, "the whole place got cleaned top to bottom so go pick and choose before Fayne decides for ya." "OH...dear, are there limited spaces?" "No," said Navarro, "there are ten rooms back there to accommodate yourself with so pick what you wish, kupo." "Thank you! But I would like to wait until we are done with...whatever you were about to speak before Baldwin interrupted." "Hm. James." "I'm on it." The raptor walked over to the room where the sound of two brothers came from raucously, seeing the bishop struggling to break free from the armlock his brother had forced him into underneath the left arm. "U-UNHAND ME!" roared Fayne. "NOPE!" replied Baldwin. "Not until you sszhay it!" "I will do NOTHING of the sszhort you-GUUUH!" "What wasszh that?! I couldn't hear you over my musszhles groping your neck like thisszh!" "HNNNNGH!" "Guys." James' call from the door did not stop them until he raised his voice. "GUYS!" The monk turned slowly pulling Fayne's head along with him as they both faced FG, the raptor putting his foot down adding: "We need to talk business so uh can you delay your little bitch fight until we're done talking?" "B-but he-" "Noooooo I'm not gonna get into this, just come on out over to the table now, and you can start sorting out who's bigger than the other afterwards, okay?"

Being talked down to like schoolchildren set them in their place as Baldwin unhooked his arm from round the bishop's neck, standing up haughtily whilst making their way back towards the table for their first real talk as Clan Koridai. James sat alongside Rocino on her right, the moogle staring at the two bangaa brothers from directly across the table opposite her, with Dahlia sitting on James' right and also Fayne's left. The moogle began her minutes. "Firstly, I must say that we have performed exceedingly well concerning our first operation together, kupo. Spoolworth manor is free of its misery, the book was recovered, and madame Matoya was very pleased by our performance." "What did I tell you?" proclaimed Baldwin. "Busszhtin' ghosszhtszh makesszh me feel good." "Secondly, we now must turn our business towards the profit divisionary, kupo." She hoisted up the large sack of coins from the old woman. A sizeable profit indeed that made both bangaas glint sweetly in their eyes at the small peek of gold shining through the very top, as Navarro continued adding: "As deputy and clan treasurer I oversee any and all financial transactions concerning our holdings, but you will have freedom over your allowances. Dahlia, as white mage and chief healer, you will have thirty-percent of the main profit we take." "M-m-me?!" asked the white mage. "Thirty?! Oh my that, that's quite a bit." "Fayne and Baldwin, since you are together always you can take twenty-percent of the main profit between you, kupo." "Woah woah woah TWENTY!?" cried Baldwin. "Yanno there'sszh TWO of usszh here, we only get ten each!" "I will hold forty percent of the profit," said Navarro unabated, "as being the treasurer, whilst our leader James shall generously only take ten percent." "...OKAY!" The monk immediately had a problem sitting up with hands placed on the table, leaning forwards dominantly. "Quesszhtion number one, who'sszh ACTUALLY the leader here?!" "I am," said FG, "I approved of this plan before we brought you all in, this was all agreed." "Not by usszh clearly! Twenty, TWENTY persszhent, no no no nononono-no I am NOT sszharing that little with my brother, do you realisszhe you have two very important people here?! Dignitariesszh of the great cathedral!" "And so it begins," said the moogle drolly. "The first one to start asking for more are the priesthood." "That'sszh not the point!" "Oh, the tithe is not the point is it? That's new, kupo." "No need for that," said Fayne the bishop, "we can barter without...snide commentary on our background and if I may interject, twenty in all truth may not be enough to cover our...cost-over the journey we may have together. There are, like my brother noted, two here, we cannot divide that little between...us." "How much DO you wish, kupo?"

The two bangaas briefly conferred with one another over the course of fifteen seconds, nodding before Fayne turned back to reply: "Thirty." "...we are not able to-" "I-i could," added Dahlia, "um..." The moogle turned towards the white mage who softly flicked her ears before being allowed to speak, pushing up her bifocals. "I don't QUITE need thirty percent truly, I could gladly ask for twenty alone." "You are our main healer," said Rocino, "you will need the extra gil concerning your cost in ethers and such for your magical replenishment, kupo." "B-but, we won't be using my magic THAT much, surely we do not plan on getting hurt that often, aren't we?" "No." Navarro turned towards Baldwin noteably implying by her next words. "But it is early days yet." "W-well um," added Dahlia, "also, if I may miss...Rocino, I-you have two people here actually capable of casting Cura, I know for a fact that the bishop class covers Cura as its most basic learning due to...um...I hope I do not mean badly but-" "The bangaa problem of orthoepy yes," said Fayne nodding, "you know of my academia, madame...Orosco?" "I do, um, if I may, I do not mean to offend but, bangaa are very rare to see in magic circles due to um...pronunciation, orthoepy as you said, and due to not having as much resources normally, the bishop classes tend to...um...h-how can I put this? Diminish the level of learning in terms of how many variants you can learn, is that correct?" "You are correct," replied the bishop, "I did not learn the beginning level and...instead I learnt of Cura which took me a great length to learn by...its own merit through a...most...simple-act that a regular learning curve would have taught me." "Precisely," reiterated Dahlia, "and that is why I should not be given thirty percent, if that is alright to say miss Rocino, because firstly as I have said before, you actually have two healers with you and secondly...it would actually balance things out so that all three of us earn a twenty percent profit, and you as clan treasurer shall then deal with the majority of our profit still. Is that...um...f-forgive me but I wanted to...note...that." Navarro noted this and whilst she felt unnervedly miffed about being a little upstaged by a knowledgeable mage, she understood her reasoning. However an incident came up in her mind adding: "What if an enemy annulled your magic, such as with what happened to Fayne kupo? That Gazer took his entire magic out in one fell swoop." "And that is MORE reason he should have equal profit as me!" said Dahlia in a sudden burst of zeal. "I-if...um...it is just that if one of us, either of us, have more gil than the other and the one who has less is suddenly left without magic strength, then what next?! I think it would be very dangerous if that thing should happen again a-and if I may, I think personally, this is just my opinion mind you, that all three of us should earn a twenty percent profit so that neither of us are at a...disadvantage. Forgive me, m-miss Navarro."

Despite her wilting confidence and awkward thumbs rolling across each other constantly as she nervously tried to not freak and curl into a ball from pure shame, Navarro noted that her logic was indeed sound. It would also help quell any potential dissent on the first day as she nodded, saying: "I agree that this is a more acceptable plan, kupo. That and the two of you have proven to be exceptional healers from how well we handled our first mission. Very well, we shall rebalance our division of profit to be twenty percent towards Miss Orosco, Sir Fayne and Sir Baldwin equally. Is that agreed with you, James?" "Fine by me," said FG, "I think that's a perfect idea, thank you Dahlia." She blushed hotly with a smile and nodded happily at Fayne who in turn nodded humbly with gratitude. Baldwin however winked with a thumbs up to her, making her giggle before Navarro opened up the bag of gil and counted it up coldly. Splitting the profit as agreed, Fayne, Baldwin and Dahlia got their share first, with James handed a smaller stack of oval-shaped gold coins as Navarro kept most of it back for herself. James wasn't quite sure still how much he actually had but said nothing further as Rocino added: "Moving on to second matters, kupo. Now we must concern ourselves with obtaining new missions, so I hope that you three are good at keeping ears sharp for anything new." "I hear many a tale," said Fayne gladly, "amongst-the clergy which I can obtain that will allow our clan to procure our mark more...swiftly." "I know plenty good barsszh," added Baldwin too eagerly, "lotsszh of rumoursszh fly around there, an' I know who'sszh talkin' baldersszhack an' who won't be." "I-i..." began Dahlia, "don't really know any good places to hear on new quests I'm...sorry." "That's alright," said FG, "long as you're willing to help we'll all do our best." "O-OH, maybe you should buy something to help with your weakness to lightning, mister James." "...do I even have enough money for that?" "I-i don't...know, if you want I could take you to some places I know that give some very good bargains." "Heh, taking me out for clothes shopping? ...sure, why not, helps me plenty for future stuff so, me and Dahlia'll just check the scene for any rumours while we're out shopping." "Very well," said the moogle, "do not take long, if I need you I will send for you kupo." With nothing else to do James headed off with Dahlia down to the districts whilst the market was still open, taking advantage of fine wares and garments to give him some sort of idea on new protection. James was enjoying the life of the city, the fair ongoing as the nu-mou lead him to various stalls that she knew quite well, mainly concerning staffs and robes and accessories. The first thing she tried showing him were various hats ranging from colourful bandannas to skullcaps to fine fanciful headgear, none of which quite fit FG just well enough.

Next they moved onto robes, most of which were rather thick and cumbersome and as such did not suit him well, making him more resemble some bizarre-coloured sushi roll than anything else. Despite finding the perfect resistant material in the form of a Thunder Robe, a striking flash of yellow with blue underneath, he felt somewhat trapped by it, ensnared like a rabbit in a hunter's catch as he decided: "I'm not REALLY feeling the robe look on me, it makes me feel slow and fat." "That's okay," replied Dahlia, "we can find you something more slimming, there are plenty of other designs to work with." "Well yeah but...I look like a puffed-up gangster, I feel like there's too much bling on this plus I feel REALLY warm in itwhich kinda makes me feel tired." "Um...I don't QUITE know what you mean by a gangster but if you are not comfortable in it then let's try something else." "Sorry..." He slipped off the robe cautiously before putting it back on the stall's hook rack. "I just feel wrong wearing something on my chest, I kinda LIKE this look I have. That reminds me, Navarro wanted me to upgrade my armour someday." "Really?" "Well yeah I mean...this is practically falling to pieces." He tapped on his leather armour which clearly made him look more like a desert raider than anything else. Belt straps and poor tanning of another blistering desert sun from far away had not done him any favours, and he started to look at his wallet cautiously for what else he could obtain. Eventually, they made their way towards the light-armour stalls looking over a variety of leather garbs, vestments, brigandines, martial art outfits and chainmail all in a row that both fascinated him and also made him nostalgic. Dahlia was not in need of anything in particular, but she did keep an eye out for accessories alongside as James walked through the stalls investigating various vests. Soon the nu-mou returned asking: "Have you found anything yet mister James?" "Noooo not really, you?" "Well I...there was this beautiful set of ruby earrings but they were awfully expensive." "Aww...hey I uh, barely noticed the one you already have, that piercing?" "Oh, this?" She touched her right ear showing the black-baubled gemstone that glinted darkly in the light. "It's nothing really." "It looks nice, what is it?" "Just a piercing n-nothing special." "Alrighty...ooooh, this looks neat." "Hmm?"

James pointed over towards a rather gorgeous-looking sash, red like blood and part of a long-sleeved dark-blue outfit that made it somewhat resemble a kimono except that it only went down to the waist. Feeling along the hem of it, a fond memory came back to him on the last time he wore such a kimono. It was even at a stall like this one as he chuckled softly, sighing to himself happily asking: "I like this one, what's it called?" "That's a power sash I believe," said Dahlia, "actually...yes!" "Huh?" "Those are resistant to lightning, they have material woven into them to make them such, this is perfect for you! And it's for fighters too!" "Aw man really?! Awwww that's great, um scuse me!" The stallholder turned upon hearing James, a dark-skinned hume with a tanned leather apron. "Yes?" "How much is the sash?" "Ahhhh, that's about seven-thousand gil." "S-seven thousand? ...uh..." James looked feebly upon his wallet, murmuring to himself as Dahlia helped him, asking her quietly: "How much I got there?" "Three-thousand," she mumbled shyly. "Damn that's not a lot...I mean, it SOUNDS like a lot but-" "It's alright, why not get something else?" "Hmmm yeah...oooh actually." He looked up and saw amongst the clothes a rather sturdy-looking vest that more resembled an old bulletproof gentleman's shirt complete with leather-strap front and pockets to match, a fine-looking garment that intrigued him. "Iiii don't have enough for the sash but what about that vest?" "Ah," said the salesman, "the survival vest, offers a very sturdy defence to the body, very good at resisting sudden impacts." "Really?" "Oh yes, this is finely-woven cotton but it has been reinforced with such thickness that it creates an impermeable defence, a very fine choice for the light-armoured traveller." "What is its defence gradient?" asked Dahlia. "Thirty." "Ooooh that's good, that's really good." "How much?" asked FG. "Two-thousand-five-hundred." "Oh I am so buying that I'll take it!" "Would you like to trade in your armour as well for a reduced price?" "I can do that?" "Oh yes, if your armour is worth something." "I um...well I'm not sure it is but...can I take it off here?" "Of course."

He quickly disconnected the brahmin-leather armour off of him, fully slipping off its straps and feeling free for the first time in quite a while after feeling the thick well-worn stock against his scaled flesh. The hume took it and investigated it cautiously, finding it rather fascinating as he rubbed his hands over the various grooves and toughened thickness asking: "What hide is this?" "Brahmin, it's um...a species of cattle from far away." "I have never seen a leather like this, it's very...unusual but it seems rather poor in its tanning." "Yeaaaaah um the place I went to wasn't the best for it, I just needed something simple to wear." "I see...the quality is not good but the actual leather seems rather fascinating...very thick though, nice and sturdy I could make some nice armlets out of this, maybe a few boots even though I am not sure on its effects." "All I can tell you is that you won't find hide like that anywhere else." "No certainly...I will buy this for...seven-hundred gil, so I will need only eighteen-hundred gil from you for the vest." "Sounds good to me, you got a deal!" Gladly giving away his old armour the raptor paid his new price and tried on the survival vest. The leather straps on its front acted like buttons to go through opposite holes which allowed him to tighten or loosen it at his pleasure. It kept his arms free and was surprisingly snug on his body without being restrictive, gladly walking off with a lightened wallet. "Wow this feels great!" "It looks lovely on you!" replied Dahlia. "You look like such a gentleman mister James." "Hahahaha, damn it MUST look good on me, feels like a waistcoat." "It resembles one certainly." "Nice pockets too, I kinda like having pockets...hmmmmm..." A strange wistfulness came over him as he dug his hands into said pockets and felt around briefly to get used to them, the nu-mou noticing a far-off look in James' eyes. "...is something wrong mister James?" "No just...last time I went shopping like this was with a friend of mine, only she was usually the one buying...or modelling." "Modelling?" "Yeah I knew a girl that was a model for clothes." "OH, goodness who was she?! Do I know her?" "No, not really, she was...back from where I came from." The look of regret that creeped upon FG's face told Dahlia not to speak further on the matter as she nodded calmly and said nothing more, asking instead: "What size are your feet?" "Huh?" "Or...oh, goodness you don't wear boots do you mister James?" "You can stop calling me mister, just James please. And no I don't wear boots, I never do." "Alright...would you perhaps like to see some accessories? I know this cute little moogle who has a wonderful stall just down there for-" "DAHLIAAAA OROSCOOOOO!"

The sound of her name being shrieked from down the market had her leap in her skin, gasping as she turned with sudden flinch upon noticing who it was. A blue mage that James almost instantly recognised from being seen earlier today. The extravagantly blue hat and cyan cloak with stars and moons along with a purple undercape flowing sleekly from behind him, it was only then that James noticed the toothpaste-white hair and milky blemish of his hume cheeks, a prominent nose that was ripe for turning away with disdain as Dahlia whimpered. "You know this guy?" asked FG. "N-n-no...not really." "YOUUUU," cried the blue mage, "have a debt to pay TRISTAN and it is time to COLLECT!" "Wh-what?! What are you talking about?!" "Don't play games with the GRRREAT and POWERFUL TRISTAN, you humiliating little cur!" "Wh-stop it! I have no idea what you're talking about!" "Don't you remember?! Mage college, fifteen years ago, Tristan was at the top of the class and had been for a good four years running! Until YOU came." "Wh-wh-what?!" Dahlia was getting tearful, cowering halfway behind James who looked on with distaste. "YOU had the gall to upstage, to usurp the great Tristan from his worthy position amongst cabbalistic academia!" "Cabbage-istic-what?" murmured FG. "And now shall be the day, when your cloak shall fall to the ground sullied with the dirt of defeat, just as this cloak was!" Tristan sweeped his blue cloak to signify this as dust flurried against the stalls, the people backing off as they realised that a showdown was evident. Dahlia however was even more against wanting to make a scene and hid behind the raptor fully, crying out: "I-i never did anything! You're just a...a...pushy little showoff, a bully! I did nothing but show you were wrong, that you made mistakes you could fix but you were too proud to admit it!" "WRONG?! TRISTAN IS NEVER WRONG!" "You FAILED the class and I tried to help you, but you wouldn't let me!" "I DID NOT FAIL! I NEVER FAILED, YOU SABOTAGED ME YOU WITCH!" "OKAY THAT'S IT!" roared FG. "YOU are out of line, shut the FUCK UP cuz if you got nothing to prove, you do not get to insult my friend!" "And who are YOU!?" "James Campbell, now stop this shit or else I'll make you!" "HAH! HAHAHAHAHA, and what are YOU going to do about it?! Do you have any idea what this, this, harlot of haberdashery has DONE to this eminence before you?! A crime unpunished of which Tristan shall SURELY correct this day!" "You'll do nothing unless I tell you to, now back off!" "...and how willing are you to advocate for her?" "Willing enough to smack your punk-ass face to the next castle."

The crowd "ooooh"ed with intrigue at this, the blue mage snarling with lip curled before walking two paces back, smirking openly with a shake of his head. "Hmhmhmhm...you could hardly touch this face, not with the insurmountable power that rests in these fingertips." "I got more power in one finger than you do in your entire body." "What did you say?!" "You heard me." "...you are a mage? YOU?! HAH! Tristan LAUGHS at your pathetic act, where are your garments, your aura, you have NOTHING!" "Is that so? Then maybe you wanna test that out on the open square like your demonstrations? I'll give you a real test of magic." "What are you propositioning?" "If you can take me down with your magic, then Dahlia's got to pay whatever you want. But if I take YOU down...you never bother her again, and if I see you again flaunting your crappy magic show around here again turning ladies into frogs I'm going to beat your face so hard that it's going to look even more blue than that stupid hat." Even more did the crowd start showing interest in a magical throwdown, watching the raptor who clearly was not suited for magic as far as they knew. But Tristan was confident, chuckling abhorrently at the prospect and clapped his hands together. "Very well! Tristan shall agree to this if you'll so follow him to the arena! Bring your money." With a swish of his cape he turned and walked towards the main square, the crowd following along with FG and Dahlia who crouched swiftly into his shadow as he reassured her, the girl asking: "A-a-are you sure about this James?" "Don't worry," replied FG, "I'll show this little shit how to treat people." "B-but...what if he-" "He won't win, I promise that." "You...you didn't have to do this, I...I'm sorry." "Don't be...I never knew how to walk away from a fight." He said this with a smirk of small foolish pride to himself as he stepped up onto the main square, or rather a raised platform of such that Tristan had been using previously for demonstrations upon the crowd unwitting. The people gathered round as James noticed it big enough to be a boxing ring if one wanted, except without ropes as the blue mage flexed his fingers with a spark of magic haughtily from his nails. James simply flexed his own fingers as if to taunt him back, cracking the knuckles with a small spark of blue nanofire from them showing he was ready. "You will rue this day," said Tristan confidently, "the day you ever crossed the Great and Powerful Halfmoon himself shall be the day you never want to remember." "Oh I already am," said FG, "I just wish I could forget ever looking at that punchable face." "HMMPH, a typical brute, a true mage such as yours truly does not NEED to touch irksome opponents. Not when one has magic for that." "Trust me, I don't wanna touch you in a thousand years. Course I bet you hear that all the time from ladies so-" "ENOUGH TALK! Now we begin our confrontation, an invocation of duelling staffs!" "Uhhh yeah I don't need a staff and you don't have one either so just shut up and fight alright?"

The mage swept out his hand with his first attack, a sudden spurt of black acid from his palm that slathered across the field like crude oil which James swiftly leapt over, dodging the sudden rain before repelling it by a gust of wind. Summoning a small gale, he flew it up into the air to fade away as the acid dissipated from its magical core as Tristan readied his next attack. He replied with his own hurricane that sent a whirling of hats and cloaks fluttering across the crowd, shrieks of surprise as the raptor was now buffeted by the winds. The force of the small tornado, which literally trapped James within its central spout, slammed him back and forth violently enough to feel rather bruised as he spun and spiralled insanely fast, turning dizzy by the moment. Once the twister had stopped, he was back on his feet somewhat bruised and shaking at the knees, clearing his head free as he tried his own trick. Striking a spout of water across the field, he smacked the blue mage across the face with a wet splash as he cried with outrage at being soaked. But the raptor followed up with a shot of ice that crackled brutally across the puddled streak before Tristan even realised, blistering his skin and freezing his cloak sleeves sharply to the point of turning brittle like glass. Crying out with an intense cold breath, he snarled and rubbed his arms furiously as best he could in a puddle of ice before a deep glower burnt through his eyes at FG. With a sudden magic stare of soul-piercing awe, his eyes darkened red as he murmured a spell. James was trapped like a rabbit in headlights, suddenly finding his legs had a will of their own as he turned ungainly, his mind clouded by an alien force of confusion. Groaning as he stumbled across the battlefield, it was all the time the mage needed to free himself from his icy trappings, raw white crystals ensnared across his feet. "JAMES!" Dahlia cried out to him as he spun wildly towards the voice, the crowd nothing but a blur of brown and yellow as he panted with struggle to focus. He saw a staff shaking in the air indicating where she was before she was right in front of him, looking down before she mumbled: "Esuna confusio!" With a glimmer of whitish-green from her staff, the raptor suddenly found his vision clearing, panting with relief as the world turned back to focus once more seeing the nu-mou smile beneath him. "Hooo...th-thanks girl." "Be careful! Don't let him look at you, he has the Stare ability!" "I won't thanks." "LOOK OUT!"

Turning back just in time, the raptor dodgerolled swiftly before the sudden blast of vile black breath permeated past his vision, a belching furore from the mage's lips as he cackled hoarsely from his casting. It smelt like poison, along with plenty other bad things that James was lucky not to have been hit, before a new kind of magic was unleashed now upon him. The blue mage unveiled eight pronged deadly rays of electric blue summoned from his back, that shot down like missiles upon FG whilst crying: "MATRA MAGIC!" The raptor did everything he could to dodge the shots, rolling, blasting wind from underneath, even using his own gust of power to shoot one off-course and almost hit the crowd who scattered with fright. Like fireworks they screamed, shearing across the air like a knife across whetstone as he evaded perfectly with shots of wind from his hands coming forth. With an opening now made, he rushed forwards with a sudden slap of water across Tristan's face to stun him, then summoned a volley of fireballs from both hands to blast like small grenades upon the mage's face, shoulders and chest. Tristan cried out and stumbled backwards, the flaming assault not hot enough to burn through his clothes but it charred them greatly enough. He had to even stop a moment to pat out the fires growing on his blackened cloak, shouting: "AAAGH AAA-AAAGH! YOU INSOLENT LITTLE TRASH, THAT'S IT! YOU TAKE TRISTAN'S DIGNITY, NOW HE SHALL TAKE YOUR_LIFE!_" Rushing forwards all of a sudden, the blue mage slapped his hand upon FG's vest and pulsed a dark energy forth from his fingers. Before the raptor could even push him back, a sudden touch of weakness had come upon him as if trying to absorb a part of him, sucking the life out of him as Tristan's hand covered itself in smouldering dark-purple. But then came something unexpected. The draining touch started to fail, flickering out as something suddenly repelled the mage's fingers, as if rejected violently before being pushed back by some unknown force. "WH-WHAT!?" "Heh," said FG, "you call that a bad touch?" "B-but...HOW!? How can you resist such dark magic?!" "I dunno, it's magic, you don't gotta explain shit. Like this." The raptor brought up his right arm, which unbeknownst to Tristan had suddenly become a green metallic cannon that charged with a hot white intensity before firing off a shot. The magician shrieked, trying to bring up a protective spell just in time but not quick enough as that old familiar feeling now came upon him. Ice, bright and piercing cold to the very soul as the "gladiator" spellblade brought forth a blasting shot of ice that permeated the mage entirely, crackling, covering, almost a living thing that encased him fully. Tristan was perfectly trapped in a most embarrassing posture, hand reared back, mouth open with fear and eye still moving from within struggling to look around at the audience upon him. James dissassembled the cannon off his arm and walked simply to the blue mage, before bowing with hand proposed to him as if demonstrating a new art piece.

"What's the matter, FROZEN with stage fright?" A smirk came feverishly over the audience as he grinned with ideas. "Seriously though it was very ice to meet you." Smiles broke into giggling. "Oh, so now you're gonna give me the cold shoulder, okay then." Giggling became laughter. "I mean I DID wash your clothes...you know, after the ice melts, there'll be some shrinkage obviously, that's no reason to be so FRIGID!" Laughter became raucous slowly building up from the audience infectiously, their maddening chortles and pointing fingers upon the poor mage trapped on the stage, the raptor bowing and humiliating him thusly. "Anyone want some ice tea?! The T is for TRISTAN!" Screams of mirth came from the people who began clapping with amusement as James danced around his new sculpture, even Dahlia began giggling with bashful fits before chuckling happily. All whilst this was happening, the mage began building an energy of sheer hatred inside of him at FG, glaring at him. Darkening his stare into something worse as burning rage pumped from his being unbeknownst. "You know something, you look just like a fly in an ice cube! You're in bad taste, nobody thinks you're funny, and no one appreciates you at a party." Dahlia however noticed this and saw Tristan's reactions turn fiendishly violent, the ice starting to melt sleekly as James spun around crowing with victory. Her laughter started to fade away as worryingly the sculpture shook near FG, the crowd rampant with squeals of laughter. "Mister James?" "Snow wonder you're so eager to be on the stage!" "I-i think you should stop." "You'e a hume popsicle!" "P-please stop!" "Pretty cold reception you got on your first time here HUH?!" "J-JAMES LOOK OUT!" Seeing he was caught up in his showboating, the white mage ran up onto the stage and grabbed him by the arm feverishly dragging him away from the now-burning mound of ice on central stage. A fiery murmur was thickening within the cold crackling through, dark steam like a barrel of gunpowder set freely alight before hearing Tristan's voice. "_RrrrrrrrrrRRRR RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! _" An explosion deafened everyone in the city square, brilliantly blinded by whitish-red as James was pulled down to the ground by Dahlia just near the steps of the main platform. Sweeping hot winds flew over their heads as the audience was taken back by the force, knocked down by the first two rows but not badly wounded. The slight ringing in his ears along with the smell of powdered spark, was a familiar feeling that worried him as slowly the people stood up frightened. In the centre of the stage, standing within a black ring of burnt residue, was a ragged burnt blue mage whom half of his clothes were stripped and torn apart like a wild beast had come to him. His eyes were empty, lost without emotion as only disbelief had come into his voice now blankly muted. "Great...an' powerful...uuuuuhhhh..."

Falling backwards with his eyes rolling upwards, the blue mage Tristan completely KO'd himself fully as unconsciousness took him. It was a blessing because it allowed him not to hear the cheering of the crowd for FG, who stood up and took a bow along with Dahlia who he pulled up by the hand as if announcing a winner. The two bowed in turn at their fine performance, as Tristan was taken away gladly by the medical services who noted thankfully that he just needed some time to recover and only a few first-degree burns were of any serious infliction. As the people began departing after having had their fill of entertainment for the day, one person continued clapping when all had been said and done. A familiar-looking moogle, wry with bemusement on her honed neutral face, brigandine armour as James and Dahlia looked rather nervously at the ground like children caught in the act. The moogle stopped clapping and slowly walked up towards them saying "That...was quite an exhibition. "Uhhhhh...h-heyyyyy there," said FG cautiously. "How...long were you stood there?" "Long enough to see you avoid his bad breath, kupo." "Uhhm...s-sorry, I didn't mean-" "It was my fault!" said Dahlia rashly. "I-he-that mage was, he was trying to settle a score with me, unfairly, thought he could accuse me of his failings at college when I was in the same class as him, an-" "No," said Rocino. "No apology necessary, I most greatly enjoyed it." "Wh-what?" "Such a display of ridicule upon one deserving was worth well seeing, my only regret is I did not pay for it, kupo." FG smirked at this before simply grinning like a boy proven right. "Well I mean...you COULD pay me if you like." "No, you have your ten percent." "Right." She nodded firmly as she turned back to walk towards the clan base, with James and Dahlia following in suit before seeing that both bangaa brothers had not returned from what they assumed was their own exploration of any missions they could take. They waited for the time being, watching the clock tick on the wall for twenty minutes as Navarro wrote through some various documents, authenticating various things at the central table whilst Dahlia read from a book, sitting on a cozy armchair off in a corner for reading near the bookshelf. James had found a child's book off the shelf and was slowly reading through it, working through the alphabet trying to memorise basic verbs and nouns as he seated himself on the floor beside the nu-mou's chair. Dahlia turned over to him softly before saying: "I um, forgot to say um, James...thank you for defending me." "Heh, no prob," said FG, "you're in my clan, I'll take care of you." "Th-thank you...but I wouldn't want you to be ingratiated to me just becau-" "You are in our clan," said the moogle turning round, "we will take care of you with our very life." "...thank you."

Dahlia blushed hotly and let him get back to his reading, before at least twenty more minutes later, the bangaa brothers had returned with a few sheets of paper roughly gathered up in the bishop's hands. "We're baaaaaaaaack!" cried Baldwin. "Heeeeeeey!" said FG sitting up. "Any news?" "Oh yesszh, plenty good newsszh, I found a few offersszh down at the bar for sszhome pesszhtszh an' rodentsszh that need cleaning out, along with sszhome rare game." "And I have...perused the churchesszh-mmph for a good endeavour or two." "Excellent," replied the moogle, "hand them here on the table kupo." The two bishops placed them down in front of Navarro before sitting across from her, putting her papers to one side and slowly poring over the various flyers and posters of wanted tasks to complete. The monk noticed James' new gear and smiling at him with a fingergun point. "Niiiiiiicsszhe gear friend." "Thanks!" "Where'dya get it?" "Dahlia found it for me, she saw a stall with some armour on it, this thing's good for shock impacts." "Good good, I wasszh kinda worried about you not wearing any chesszht armour yanno? Sszheemed kind of risszhky." "Agreed," said Fayne, "I am more confident on our leader now. Well then...miss-Navarro, what current endeavour are we going to pick...thus-firstly?" James and Dahlia stood up walking over curiously towards the table watching Navarro pick, as did Fayne and Baldwin gather round to look at what new quests awaited them. The moogle glanced over each and every one before picking their second task as Clan Koridai, confident of their victory. "THIS...be our next task, kupo. Prepare your arms for we shall leave in twenty minutes. We cannot fail." "Alright let's DO THIS!" cried FG. And so, over the next few months they would do battle against many beasts and rogues across the land of Ivalice. Across every corner of the three continents, their swords rose high and their staffs turned bright amongst fists of fury and light against any foe that dared threaten the life of innocents. Their first battle, from a sweep of darkness, was to deal with a swarm of Zu upon a chocobo ranch to the south, a vile birdlike creature with the blunted head of a shark and not a single feather upon their bodies, slithering across the air by thin membranous silver wings.

Ambushed at night, the clan stood ready within the ranch enclosure as the creatures dove violently towards them, shrieking like harbingers of death before the raptor summoned a mighty hurricane to force them back. Navarro joined suit, spiralling upwards through the tornado like a ballerina as her sword spun alongside her, slicing through silver flesh, like gutting fish as the Zu tried to devour her. Baldwin was on point, readily striking out a forceful shockwave from his powered fists rending the air itself, to shatter across their very skulls, blinding and deafening them from the pressure and forced them away from Navarro. The moogle, hung within the air by the raptor's maelstrom, grappled onto one clawed foot before driving her sword upwards and eviscerated the monster's innards, blood spittling through the air like red ribbons as she kicked off from its corpse to decapitate the next beast upon her. Cut forwards to a week or two, a tomb dark and foreboding berneath the hot desert sands. An old familiar sense of rotting ruin and cold musty air came back towards James, staring upon fourteen skeletal warriors risen back from the dead, with blackened bone and glowering red eyes. Firing up his scissors amidst the darkened hall of crumbling pillars and sand-sweeped floor, the raptor charged at the horde readying his strike upon the apparent leader, a grimace left eternal upon his teeth as his old curved blade clashed hard against the burning tips. Dahlia and Fayne stood back to back with staffs united, pointing them towards the horde as they chanted holy incantation upon the battlefield, a grand whitish mist come permeating across the undead. Soft as moss with soothing calmness, it burned like acid upon the tenebrous dead as the skeletal army shivered and ached with utmost agony, upon the radiant light of gods. The horde split into three, one coming down upon the raptor who guarded solo by himself, striking with one cleaving swing of pure fire and wind that burnt shattering across four spinal columns in one blow. Navarro blocked one skeletal warrior from reaching the white mage and bishop, whilst Baldwin charged up his fists with the light of Faram itself, by a sudden prayer before cracking one skull clean off its body. When three more came upon him, he drove his fist hard into the very earth and roared a white blast of wind charring across the remains of their flesh, the power of the white monk destroying what unholy blood that still pulsed within them. In the midst of darkness the scene changes, a month passes as they find themselves at a dark sinister mire where most travellers had fallen to their fate. A carriage began sinking out across the swamp, screams of pained help from within as the raptor sweeped a path of ice across the dangerous water, from which no creature could ever escape once they set their foot into the lurking waters. His own watery mix came purified out from his nanofied hands as icy platforms stood perfect upon the swamp, like giant lily pads offering safety.

James ran first, moving with the water streak he made and constantly icing it over to create safe plateaus large enough for two people to support, with Fayne and Dahlia hurrying behind holding hands for safety. It was not long until they reached the carriage, the raptor breaking the door open as it remained above water before pulling out the survivors. They were weak and exhausted as well as full of poison, but the white mage and bishop soon brought them back to health, Dahlia casting Esuna whilst Fayne cast Cura in tandem so that they had the strength to walk back across the ice bridge. The carriage was lost, but not a single life had been left behind that night. Daylight dawned upon a new month, a gang of bangaa thieves came down upon a village armed with guns too far from any city to come rescue. The gang leader, a twisted stitch upon his snout threatened to take the daughter of the village mayor as payment without money, as the two met within the village square offering a deal. He grabbed at her arm, the woman covered by a thick cloak almost completely unseen as her scream was the signal to strike. A plasma shot suddenly out of nowhere completely crushed one bandit's head to a broken splatter of red and white. The leader cried out in shock at the unknown shooter, he tried to grab for the supposed daughter but found the cloak had swept off without warning. Baldwin's fist slipped out of the cloaksleeve before slamming straight into the bandit's gut, snapping the wind out of his lungs before a cracking uppercut broke through his scaled jaw, blood trickling down his neck as he stumbled back with shock. Almost immediately before the guards could take aim, the monk punched one rifle straight out of one's hand by a solid uppercut, before slamming him straight into a fruit cart parked nearby spilling cantaloupes everywhere. From the stall came Navarro, hidden behind its shade as she hopped through the cart expertly before landing only briefly upon a rolling melon. Then another, then a third as they rolled on towards the scene, bouncing with absurd agility before slicing across one bandit's throat, gargling screams of his last surprise before the raptor aimed his second shot, straight for the bandit leader's head. He barely had time to stagger back onto his feet before his head literally lost half its brain in a violent explosion, of pure plasma energy.

A shootout swordfight in a village square however was nowhere near as exciting as the next two weeks after that, when Dahlia had uncovered a mysterious arcane library in the kingdom of Nabradia. The great kingdom upon a lake, a fellow scholar had requested her assistance as they delved into the magic tomes offered to them as permissive for their task. Secrets unfolded, dark origins unrevealed until light shone brightly upon all five passageways of a forbidden library, hiding behind a newly-opened door no one had seen before. A puzzle requiring all five minds of the clan was made their task, the raptor entering the darkest halls and resisting the evil temptations of the most forbidden vile grimoires that pulsated with energy beckoning him to read their contents. Fayne became trapped in a labyrinthine passage formed constantly by one single book, amongst a dozen bookcases constantly shifting and rearranging all around him into an endless corridor cycling through until his senses harboured him to find and shut down the powers of the right tome causing it. Baldwin required nothing but the meditation of his clerical enlightenment to light the way by his many teachings, a hallway full of gemstones with only one mirror between them to reflect the light of the sun on all five of them. In a trick of destructive clarity, he broke the mirror into five pieces and had light reflect on all of its shards to open the path through successfully. Navarro was given a puzzle concerning the balance of weight on two pillars which was achieved in record time, and finally there was Dahlia, whose perfect memory of the tome that started all of this was the deciding factor that opened the way through, to bountiful knowledge untapped by the kingdom. Until now. In retrospect, this was perhaps not the most exciting adventure they ever had but the majority of the party thought it was. Dahlia's three along with Baldwin and Fayne against James and Navarro's two decided such so by democratic vote, it was unfortunately their most exciting journey as of yet.

It was now three months later, and so team Koridai were now officially in the city record books as a new formidable clan who could do anything they put their minds to. Word got around as their reputation slowly grew, as well-rounded, not as expensive as other groups and above all, a fine balance of both brain and brawn according to their official news report on them by the local herald. Navarro looked over the paper briefly whilst sitting at the conference table back at the homebase, asking: "Is this not redundant, kupo?" "Hmm?" asked James behind her. "Well-rounded they say at the beginning, but at the end they say a fine balance of both brain and brawn. Are those two not the same?" "Journalism can never be fully relied upon," answered Fayne reading at an armchair, "they do not educate but merely inform opinion." "Isn't that the same thing too?" replied FG nearby. "No, to educate would mean that you...expand-our knowledge of the known world for the greater good. To inform opinion, that would mean that you elaborate on your own view of the world for YOUR own good." "Ahhh...so basically bias?" "Correct." "You know we don't care about your saying S's all the time right, there's no need to avoid them." "I thank you for your...concern-but I cannot let my guard down for one moment in my training upon the vocal form. If I am to earn the dignity of my fellow clergymen, then I cannot be...seen...as-a degenerate." "Don' sszhay that word brother," said Baldwin from across the room, "you the sszhmartesszht one I know!" "Considering the company you have kept, that would not...surprise-me." "HAH, sszhithead." The monk was busily punching through imaginary opponents, briefly kicking dust to the air with each sweep of his foot after a few punch-thrusts straight for the solar plexus. His muscles stayed taut and thick even through the bandaged knuckles underneath, his usual clothes stripped to reveal nothing but the basic undergarment of shirt, boxers and taped knuckles as he swung his kick to above his head briefly before coming down like an axe hard. His brother simply turned the page on his book whilst James sat down beside him on the floor, asking as he read his children's book: "Where'd Dahlia go by the way?" "She went to take a nap," said Navarro unblinking, "that last mission had drained her strongly of her magic and she became rather exhausted kupo." "Fair enough." "I am glad we have a healer in our clan," said Fayne smiling, "even though I am a prelate, my form of magic in future will change towards...offensszhive capabilitiesszh." "Heh, almost got it." "D-don't, prithee." "Alright." "While we talk on magic, I am more intrigued by your own capability...James." "Yeah?"

The raptor looked up from where he was seated and closed his book, currently covering over basic animals in standard Ivalician as a starter guide on its script. "I have noted in our time together that your arm...occasionally-has a rather unique amber enchantment upon it." "Um...y-yeah?" "And I have, if I may...also-noted that you...oft-converse with it during that enchantment. Tell me, what element do you wield with that?" "Wwweeeeeellll...um this is gonna sound kinda weird." "More weird than you being immune to the dark element without any magic charm?" "Maybe, okay so...you guys ever heard of photography orrrrr video?" "Photography?" asked Fayne. "Yeah it's...okay you know paintings right? Well, what if someone could capture a moment like INSTANTLY? Without paint, but moving pictures." "Aaaahhhhh...Memstones." "Wait what?" "Is-that not what you meant? Memstones, you have one with you?" "...I...Navarro help me out here." "A memstone is a shard of magicite," said the moogle, "it can record sounds and visions by absorbing it into its structure and allowing others to witness events past, kupo." "W-wait, are you...serious?" "Do you think I am ever not?" They use magic stones to RECORD shit, asked FG to himself. Holy shit this place is WAY more advanced than I thought, what the hell?! "Sszhooooo?" replied Baldwin. "You have a memsszhtone or not?!" "Um...I guess I...do? It's kind of weird though to explain it. See, I have this...arm enchantment, let's call it that, that lets me record moments in history, my own history. Anything I want to remember for the future, I can record it on this." He showed his left arm and tapped in a small unseen sequence upon his left palm, glowing with orange beams circling around the top of his hand. Some hard light rectangles of holographic projection also went up his arm but only halfway with James slowly reeling back the recorder function. Fayne was amazed by it, as was Baldwin who rushed over to take a look. Navarro only looked with curiosity from her seat smoothly turning round in it as the bishop watched James' own image flickering upon a virtual screen the length of his arm, reciting his words a few months back. "Wha-...what an INCREDIBLE power! And yet...I feel no magic from it, be it truly a record of a...past-event?" "Yep it sure is, remember this Navarro?" "Who are you talking to?" said the moogle from the recording. "UHH! ...jeez you scared me, I was just writing down a diary, talking to myself." "...they say talking to oneself is the first sign of madness, kupo." "Yeah uh that's not really an issue anymore but thanks. Night Navarro." "Goodnight James." The video image flickered off as James slowly reeled it back, showing his face reversing through time itself as they gazed with amazement. Navarro of the present however simply pursed her lips with intrigue briefly, before turning back to the table saying: "So that was your diary, instead of madness you have your strange magicite, kupo. Or is it a machine cleverly hidden?" "Iiiii wanna say it's more of a machine?" replied FG. "Definitely not magicite or memstones or whatever." "Can it record more than one event?" asked Fayne. "Oh yeah totally." "Then truly it cannot be magic! No magicite I know can do more but record one event per...memstone!" "Anywhere I can buy that?!" asked Baldwin eagerly. "Actually jusszht any memsszhtone fer mysszhelf, I got sszhome thingsszh to remember." "Like what?" asked Fayne. "Like when you opened your book from the library that I rigged with a puffbomb, kheeheehahaha!" "Y-YOU-...PLEASE do not mention that again or by Faram I will...disown you!" "Sszheein' your facszhe that day all bloated like a tomato, I would have too." "NNNNGH...give, me, strength." "Hehehe," said James. "But seriously, I can record stuff we all need like um, memories and such, maybe I could give you guys a few interviews sometime, yanno for the memories, talk about yourself and who you are and what you like." "Hmm, a fine idea, a good level ground for...representing-ourselvesszh-agh, appropriately." "Right right, I mean it's not amazing or super-important but-" "You came to the right szhtore!" "GUH-"

James fiddled briefly to skip past the incredibly handsome bangaa shopkeeper as Navarro asked: "Who was that kupo?" "Um just, nothing, was just random shots I took of the place never mind." Maybe I should have some time later to myself, thought FG. "In any case," continued the moogle, "whether it be device or magic matters not so long as it is useful." "I would have thought you guys all freaked out about this." "Why? Magic and technology are nothing to fear, kupo. We are not backwards people, we have learnt many things over the past few centuries ever since the Galtean Alliance grew. Firstly the memstone that we spoke of, then skystones that we use to power airships and command the sky itself, and also spellstones which allow one to use magic, kupo." "Of coursszhe," said Baldwin, "that sszhtuff everybody knowsszh." "Wait," asked FG, "do YOU have spellstones then?" "No," said Fayne, "I learnt my ability through deep...meditation, along with Baldwin. Magicite can allow anyone to wield magic in a more...commercial form but to me I call it no different than giving a child a gun without proper training. We are only thankful that we have...licence boardsszh, to keep the lowly urchin from killing himsszhelf by a great power he cannot comprehend." The raptor noticed a dark glowering grimace come over the bangaa's face, grinning teasingly as he leant over on the armchair's back peering down upon Fayne's left ears, waiting for his response of certain tirade. "Sooooo basicallyyyy the practiced wielder versus some new kid off the block?" "How can sszhome urchin crawling through the market even HOPE to comprehend the depth and complexszhity of magic by sszhimply pawning it off like it wasszh a cheap TOY!? A true learner of magic would make the effort through a great undertaking, of many MANY a year to even fathom the long-hallowed intricate working of magical ability, that we are now capable of." "There are many ways one can learn magic," added Navarro, "not just magicite, that is merely a common form that many would seek to strengthen by bond over use, kupo. It has been that way for many years." "Speaking of which," asked FG to derail this topic, "um...what year is it?" The silence that dropped was the worst thing to imagine, as all of his comrades turned towards him slowly as if he had just confessed to robbing a bank. "Do you...not know?" replied Fayne curiously. "Just I-um...we use a different calendar back where I came from so I'm not sure of the...equivalent?" "Ahhhh...understandable, we are currently in the Old Valendian...umm...Navarro, could you?" "Five-six-zero," said the moogle helpfully. "Wait...really?" asked FG. "Correct." "Okay...huh, why does that number sound...familiar to-...ohhh." A smirk crept on his features before shaking his head with disbelief before he closed his omni-tool, asking: "Any new missions of late?" "Not a thing," said Baldwin shrugging, "we did pretty good clearing out the billboardsszh of tasszhkszh an' sszhuch." "We have made a firm profit," said Navarro, "I am actually quite impressed by our turnout considering clan members versus net profit kupo." "Well..." The monk planted an elbow on his brother's head whilst trying to read his book. "That'sszh becausszhe you brought sszhome very impresszhive clan membersszh!" "Baldwin don't gloat," warned Fayne, "we do our role and little can be...asked that we have not already performed." "Excuse me!" A voice came from the front store of the base as they got up and looked, Navarro cautiously taking blade in her hand as she approached the front. Standing at the doorway was a well-dressed hume of prim moustache almost as if he had left a French restaurant in a hurry, brusquely standing straight like a pole with but a satchel around his waist, immaculate corduroy black and brown on his jacket and trousers. "Hello, are you perhaps Clan Koridai?" "The sign says, does it not kupo?" "I...yes, I was just making sure, um, who is your leader?" "That'll be me," said FG leaning in from the doorframe above the moogle, "James Campbell, clan leader, how can I help?" "My name is Mr. Delmonico, I am a representative of my client and I wish to ask of you a personal matter."

The clan looked nervously at each other wondering who was this to be as Baldwin and Fayne peeked through the door adding to the clustered heads, but Navarro took front and centre stepping up to the glass-windowed barricade. Standing up onto a chair left near the partition in order to look over the counter, she asked firstly: "Is your client royalty, kupo?" "No," said the human, "merely an esteemed member of society." "A noble? Dignitary?" "Let's just call him a man of science, a researcher who wants to keep things secret. He has heard about you and your growing reputation, as well as being approved by the great Berniere Lavant am I correct?" "Yes." James could almost feel her eyes rolling from where he stood. "That is correct, kupo." "Then I would like to ask you to come with me so we can discuss further on the matter with my client." "Why all the sszhecrecshzy?" asked Baldwin suspiciously. "Who isszh thisszh guy?!" "Someone who wishes to keep matters private. Do you accept?" "Firstly," said FG walking through the doorway, "where does your client live? Secondly, what sort of request are we dealing with here, assassination, monster extermination?" "Oho good heavens no," said Delmonico, "this is simply to retrieve something that was stolen from him. And it is because of that stolen secret that he must keep this all quiet before any of his competitors hear of it." "So some scientist lost his special thing and he wants us to go look for it?" "Not lost, stolen." "Oh...well, why not call the police, or guards or something?" "Because I fear that my client would consider his request to be too paltry for them to undertake. The higher courts do not concern themselves with what they deem to be not important, in this case our research papers." "Heh, right." "He is willing to offer you a vast sum for your travels." "How much?" asked the moogle. Delmonico did not respond as he simply brought out a sheet of parchment from his sleeve before giving to the moogle. Slipping right through the counter space underneath the glass, the clan gathered round it curiously for a look-see. James of course could not read it but noticed the tight fingers and piercing stare that burnt through the paper itself, along with gasps of awe and intrigue from the two bangaas. Navarro did not waste a moment after seeing this replying: "We accept your offer." "Wait what?!" asked FG. "We will accept this offer in consideration, where does your client live?" "The address is on the back of the parchment," said Delmonico, "please keep it safe and I will see you there hopefully. Good day messieurs and madame." The man left and soon they walked back towards the table waiting for an explanation. Or rather James was waiting for an explanation as he sat up opposite of Navarro, asking: "Okay what the hell was that all about?!" "Have you not read the parchment?!" asked Fayne. "It clearly told you!" "I can't READ this damn script, why do you think I'm reading children's books back there?!" "I thought you were of...whimsical nature!" "What's WHIMSICAL about reading a book about farmyard noises, the cow says moo the chocobo says KWEH, that's the only thing I know in this fucking language!" "Quiet." Navarro had the floor as she put the paper towards one side before staring up at FG. "I will explain to our illiterate leader, we have a new mission, kupo." "I'm not illiterate I just can't read Ivalician." "Then you are illiterate, anyway we are to recover some stolen research papers, a scientist is offering us a great reward for it should we be able to recover them fully. It is quite a steeply reward too, kupo." "How much?" "...seventy-thousand gil." "WHU-...juh-...WHAT!?" "I KNOW!" cried Baldwin, "IT'SSZH AMAZZHING! Who even HASSZH that much money, I mean to even offer usszh that much for a bunch of papersszh that'sszh jusszht insszhane but who-" "Mister TESLA?!"

They all turned towards the other side of the table, where Dahlia now stood having woke up from her nap. She held the parchment feverishly, her hands turning tremulous with shock and excitement boiling up inside of her. The two bangaas slowly approached towards her to try and calm her down, a hand on each shoulder. "M-m-m-mis, mister...T-t-tesla...o-o-oh gods i-i-t really is-" "Caaaaalm down Dahlia," replied Fayne softly, "do not worry, it may appear to be a lot of gil but-" "N-n-no, not that...this...h-handwriting I know it so clearly, it MUST be him it must be! Wh-who is this from!?" "A client," said Navarro blithely, "unknown, no name was given other than the fact he is simply requesting that we recover some stolen research papers." "STOLEN!? Oh g-goodness no, no no no no no this is-...if it really is him it MUST be him it has to be this is clearly his own handwriting!" "Who is this Tesla guy anyway?" asked FG. Dahlia decided to sit down aided by the two bangaa brothers who kept watch over her, genuinely starting to worry at her sudden growing frenzy before slowly the nu-mou began to explain. "Mr. Tesla, is...i-i-is...oh...g-gosh I can't even TALK about him oh!" "Just tell me is he a good or bad guy?" "GOOD, good very good he is the most WONDERFUL amazing-oh gosh I can't even-I'm...I'm sorry! I jus-...ineedtobealone!" She ran back off to her room in a panic-stricken fast-trot, closing the door rather suddenly as they all looked at each other rather oddly. Baldwin however broke the silence with raucous asking: "Sszho! What you wanna bet, old exszh-boyfriend or sszchoolteacher sszhe had a crusszh on?" "BALDWIN!" cried Fayne. "PLEASSZHE, Dahlia isszh our friend!" "Droppin' yer esszhesszh there bro-" "SSZHUT UP!" "Guys cool it!" ordered FG. "Look it might not even be this Tesla guy she might just be overreacting so let's keep cool. When you wanna leave?" "Tomorrow," said the moogle, "this place is not far from here, we shall make haste for Nabudis at dawn tomorrow." "Alright that's good by me, um...maybe someone might wanna check on Dahlia before sleeping I think she might have a heart attack by this point." "I will take care of her," said Fayne, "we are both...clandestine of the mage order, we comprehend each other." "ClanDICKsszhtine," murmured Baldwin cheekily before slinking off to bed. Fayne sighed simply and shook his head, but not before Navarro noted their brotherly strife as she noted: "I find it interesting how you two are brothers, kupo." The two turned towards the moogle curiously as Baldwin asked: "Huh?" "Fayne being of the Ruga sub-race, whilst Baldwin is clearly of the Bista, kupo." Baldwin looked at his brother curiously nothing their slight differences as if for the first time. Despite having shinier scales and longer ears than Fayne, the monk simply shrugged replying: "You got a problem with mixszhed racszhe?" "No, my apologies that was not my intent, I was simply curious." "We did not know our father," said Fayne bluntly, "...neither of them. But we have a mother which...is-the-only thing that...matters." "Ah. I see, kupo. Forgive me I was simply noting an observation." "No harm done. Believe me, I think many a day that we could not be related for the way he...plays around with people." "Itsszh called being FUN," replied Baldwin. "Nooooo, what you call fun people would call...disRUPTIVE." "Bite me bisszhop, I can do my confesszhional without you getting in my facszhe." "You do not have the piety even WORTHY of being near the cathedral, why are you even with usszh!?" "Sszhlipped an esszh agaiiiin." "AAAGH!" As the two disappeared to their separate rooms, arguing all the while the raptor noted: "...I didn't even realise there were different types of bangaas." "There is always more than one type, of any race kupo." "That's true...they both look really similar though how did you even pick up on that?" "I study. You should do the same." "Wow, well lemme tell you when I get to the end of this book. I still need to know what the rabbit says." "Are you joking?" "...maybe?" They decided to just slip off to bed, jokingly regretting their decision to have them being brought into their clan but at the same time knowing they proved immensely useful. All that was needed now was for morning to break, and soon they would meet with their new mysterious client.