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It had been years since James felt the familiar throb from inside his head that one only receives from alcohol, a sensation of overworked soreness that normally he would only feel in his arms or legs after working too hard. Now his brain had experienced it, the hangover slowly blinking things out of existence as he struggled to look forwards from his lounged position on the bed. It had been so warm that he didn't even cover himself up fully with the sheets, sleeping off still in his armour as he heard the most intensely violent sound. His ears screamed at the sound of a door knocking. "NNNNNGGGH!" "AH, yer awake!" cried Baldwin from behind the door. "Ehhhh?" "I got sszhomething for ya, helpsszh you with that hangover." "Uhhhh?" "You uh...need help unlocking the door there?" "Mmnnuuh." Slowly crawling out of bed he made his way across the wooden floor before scrabbling his claws at the lock. Then he realised the key was still on the table next to the bed and crawled his way back moaning beratedly before shambling his way back half-dragged half-walking like a decrepit zombie. It took him three tries to open the door but he did, doing it quietly as possible for being able to hear the interclicking of the lock as he saw Baldwin with a glass of red juice and a plant stalk sticking out of it. His face still retained the large L-shaped scar across the top of his snout. "Here." He took the drink blindly and murmured lowly: "...whuzzis?" "The Sszhtaff of Sszhamenessszh." "...shameless?" "No no, SSSZHAMEnesszh, it'll undo the effectsszh of the Elementsszh of Harmony." "Thu-whuh?" "The...drinksszh we had lasszht night?" "...thuh wuz uh last nigh?" "Jusszht drink it." The raptor drank it with uncertainty noticing the bits floating inside it but found it surprisingly tasty. There was a slight chemical aftertaste, as well as a mix of meat and vegetable as if he was drinking cold soup, along with some sugary fizz going on in his mouth. But his head began to clear almost immediately as a strange magical blink came across his vision, clearing it up immediately to see Baldwin perfectly in focus. "...woah." "How do you feel?" "...I feel...bland and uninteresting but...no longer fuzzy in my head." "Exsszhellent, you're all cured!" "What IS this?" "Sszhtaff of Sszhamenessszh, jusszht a hangover cure Wootie prepped for thingsszh like thisszh." "...heh, there's no such thing as hangover cures, come on." "Well there isszh now, hokay what you wanna do now?" "Are we at an inn?" "No it'sszh the Equesszhtrian, Wootie runsszh a boarding housszhe here too for travellersszh, give a bit of exszhtra money yanno." "Aw jeez..."

He leaned against the doorframe letting his head rub smooth against the cold surface. The sound of silence permeated the air briefly with a perfect morning and the bar currently empty. "I hope Navarro's not mad at us." "Oh no, Wootie let usszh sszhleep off fer half-pricszhe after we killed that Nightsszhtalker." "Oh yeah...that...you uh, you doing okay with that scar buddy?" "Ahh pffft, my brother hitsszh me worsszhe than that, I barely felt it after misszh Dahlia gave me a good healing." "Heheh, right right, hey, what was with you guys getting all serious and Fayne using that dagger on that dead dude?" "Jusszht busszhinesszh, don't worry about it. We have our duty to Kiltia after all, I mean I like to joke now and again but duty comesszh firsszht." "Heh...never thought you would be that way, Fayne I thought was always like that but not you." "The light of Kiltia I musszht sszhtill sszherve whenever evil isszh rampant. Now what do you wanna do today bosszh?" "Um...I just woke up so gimme a minute." "Alright." He closed the door and noticed he was still in his armour, looking around the room he had hired for himself at a reduced price as thanks from the tavern owner. A bed in the corner next to the window, sunlight dappled across the floor with a bedside table underneath the window. It even had a cupboard on the opposite wall for any other stuff he carried, taking his armour off and putting his jeans back on for the sake of simplicity before opening the door again asking: "Is there a place I can wash myself?" "I know a bathing pool nearby, me an' Fayne are gonna go wasszh up too if you wanna come with." "Ahh good...you two always wash together?" "Coursszhe we do, why?" "Heh, sorry, just never had a brother so I thought they washed separately." "My brother and me alwaysszh wasszh together, who elsszhe can I trusszht to wasszh my back? ...Jamesszh?" "...hmm? OH, sorry uhm, just still waking up, but yeah no worries that makes sense. SO, you got any ideas on what I should do today after?" "You can check on my mother, maybe sszhee hasszh sszhome new informasszhion for you on whatever you were looking for." "Hey that's an idea. While we're out here we might as well see if there's any new jobs or something we can take." "I'll look around, don't you worry bosszh, come on let'sszh go get cleaned up." Heading down to the bathing pool nearby, which was outside but in a more private location behind some old stone walls, the raptor relished the cool water over his bare naked scaly skin. The pool was a sluice of waist-deep water constantly rushing from the underground of Lea Monde to be sent out to elsewhere, not allowing any of the filthy of one's body to stagnate in it as if washing in a river. He noticed the sea was nearby judging by the smell of salt in the air soothing him, realising that was where the water went in the end. Baldwin and Fayne had stepped in with him cleaning off the filth of last night along with the dirt and grit from Lea Monde's cellars quite easily, the raptor once again getting a chance to admire the bodies of his friends. Purely by astute reasons and not anything else obviously, the bangaa brothers carefully looking each other over concerning their fresh wounds from the day before as Baldwin started on cleaning his brother. Two bodies, one taut and muscular with one lean and well-groomed stroking all over each other uniformly from top to bottom, legs to tail. "How'sszh your back?" asked Baldwin. "Better," replied Fayne. "But it...sleep-was difficult." "Awww..."

Baldwin kissed his brother's back softly upon the bloodied wound after scouring it with soap that he kept on him, cautious to not hurt him as he rubbed all over the lighter-skinned bangaa's body. It was not often James noticed the difference between them, Baldwin being copper and shinier with darker scales along with longer ears than his yellowish-brown brother Fayne. But it was curious to see as the monk leaned slightly to the side behind the bishop adding: "Feel better?" "Haha, maybe." "I think we may need new sszhoap in about a week, thisszh isszh getting thin." "Agreed...are you alright, James?" "OH yeah yeah no worries," said FG, "don't mind me I'm just-actually where do you guys get soap?" "You can buy it," said Fayne, "if you do not mind waiting I will give you mine to borrow." "That'd be great, thanks." "Good thing about usszh bangaasszh," replied Baldwin, "you get no hair on your sszhoap, can you believe humesszh even have HAIR? They barely have any to begin with, why bother?!" "I dunno, I mean what's all that pubic hair about or that stuff on their chest, that's not gonna keep you warm." "Looksszh sszhtupid to me." "Do we not grow hair too?" added Fayne. "In a much greater age the bangaa can develop quite a bit of hair on the body." "Yeah if you're like old, really old and by then you got sszhomebody elsszhe to wasszh you up. Hopefully a sszhexszhy lady." "Baldwin don't, I don't want your-...penis to come out." "Aw come on you've sszheen my dick plenty of timesszh. Besszhidesszh yer bigger than me, what you worried about?" "WHA-Baldwin, we're not alone!" "OH...hehe, sszhorry, got carried away there." "No problem," said FG smirking. "Nothing wrong with appreciating yourself." James did not watch too often out of respect but was curious to see them so intimate, while also being clearly respectful of each other's bodies as Fayne washed his front, the somewhat-slender bishop rubbing his soap down to between his legs and tenderly pressing the soap into his genitalia slit with a shameful sigh. Whether it was because he had to do it or because he was not alone was unclear, but still he cleaned himself, whilst Baldwin continued to rub his back down to just above the tail. Then the two switched. Fayne stood behind whilst his older brother slathered up his soap all over the strong arms of his monk body, the many scars and bruises of old fights clearly telling a story almost like a map patterned out on his bare skin. Fayne however was especially concerned as he pressed his fingers onto Baldwin's snout whilst reaching from behind, along the new L-shaped scar. "Are you hurt?" "Naaaah," said Baldwin, "sszhtopped bleedin' pretty fasszht, no worsszhe than a nosszhebleed." "Are you...certain, Baldwin?" "Fayne, don' be sszhuch a molly, I'm fine." "Alright." "Besszhideszh you had it worsszhe than me." "You nearly losszht your eye-...ughh." "Heheh...firsszht error of the day?" "N-never mind..." As much as he did not want to admit it, James was feeling rather lewd at the sight of two brothers cleaning up so closely, but restrained himself fully before walking over to ask: "You done with that soap?" "Oh...yes, here." Fayne handed him his own bar of soap once finished with Baldwin's back, the two brothers taking a look curiously at James' crotch and the way his penis hung out quite freely. An odd sort of sheath that acted like foreskin from outside appearance. "That'sszh unusszhual," said Baldwin. "What?" asked FG. "Why do you got no...sszhlit like we do?" "Um...because I'm not a bangaa." "Fair point," replied Fayne, "very oddly like a hume but without the...testicle." "TesszhtiCLESSZH," replied Baldwin correcting. "Plural. That don't hurt you having it hang out?" "Nah," said FG, "just means I have to get bigger pants for extra room." "HAH, sszhure, 'bigger' pantsszh." "Oh what, like you guys don't get erections?" "Not until we want to, we control our bodiesszh perfectly." "Drunken night prohibiting," murmured the bishop. "Eeeeven then my dick don't get a sszhay in any matter unlesszh I want it to." "True...since the Barheim Tavern when you-" "A-A-NO NO, WE DON' TALK ABOUT THAT!" "Ahhhh but the lady looked wonderful from behind." "FAYNE!" "If only the lady had been...hmhmhm, a lady, then you would have-" "SSZHUT UP!" James smirked and cackled at the monk blushing intensely red before reassuring him with a pat on the shoulder saying: "Relax Baldwin, I've made that mistake too, it's cool." "R-right...like I sszhaid, complete control over my body." "Alright, if you say so." He would have had time to play with himself a little, feeling rather pent-up upon seeing himself naked and looking over at the brothers but realised also he had a job to do and decided perhaps later on at night by himself, even if the slight voyeuristic thrill of being caught tingled him. But he stepped out of the pool once finished and gave back the soap to Fayne after washing himself all over, scrubbing down his limbs and underarms as well as vigorously on his crotch before putting back on his armour and heading up towards the cathedral.

Wandering the hallways for Mother Mariel, it took him at least half an hour to find her, or maybe forty minutes due to the great scope and grandeur of the revenant chapel. The way the light seemed much more pure through the windows dancing across the marble sculpt, the feeling of cleanliness as his claws clacked upon stone halls and soft carpets. His hands unconsciously clasped in each other's hands as a feeling of great reverence overwhelmed him, and at the same time also there was a sense of bilious depth within his heart. He knew someone was not appreciating this holy walk, but he cared not what it thought. In fact the Grand Cathedral felt now like the safest place in all of Ivalice to him. Not even demons could walk within these walls. Soon he reached the library, where various chaplains and visitors had told him was where Mother Mariel was as he saw her. Between two rows of bookcases, she pored through various books with utmost scrutiny and clear engaging eyes. The library had two floors it seemed, two vertical rows on each by eight bookshelves horizontally lined up across the room, a veritable fountain of knowledge James had not seen since perhaps his days in Cyrodiil. He had missed the feeling of a book in his hands, one not torn and moulded by centuries of disuse. He tried to read one or two titles that he could translate, but the language was far too esoteric for him to comprehend as he walked over towards the old nu-mou, her lips pursed as she read through a text. She did not speak, but rather whisper something softly occasionally with eyes closed, until the raptor spoke: "Good morning!" "Ahh!" She closed the book suddenly with a gasp and chuckled nervously. "Ohhohohoho, you gave me a fright there, good dear." "S-sorry I...didn't really wanna interrupt your reading." "Oh no no this is just a favourite of mine I know where I bookmarked it." Mariel put the book back in its proper place before clasping her hands together, robe sleeves hanging down towards her waist. "How are you dear, did you sleep well?" "Really well actually, me and Baldwin had a great time." "That's good. Today is beautiful I must say, don't you agree?" "It is really nice out there, sunshine and everything." "A most radiant day like any other," she said with sweet eminence, "I heard that you and my sons managed to oust that dreadful beast from the wine cellar." "Yeah...heh, first time I had to deal with the Dark in that form." "No matter how well-trained you must be, one always should not underestimate the power of the Dark." "Right...yanno it's been years since I've been in a library like this." "The library here is one of the finest of archaic lore." The acolyte swept her arms out across the air openly, proudly showing the stature of this hall of knowledge. "Many scholars come from the world over to study our ancient history, as well as our particular refinement of the magic arts." "Magic seems really solid around here. Have you guys heard about this new stuff like electricity and such, maybe put some lighting down on the streets?" "Oh yes yes, I have read the Electrical Revue, in fact your madame Dahlia was just explaining it to me." "What do you think about it? I mean, isn't magic kind of a business, would it not become obsolete?" "Ohoho no."

She crossed her arms as James did the same, raising her head as if seeking knowledge from the back of her mind. "Magic cannot become obsolete in a world like this, it is far too essential to the very essence of our existence. I am not against new technology for the sake of others to have easier lives, such as with airships being able to cross the Jagd, but I am not going to consider it competition. That's like saying fire would become obsolete because we learned a new spell, someone will need it." "Yeah but you don't need magic to make fire." "That is what I mean, we found an easier means but someone out there cannot use magic and will still use flint and tinder. That's not obsolete, that is simply a truer essence." "Ahhh...so, have you found anything about portals yet?" "Sadly no," said Mariel, "but I am still looking during my slow parts of the day, I have a lot of work to do in this cathedral as you can see." "Yeah...man you must have to walk for ages around this place, you don't got a wheelchair or someone to help you?" "Ohoho don't you worry about me dearie, I know these walls like my own children, they will not steer me so wrongly." The odd statement made him look twice before she smirked. He decided not to ask further before she added: "However, I DO have a request for you." "Yeah?" "It comes from a friend of mine. See, we have an orphanarium as you may well know and normally we have certain groups of children watched over by various attendants. That attendant becomes their personal teacher, their scholar and guardian. There is one group in particular that are most troublesome, and my friend who is most able to handle them compared to our other instructors...well...how good are you with children Mr. Campbell?" "Heh...you asking me to babysit?" "Not exactly, more...train." "Huh?" "You are an experienced swordsman correct? And I do not wish to speak poorly but I sense you are far more warm-hearted than your deputy leader might be. Have you ever taught your skills to a younger generation, James?" "Ahhh yeah...once or twice." "Have you say, ever taken care of a child?" He smirked at being able to answer this question gladly, stealing a glance at the friendship bracelet still attached to his upper left arm. "I was a legal guardian of one for at least a few months, does that count?" "Greatly! May I ask how that came to be?" "Her mum was...held captive and I rescued her, so I took care of her and took her to a settlement where we tried to live, I was her legal guardian as someone had to be." "Oh dear...I am so sorry." "It's okay, we got her mom out of there few months later and all was good." "Oh that's good to hear. So, now I ask you, could you do me the honour of accepting a task from me on behalf of my friend? To cater towards three children whose interests lie greatly in that of the sword?" "So three kids wanna learn swords, why not take them to a class?" "Well...we do not have any for them." "Wait what?" "Sword training costs plenty, and to even allow them an offical course we would have to send them off to knight academy or such which would be VERY upsetting in some cases, plus they're a touch too young to learn such things...and even then they might not want to learn such things by the time they are matured, they have such fickle minds, always changing classes." "Hehehehe...okay so, what exactly is this mission?"

"And you accepted?" replied Navarro. "Yep." "Without even asking me, kupo?" "Thaaaat's right." "You do realise we now have to wait two entire months in this place whilst you go gallivanting off with some children like it's a tea party." "I'm well aware of that but we're gonna make some sweet gil, check the offer." She looked over the notice given to him by Mother Mariel as they walked along the open streets, the sun partially-covered but still giving light upon at least half of Lea Monde gladly. James walked in the shade whilst Navarro kept in light, the raptor in armour and both weapons hilted on his back, the scissors leering over his right shoulder whilst his wooden sword peered over his left. It was a fine offer indeed the moogle thought on reading the paper, paying on behalf of the church, debited from the attendant's account. 6000 gil per week, which covering two months in total would end in a sum of 48,000 gil as Navarro asked: "And why exactly do they require a babysitter such as you, kupo?" "Someone who can help them learn how to wield swords," replied FG, "and get a good grip on them, because their usual caretaker's gotta go off somewhere for a special conference in um...Bhujerba I think, something she's always wanted to do but she's stuck with her hands full taking care of the kids with no other replacement because all the OTHER attendants have to take care of THEIR kids too, it's a big help to Mariel and if I do this right, we can get some good stuff along with money out for helping her friend." "Hm, now who's the opportunist, kupo?" "Well geez I guess you must have rubbed off on me." "I find it hard to believe the church would allow instruction on swords to children." "Well she DID say they were a special case...which can mean a lot of things." Passing through the middling crowd of churchgoers and protectorates of the city along with various ordinary folk, they passed around the length of the cathedral's outer vicinity towards a small street of buildings. A residential-looking area with a resplendent sign upon the front signalling peace and love, the scrawlings of children all over it indicated quite clearly who ran this quarter. The sounds of children laughing and playing were heard before they turned past the sign, to find a streetful of kids squealing and running about in the middle of the road. No one came through this area by carriage so it was quite safe, the many species of orphans smiling and running around wildly giving cheer to James' heart. Chalk and crayon littered the streets with drawings of strange vicious battles against imaginary beasts, odd-numbered games to hop across cobbles as well as kids sneaking each other some stolen supplies of sweets and such. Navarro walked through undeterred, despite the children being very much the same height of her as James smirked at noticing this. "Hokay now Navi you gonna be good for uncle James here at school?" She turned slowly up towards him and put a finger towards his solar plexus. "Do you know how much blood you can lose from this, kupo? ...precisely, so don't ever call me by nickname again." "Okay I won't, promise." "Indeed. Question." "Yes?" "Why did you tell Mariel and our friends that you were searching for someone who had been trapped in a portal? That was not what you told me kupo." "You believed me about me telling you I'm from another world, I wasn't going to chance that with four people at once, especially not an old lady from a church." "I did not say I believed you, I merely said that our interests however insane merely went along the same path and I would entertain you, kupo." "Yeah, YOUR interests, but not theirs, get what I mean? They just want money and to hang out on the journey, they can leave if they start thinking their leader's insane." "As opposed to me?" "Your deputy, you can't leave." "That is true, so long as you do not endanger others by whatever belief you hold I shall not quarrel, kupo."

During all this, the children had been in awe watching the strange creature walk through between them, the raptor smiling but not showing teeth as occasionally there was a few of them marching behind him or gasping with curiosity, as well as one or two silly comments about his scissors. The address they soon found was the fourth house from the end of the street on their left side, a rather adorable little cottage amidst a row of similar-looking houses all of which had different paint colour schemes and small messy gardens. It felt as if the children lived a society of their own without adult supervision, and James had to wonder where exactly their adult attendants were as he approached the door knocking. A badly-painted cottage, red and yellow with a stern wooden barn door split in half and two windows at the front. "Are you certain about this?" asked Navarro. "If you really wanna go back to Nalbina," replied James, "you can always go back for two months, check on orders and come back. Besides Fayne and Baldwin are at the church doing stuff, we might as well hang out here a bit, we got our rooms paid for it." "That is true...I am more concerned however for any missions we have received at our doorstep whilst we are here." "Well like I said you-" "TRIPLE ATTACK!" "WHA-AAAUUGH!" Suddenly the bottom of the barn door had swung open as three small forms rushed out behind James' feet, smacking him down as he the familiar feeling of ropes around his ankles snapped tight on his legs making him fall over. Navarro backed off and was ready to fight, but upon seeing who it was simply stood back waiting with arms crossed. James wasted no time in tearing off the rope from his feet with burning claws raking them in half before stumbling back onto his feet. Three young girls stood before him, a moogle, a nu-mou and a viera all wielding small wooden swords towards him proudly as the rabbit-eared viera cried out: "Get BACK monster, or else suffer the might of our blade!" "Wh-what the hell?!" squawked FG. "No evildoer's crossing OUR doorstop!" replied the moogle. "So turn back now!" added the nu-mou. "Please?" "Wha-Belle!" "What?!" "You don't say PLEASE to a monster!" "Why not?!" "Cuz they're not NICE that's why!" "Whut if he's a nice monster?!" "He don' look it!" said the viera. "Lookit 'im, those beady eyes an' sharp teeth!" "Uh SCUSE ME!" replied FG. "No one ever taught you kids manners? Least I knocked on the door, I didn't like barge in or something!" "We're not takin' any chances, not while we're protectin' our home girls LET'S GO!" "Cupid Mark Crusader Clan GOOO!" Without any say in the matter, James was suddenly thrown into battle by three perky young girls all of whom readily swung their swords into action. The viera was rather pale, but with strong arms and an adorable red bow tying the top of her ears together whilst also wearing green pantaloons, her shirt a bleached yellow fade resembling the core of an apple. The scruffy young moogle had light brown fur underneath her soft leather armour, her hair in a forwards cowlick to the side of her eyes grinning tomboyishly with a blue chocobo feather proudly planted in her head below the hanging bauble.

Lastly, the sweet little nu-mou was dressed in a white robe adorned with purple gilded edges, her hair slightly coiffing down the back of her neck into an inwards coil like a tightly-wound spring. Spreading out swiftly, they charged at the raptor all at once who leapt over the smallest girl, the little ones turning fast on a dime as he tried to put his hands up. "Hey-ey-ey stop!" "NO DEAL!" shouted the moogle. "PREPARE YERSELF FOUL DEMON!" "Oh god dammit I-WOAH, WOAH!" A rope had come out of nowhere to try and latch around his neck, the raptor ducking hard to avoid the toss of the lasso that had come from the viera girl. But the moogle rushed forwards with a battle cry just in time to whap James hard across the nose with her wooden blade, quite viciously enough to make him stagger back with eyes watering snarling: "NNNNNNGH!" "GET 'IM!" The viera cried out as the three of them charged straight for him, knocking him down against the wall of the cottage before smacking him across the face and mostly bare chest with their harmless wooden swords. But they were quite strong and able to give a few small red bruises after several frantic beating strikes across his flesh, the raptor trying to force them away with his hands without hurting. "A-AAAH, AAAAGH, GODDAMMIT!" "SURRENDER DEMON!" roared the moogle girl. "YEAH!" cried the nu-mou. "If you give up now, we'll let you go an' that'll teach you!" "I JUST CAME TO ASK-" "FER DINNER?!" interrupted the viera. "I DON' THINK SO!" "D-DAAAAAGH!" The red-bowed viera girl smacked him straight in the eye with a solid punch, her sword slapping across his snout as he grabbed at her arm before shoving her ruthlessly off to the ground. He followed up with a firm but not-sore shove of his right arm towards the moogle, and lastly planting his foot onto the nu-mou to push her down before all three got back up. But before he could, the viera had swung out her lasso once more and caught him by the neck, throwing him hard to the ground as the other two girls piled onto his back, grabbing him by the wrists and trapping him underneath their bodies. "N-NAVARRO, HELP!" "Oh," said the moogle watching, "I'm sorry 'uncle James' but I don't think I can, kupo." "WH-WHAT?!" "You said you were good with children, I'm not obviously." "YOU-....GAAAGH!" "NOW WE CAUGHT YOU!" shrieked the white-robed nu-mou. "That'll teach you," said the viera, "come lookin' round here fer breakfast!" "I'M NOT GONNA EAT YOU!" cried out James. "I SWEAR I-" "Not now yer not," said the moogle. "AAAAAAAAAARGH! OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Finally he had enough, pushing forth a powerful gust of wind from his claws that blasted the two girls off of him, burning the rope once more with burning fingers to tear off from his neck. "YOU LITTLE PUNKS NEED TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!" His right hand swept up behind him unsheathing his blade. "I'LL SHOW YOU!"

With a sweep of his arm, his scissors remained perfectly inside their sheath untouched. But the wooden sword he had obtained from Berniere swept out perfectly before the three children. The girls saw he was looking for a fight, and prepared themselves in turn crying out with all their strength: "CUPID MARK CRUSADER CLAN ULTRA-COMBO-FINIIIIIISH!" Rushing forwards all at once, the three stampeded towards him as he closed one eye cautiously and gazed sternly upon the viera, her lithe humanoid body and lapine expression disguising the rope swinging by her hip. Before they could strike upon him, he dodged left towards the viera and stabbed his wooden sword forwards straight for the rope, snatching it right out from her grasp by a hooking motion as if reeling in a fish. Almost immediately, he turned and swung his foot straight towards her legs, tripping her up and grabbing her by the feet to tie her up swiftly with a fast knot. "A-AAAAAAH, GIRLS HELP MEEEEE!" The other two barely had time to realise when they saw their friend being trussed up, her cry for help alerting them as the moogle ran forwards first defiantly. "LEAVE 'ER ALONE!" James heard her cry and thrust forwards with his sword, clashing against the young girl fiercely and quite clearly overpowering her, despite the forceful enthusiasm she had as she roared in his face. He almost did not want to use his entire body weight upon her blade, and in truth he did not to give her a fair chance. But she was losing ground, slowly to be pushed back by his scraping wooden blade against her own despite her small bat-like wings furiously flapping with all their might against him to push hard as possible. The young girl did have one trick up her sleeve throwing a pocketful of dirt, the raptor seeing where her hand went and dodging easily away. "POCKET SAND! Wai-wha-DUUUF!" Turning away in his dodge the moment she hurled dirt at his face, he spun with momentum before landing a half-heavy blow straight across the back of her head as he restrained himself from the full force. It was enough however to smack hard as she fell, yelping to fall flat on her face before the raptor simply sat on top of her, rump square on her back as she struggled and shrieked to high heaven. "G-GETOFF, GET OFF OF ME!" "Not until your friend can push me over," said the raptor with a claw in his teeth, "I warned you about being taught a lesson." "YOU AIN'T GONNA EAT US MONSTER!" cried the tied-up viera. "NO WAY NO HOW!" "Trust me if I wanted to eat you, I wouldn't bother with these scrawny brats." "I'M NOT SCRAWNY!" "Speaking of...you." He pointed at the nu-mou nervously cowering before him with wooden blade in hand. "You gonna fight like your friends or you wanna just stop this now?" "Um...u-u-u-um..." "BELLE COME ON!" cried the moogle. "REMEMBER WHAT WE TAUGHT YOU!" "OH, right, HEY, YOU! UM....let go of them or else!" "Or else what?" said FG cockily. "OR...o-o-orrrr...or-" "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

The voice of a woman loud and proud came from the street staring down before them. A rather large-nosed hume in her 40s with the body of a salt shaker, wearing a light-beige apron and taupe-coloured robes who strided up towards FG and did not even hesitate to clip him round the earhole. "SHAME ON YOU!" "AH-OWW, WHAT THE HELL!?" "Picking on children like that, you should be ashamed of yourself!" "I-I DIDN'T PICK ON THEM THEY ATTACKED ME!" "YOU WERE GONNA EAT US!" cried the viera. "I WAS NOT!" "YES YOU WERE!" "I swear I wasn't," said FG to the woman. "Look, I'm sorry but I didn't hurt them, just tied them up and put them down on the ground they're not hurt I swear!" "Hmmmm..." The woman investigated her charges cautiously, seeing there were indeed no real bruises as James stepped off from the moogle's body to let her stand up brushing dirt off her clothes. The hume lady crossed her arms and looked surreptitiously at the three girls after undoing the rope from the viera's legs. "Now Blum, Lu, Belle, did you attack this person first?" "W-w-well," said the nu-mou Belle, "we saw him c-comin' up the path an' thought maybe he wuz gonna eat us." "We have to defend ourselves!" cried the moogle Lu. "Look at his TEETH I mean-A-AAAH OW!" "That is QUITE enough!" said the woman grabbing her ear. "We do not attack people unwarranted in Lea Monde, not ever! And what do YOU have to say for yourself?!" "Me?!" asked FG. "It's one thing to push children away but quite another thing for your age to be in armed combat against them, even with wooden playthings!" "Ma'am this is a training sword, NOT a plaything." "Neither are these!" cried the viera Blum. "We're real knights-in-training, we're gonna save all of Ivalice!" "Really?" "YEAH!" "Well...maybe I can help you with that." "H-huh?!" "Navarro, hand me that mark wouldya?" His moogle knight companion gladly gave over the marked notice and presented it towards the woman and her three charges. The hume adult almost instantly recognised it, gasping with admonishment. "You...you have my job offer! OH, are YOU the one Mother Mariel spoke of?!" "Yep, James Campbell at your service." "Oh my goodness...well...this is quite a pickle we are in aren't we." She pressed her fists against the sides of her body resembling a giant urn just simply shaking her head. "Not a moment before you start and already my three girls try to attack you." "Heh, I've had worse, trust me." "What's THAT supposed to mean?" said Lu the moogle. "I'm just saying that you got a lot of practice ahead of you before you're any real threat." "Oh, YOU think you know better?!" "I do, I've been training for eight years on using my sword and two years with guns." "Why don't we go inside?" asked the hume. "We can clear everything up there." "Fine by me."

Heading inside with the three girls, the woman and James came upon a scene of utmost domestic chaos. Scrawlings, posters of artist sketches, chairs and sofas all out of place along with various fabrics cut up into various designs of an almost emblematic motif. The central living room was simply three sofas and a fireplace, a kitchen further behind with bedrooms to the top left down a corridor. For a cottage everything seemed to be rather cosy and squashed together, the three girls sitting down on the sofa as the woman explained. "My name is Mrs. Imrie, I am the caretaker assigned to these girls as I have been for the past eight years. First off, I must deeply apologise for the conduct of these three-" "Ahhh don't worry about it," said FG sitting down, "like I said, I've had worse and well, they DID get the jump on me which was pretty good for them." "We sure did!" cried Blum the viera. "The ol' Underdoor Triple Attack, it never fails!" Mrs. Imrie stared at them scrutinously before continuing. "As you can see they are a rather rambunctious lot and I need someone who is both capable of teaching swordsmanship and the art of battle, but not in a way that...can encourage them with bloodlust. If you understand what I mean." "Iiii think I do," replied James. "It's so hard to find anyone with anywhere near the patience for children AND also be accomplished in such sword skill, I mean I normally would ask for any sort of babysitter-" "We don't NEED a babysitter miss Imrie," squeaked Belle, "really we're fine, honest!" "Oh no...of course not." The woman rolled her eyes unseen at the raptor who smirked softly. "But I DO need someone to look after you, someone who is trustworthy, has a good record, and has the time and patience to handle you." "Well today is your lucky day!" cried FG as he stood up before bowing. "James Robert Campbell of Clan Koridai at your service, we've had a good track record going on for four months and even have a high recommendation from Clan Herne." "WOAH WOAH WOAH," cried Lu, "Clan HERNE?! You know Clan Herne!?" "Lu," warned Imrie, "indoor voice!" "YOU KNOW BERNIERE LAVANT!?!?" "Yep," said FG smugly, "I sure do. Mr. Berniere himself gave me and my clan the okay official permit of recognition after we helped him save a town up north, about four months back." At first the moogle was like a wild fox about to jump into the henhouse all hyped up with excitement. But then she calmed down upon realising and slowly leaned back into her sofa beside her two friends with a cool business look, asking: "Waaaaait a second, do you REALLY know Clan Herne, you have any proof? You gotta have proof of that!" "Sure I do, my deputy's got it. Plus...this sword right here?" He brought out the wooden sword from behind his back. "Given to me by Berniere himself." "...no...tha-...you HAVE to be joking!" "I got all the proof from my deputy, Mrs. Imrie can look at it too to know I'm legit." "And indeed I shall," replied Mrs. Imrie. "All I need is to see that and I will trust them into your care." "So why exactly...where are you going anyways?" "Well, you see, I have been earning a sponsorship up in Bhujerba in order to expand my horizons." "She gonna make AIRSHIPS!" cried Blum the viera. "W-well, yes precisely, and I need to attend this class but of course I cannot take such girls with me for I cannot look after them AND resort to my studies." "B-but we're not bad, we can be good!" "I know Blum but I would rather not take you to such an unfamiliar place and leave you without supervision." "We don' need supervision, we're fine!" "...regardless I will feel MUCH more relieved knowing that you are safely on the ground and in the hands of someone capable." "No problem for me," said FG, "I'll go get the permit."

The moment he stepped outside of the cottage however, Baldwin was staring at him straight in the face with a look of alacrity, hand stopped before the door ready to knock as James swiftly backed off expecting trouble. "BABYSSZHITTING?!" "WHA-JESUS BALDWIN!" "You-WHAT!?" "UGH, did Navarro not tell you, come on let's do this outside, I'm really sorry." "Take your time!" replied Mrs. Imrie. Pushing the bangaa off the doorstep, James closed the door behind him and walked over to Navarro as he also noticed the rest of the gang with her. Dahlia had quite the smile on her hearing of what was the new job, whilst Fayne was a little uncertain as his brother cried: "You want usszh to sszhtay here jusszht fer you to nursszhe sszhome bratsszh!?!" "Hey the money's good!" said FG defensively. "That's forty-eight-thousand by the end of it, two months of no hassle." "It is good," said Navarro, "I was not for this originally but considering how easy it would be compared to say, slaying a monster kupo." "I agree," added Fayne, "taking care of the young cannot compare to battling a dreaded ogre. But..." "Are you sure you're up to this James?" said Dahlia continuing this enquiry. "I mean, it's very different to look after children." "No worries," replied FG, "I've taken care of kids before, I know how to handle them." "Really? You are sure you won't need our help? I mean we ARE a clan so surely we should be able to help if anything-" "I wouldn't mind SOME help certainly but they did ask for a swordsman and uh...well Navarro if you want to-" "No," said the moogle. "See, there you go...actually remember you taught us first aid? Maybe you can teach them that too if you're not up to anything." "That would be wonderful!" cried the nu-mou excitably. "Oh goodness this will be lots of fun, I love teaching children, such intricate little minds they have!" "Hahaha, hokay we're all settled then, what about you three?" The two brothers along with the moogle looked at each other with uncertainty, before Fayne answered: "My brother and I belong to the cathedral, we will be able to find greater endeavour for the clan to undertake eventually." "I agree," said Rocino, "and I can certainly find more tasks to undertake by my own kupo. Plus, your friend Mr. Wootton is continuing our offer of staying at his place for half-price which is a considerable asset to our profit." "Awesome," said James, "alright then I'll be off helping with the kids and uh, I'll need that permit from Berniere to show the lady here but you guys do what you want, Miss Dahlia?" "Coming!" The nu-mou eagerly hopped up and took James' arm gladly, strolling out towards the cottage after he took the permit from the moogle's hands. The caretaker Mrs. Imrie authenticated it and so began putting out a set plan for the children over the next two months. It was a good chance for him to stay in Lea Monde in order for Mother Mariel to keep working on research for him, not wanting to miss the opportunity as James and Dahlia were given coverage of all their routines, ailments, particular likes and dislikes.

In truth it was the first time that James himself had done babysitting of any nature, but Dahlia was of great assistance having a natural maternal quality. She acted as the teacher and mother, James was the physical trainer. Food was given to them as part of the cathedral's daily tasks with a sturdy mix of fruit, vegetables and meat, and a representative of the cathedral checked on them every day to keep an eye out for potential abuse and mistreatment. James was surprised and also somewhat jealous of the great care and dedication the church had to the children. The first day he had to train them in proper self-defence was certainly the hardest, stepping out in the cottage garden and cracking his fingers with wooden sword out and ready. The three girls were also ready as ever, Lu the moogle in light-brown fur and soft leather armour, Blum the viera with red bow and clothes of green and bleach-yellow, and the nu-mou Belle who wore always a white-and-purple robe gilded at the edges. "Alright kids," began FG, "your first day on how to kick ass like a pro begins here!" "YES!" said Lu. "I've been waitin' fer this, I can't BELIEVE you know Berniere, that guy's my hero!" "Hahaha, well he's an awesome guy for sure and now you get to face off against one of his own swords. Alright, now, first off let's go over what you did right in that battle with me." "Ah huh." "You guys sync pretty well, Blum you're a master with the rope and I think you should keep practicing on that. Lu, you're definitely the toughest gal with the sword, you just need to learn how to root yourself in the ground better." "What you mean?!" "If you go up against an adult by strength alone, you're not gonna win, you need to be crafty. Use your height and speed to your advantage, get some reflexes up and learn to dodge and go through him. Belle...you don't seem to be QUITE as battle-hardy as these two." "U-u-um," stuttered the nu-mou, "I-i can...fight, it's just tha-" "She don' like gettin' hurt," said Blum kindly, "we've been tryin' to toughen her up but she always get so nervous!" "I just don't wanna get mean on somebody that may not deserve it." "Hmhmhm," James chuckled, "well you know, you don't HAVE to be a warrior to be in battle and still be useful." "Huh?" "Well, look at my clan, I've got two swords, one pair of fists and two mages including miss Dahlia. If you're not sure about wanting to fight, you can always maybe learn some defensive skill like healing." "Why she wanna learn THAT?!" said Lu staunchly. "Because you two might get hurt, and she can help you out." "We're not gonna get hurt, we're AWESOME, nobody''s gonna get us, we'll keep this town safe!" "Hehehe...well least you're confident, but...alright, how about this, Belle, I'll try and teach you some basic self-defence just so you can look after yourself. If you're still not sure about swords, we can get Miss Dahlia to teach you something useful, alrighty?" "O-okay," said Belle plaintively, "that would be great! Sorry guys." "S'alright," said Blum patting her shoulder, "we're still a clan together aren't we?!" "R-right!" "Alright time to train," continued FG. "Weapons OUT!" The three unsheathed their small wooden swords readily for combat. "Let's begin!"

Over the course of one month, he began to train them in everything capable he could teach on swordfighting. The first and simplest ability to teach them was how to swing perfectly, remembering his own training with Glenn and recreating the regime that he had with him. He taught them proper stance when striking forth, how to guard against a coming blow and resist another sword upon theirs, how to dodge and strafe against heavier unblockable attacks. He also built up an exercise regime but knowing their kids had ideas on how to make it more fun by giving them exciting games that involved running, lifting and tests of endurance. Running was a simple race through the streets, lifting he used some old kettles from a scrapheap and cleaned them up to fill with cold water they could hoist up and down, and endurance involved rubber bands and a sturdy iron pole to push their arms and legs against. The garden was slowly becoming more cluttered, but also full of sweat and tears of training. "COME ON GIRLS!" "HNNNNNGH!" "Every ten kicks you push out against that rubber you'll get a free cupcake!" "NNNNNNNGH!" "COME OOOOON! DO YOU WANT THE CUPCAKE?! THE CUPCAKES ARE COUNTING ON YOU IF YOU DON'T PUSH IT I'M GONNA EAT THEM ALL RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" "NOOOOOOOO!" During all this training, Dahlia simply watched from the sidelines like a mother at the doorstop, chuckling at how James handled the children, knowing their limits and not making anything dull and tedious. Always he mixed it up, always he brought in a new motivation, a new concept, a new exercise to keep their arms and legs fit. Lu was definitely the athlete amongst them, the first to finish everytime and a swift fighter with the best sense of battle composure. Blum was decent, she was definitely fit enough to lift things and run a good mile, but her battle tactics were rather lacking, something of a bruiser in terms of combat and always swinging hard without any sense of patience. Belle was absolutely terrible at fighting, weak-willed and nervous about hurting someone. James realised this and knew with more certainty that she would best fit a more defensive support role. But he still had her train alongside everybody else for their physical fitness routine. All of them also learnt martial arts for the sake of if they ever lost their weapon, basic hand-to-hand and what were the weak points of the average body. James was blunt in his descriptions on the most punchable parts, the back of the knees, the crotch especially would work for most any person, and also what to do if someone ever grabbed you and how to disable their grip. Grab the wrist with one hand, punch hard into the upper arm muscle with the other before elbowing them right in the face.

Dahlia even demonstrated this on James much to her chagrin when he bruised his snout hard, causing the children to laugh but it all worked out for good. The adult nu-mou gave their minds a proper workout, given a coverage of topics by the cathedral on what to teach them. Language, mathematics, basic sciences and of course the concept of religion. James even sat in to learn alongside them too, and whilst still being of a jocular nature, did his best not to disrupt her teachings as in turn it also helped him understand the land of Ivalice a lot more. "Now repeat me after me," said Dahlia starting lesson, "what did James do wrong writing this?" "His B's are all weird!" squawked Blum giggling. "Yes, his B's require some work, note he hasn't done the curve at the end right." "Sooo B for bad?" replied FG. "Hmhmhmhm, yes...but you can always learn, now what else has he done not correct?" "OOH OOH!" squeaked Belle. "He made the i's too big!" "I thought I was drawing a fish!" cried FG. "It's not a FISH you dummy KHHHAHAHHAAHAHA!" "But it looks totally like one, look you draw your i like that, an-" "NOOOOOO you silly, you do it like THIS!" "...ohhhhhhh...right, gotcha, I guess that means i is for idiot then." "PFFFTHEEHEEHAHAAHAHA!" Whilst language was important to them in learning the written alphabet, first aid was absolute priority and Dahlia relished it, rehashing her lesson over and over by simple knots and proper slings. She also taught them the basics of disinfectant, tourniquets with the help of a velociraptor "bleeding" tomato sauce, and also CPR. Belle was exceptional at this, fully realising her role in wanting to heal not to hurt. James wondered if it was just a Nu-Mou thing, the way she was much more cautious but at the same time kindly towards her patient. Lu was too rough, and made her tourniquets too tight to the point of hurting FG's arm, whilst Blum was somewhat better at tying them right and also using her sharp sensitive hearing to detect a heartbeat more correctly. But she also kept forgetting her disinfectant and proper procedure, always getting a little mixed up when it came to doing things by a certain order. James noted this and decided to do something different with her, wanting her to learn how to focus properly. That's when Dahlia suggested archery as a good measure of focus, noticing how sharp Blum's eyesight was for her natural throwing skills. With a small bow and a pack of blunthead arrows, he tried to see if perhaps forcing her to learn patience and accuracy would help her mind become more stable. The first few times obviously did not go well, especially when James himself was the target holding an apple above his head. More than twice did he get shot near the eye, and it was only after two days that she was finally able to hit the apple using the same focus for when throwing her rope. James and Dahlia did not sleep in the cottage but rather at the boarding house quarters of the Equestrian as part of their paid room service.

After a month-and-a-half of training since they first met, he was ready to unveil a special new day after all the progress they had gone through. The day started out as per usual, Dahlia making them breakfast whilst they ate and talked about usual things, a good serving of bacon and eggs fried up by the assistance of James. The girls had not gotten up yet but the raptor went to wake them if the smell of bacon had not already. On this day however, he heard a most beautiful sound coming from one of their rooms. A girl singing sweetly, one he had heard many times before but for the first time dared to approach. "This beautiful daaaaaaaay, simple and so sweeeeeeeet, I hear the sun siiiiiing 'sweet harmonyyyyyyy'...praise Faaaaaraaaaaam's warmth, love for my friends, love for their friends, sing the melodyyyy ooooof theeeee, holy-suuuuuuuun. This beautiful daaaaaaaay, sweet and softly freeeeeee, like the butterrrrrrflyyyyyy-EEEK!" "GUH-um...good morning!" James had come a little too close to the door as the boards creaked underneath his feet, seeing Belle had been brushing her hair in front of the mirror whilst singing. The girl turned away steaming red with embarrassment as he tried to calm her. "That was beautiful Belle." "U-u-um...s-sorry." "No don't be sorry, that was wonderful, that was the most beautiful voice I ever heard!" "N-no it's not..." "Awww don't be modest. Come on that's incredible, how come you never told me?" "...I didn't think you wanted to." "What, not hear the most enchanting voice in all of Lea Monde?" She blushed more intently, cheeks clasped by her small white hands as she whimpered whilst James stayed at the door leaning against its frame. "Seriously that's incredible, you ever tried going pro with that?" "Um...not really, I don't think I could..." "Awwww...the world's missing out on your voice you know, anyways, breakfast is ready so come on and eat." "Okay." Walking back to the kitchen, he waited for the three girls to come through, with Belle the only one who was clean and brushed. Blum had just brushed her hair whilst Lu had barely bothered with a severe case of bed-head mushing up her hair. Dahlia was not impressed, simply tapping her foot at the two girls. "Whaaaat?" "You know the rules girls, no breakfast until you clean yourselves up." "Uuuuuuuugh, no one's gonna SEE us eat, that's creepy!" "I will, and so will Mr. James here, remember you are still citizens of Ivalice and must look proper towards society. Now please, clean yourselves up before the bacon gets cold." "Fiiiiiine." The two girls pushed off the table and cleaned themselves up, taking the barest minimum of three minutes before returning somewhat better-cleaned and tucking into their food. James and Dahlia shared a look as the kids ate everything on their plate, the raptor and nu-mou taking more time before finishing up and cleaning the dishes. He shared some small conversation with the nu-mou adult at the kitchen sink. "It's like we're husband and wife," said FG. "Heeheehee, strange isn't it?" "Yeah...thanks for helping me on this." "Not at all I love doing this, much more safe than dealing with monsters any day of the week." "Hehehe, right...you know Belle's an amazing singer, have you heard her?" "Oh, yes actually I have heard her singing before, she has such a wonderful voice." "Seriously, but she's all shy about it." "I know," said the nu-mou mournfully, "the poor thing, such a gift she has." "She seems really nervous that people will think she sounds terrible but that's impossible, she got a voice like an angel." "Hmmmm...well, I have spoken to her about it, we must find a way to boost her confidence up and I think I know how to." "Really?" "Oh yes, I have been doing my best to encourage her and hopefully one day I can find a good opportunity for it." "Awesome."

With dishes done he walked back to the table and sat with the three kids as they were talking about something completely irrelevant, Lu being the centre of attention as she narrated something haphazardly. "And then, he just stood on the bug and it SHRIEKED at him and he was like FARAM HELP ME an' he fell right on his butt and dropped all his books!" "PFFFT seriously?!" cried Blum. "It was HILARIOUS, it was the best joke EVER an' he just looks around like it wasn't there an' picks up his books and ran off." "Why'd you do that?" asked Belle. "You scared him." "He's a JERK that's why, he pushed me out of the way callin' me a dirty waif, I'm not a waif, what the heck's a waif?!" "Um, it's like a word for orphan?" "But I'm not DIRTY!" "You kinda are." "WHA-whose side are you on?!" "I'm just saying it can't be an insult if it's true!" "She got a point there," said Blum. "You stay out of this!" shouted Lu. "You're no cleaner than me!" "Wha-HEY!" "What, it can't be an insult if it's true, RIGHT Belle?!" "D-don't pick on me," cried the nu-mou, "I'm just saying!" "Alright alright," said FG, "let's calm down, save your breath for fighting. We don't have much left to cover and it's only about a few weeks until Mrs. Imrie comes back." "Are you gonna stay around mister James?" "Maybe, depends on what my clan wants to do, I mean I am leader after all I need to consider everyone's decisions." "How old ARE you anyway?" asked Lu brusquely. "Uhhhh...lessee, been four months since here...six back in the last place...umnuhnuhhh-thirty-two, thirty-three I must be." "You can't remember how old you are?!" "Look I don't have a calendar on me like everywhere I go, I haven't even celebrated my birthday in like two years cuz I've been travelling all over." "You missed yer BIRTHDAY?!" cried Blum. "Well that's what happens out on the road, you miss a lot of things when you're out helping other people. I don't mind." "B-but...but, what about presents a-a-and cake!?" "Pfft, not had THAT in ages." He leaned back slightly and reminisced on the last time he had any cake and presents, which was most certainly back when he was with Koopin letting his mind wander. "I was back someplace safe...with the one I love...made a nice chocolate cake from my uh...lover's mom, she made this wonderful thing that was...even had purple icing on the top so it was brown and purple like me hahahaha...they all gave me a present even. Klair made a song for me, something really...soft and sweet...felt kinda sad." His mind's eye began turning misty as Dahlia came close to listen, the children cocking their heads all at once out of curiosity. "Shelldon gave me a vide-um...memstone, yeah heh, of something I always wanted, some event I...wanted to see. Koopin......gave me peace." "Peace?" asked Lu. "From...a lot of things...ugh, yanno what, birthdays are overrated sometimes, they don't have to be big festivities, you know what's important? Being around the people you love, you don't have to have cake or presents, so long as you're with those who love you. That's what I learned." "That's a very sweet thing to say," said Dahlia, "and a lesson we could all learn." "Awww are we in class already?!" cried Blum. "My head's not even woke up yet!" "Ohohoho noooo no of course not. James, don't you have something outside for you to do?"

He perked up on hearing this as the nu-mou winked, smiling widely as he nodnodded in response. He did not think she had been able to get the stuff so soon but it was perfect timing, something to really perk him up with as he said: "Heeeey uh girls? I think I got something for you I left outside, out near the iron pole?" "Really?" said Belle softly. "Mmhmm...how about we all go look?" They quickly got up and ran outside towards the iron pole, leaping over the stone path without trouble as they began investigating. Nothing was out of the ordinary, a simple sturdy beam wedged into the ground for their leg-strengthening exercises as a gentle breeze came flowing in from the early morning rise. But then they heard a voice behind them. A most rascally voice that carried a sneer in its tone, making them tense up at the nautical tone. "So...thought ye three could get away from me hmmm?!" The three gasped before they turned with amazement at who they saw before him. They could not believe who it was, something spooled from their imagination as they squealed excitably. "Oh NO!" "IT'S HIM!" "HOW DID HE GET HERE?!" Resplendent in an all-new different attitude, James flourished himself with villainous flair. He now wore an eyepatch over his left eye, his upper body partly covered in a thin cloak as he introduced himself wickedly. An old foe they had apparently claimed to have fought before, but now given flesh "Aye, it is I! The dreaded pirate Finale!" "Huh?!" said Lu. "You can't fool us, we know yer TRUE name Blackteeth!" "HAH, well it's high time we change things aroun' here, cuz I'm about to put the Finale on yer miserable short lives, an' I'm about to make sure ye three'll never be heard from again!" The girls readied themselves into battle stances, pulling out their own wooden swords from their bags, dagger-length to James but enough for them. They made sure to bring out their best pre-battle insults before wielding their weapons sturdily. "We'll see about THAT, mopface!" cried out Lu. "Guess you didn't learn yer listen from last time huh?!" "YEAH!" added Blum. "Get ready fer a butt-kickin' you'll never forget!" "HAH!" cried FG. "Come an' face me Cupid Mark Crusaders! Let us settle this, once and for all!" The battle soon commenced, the sunlight framing their shaded silhouettes as birds flapped from the rooftops with rapt attention at the strange battle. The Cupid Mark Crusaders fanned out around the raptor, pincering him in as he readied into a defensive stance. He still remembered his sword training days with Glenn, but he wasn't going to use all of it. He just wanted to give them a good chance to prove themselves.

Lu, being the most strong-headed of the three, charged at him first, readily aiming for his knee only to slice at the air when he strafed easily to one side. He tapped the back of her head harmlessly as a "hit", causing her to overreact playfully with a yelp. Blum followed up and tried to go straight at his chest, but he clashed against her, sword upon sword before pushing her away. Belle stuck around to the side as support, waiting for the opportunity to strike unseen. The moogle and the viera kept the raptor busy, doubling up on him with dual strikes left and right, sometimes crossing over in a rather skilfully choreographed move. One particular move was a double-cross strike, making an X in the ground before striking at one single point. James however was ready to guard, and deflected both of them at the same time. However, their combined force was enough to make him fall backwards with a stumble, right into Belle's range for her to smack his tail with a cute little slash. "Arrrrrgh you filthy bilge-rats!" "Give it up!" said the nu-mou with a boost, "you can't defeat all three of us together!" "HAH, you wanna bet that with yer life?!" He turned and faced Belle, trying to look as intimidating as a saturday morning villain, harmless but wild-eyed. He used his tail to keep the other two away as he advanced on the nu-mou, who balked and whimpered. Seeing she was the least brave of the three, his eyes softened on instinct as he allowed himself open for attack. In turn she saw her opportunity, as she galloped forwards with the barest vigour and struck him on the knee. It was barely enough to hurt him, far less than he made it out to be as he collapsed onto one knee. "GARGH, you-NNGH...you'll pay fer that!" "I-i'm not afraid of you!" "Hah...lies, you can't defeat me-DOW!" He had forgotten about the other two, as Lu leapt onto his head and slammed it into the soft grass with the barest of bruises, whilst Blum poked him in the side several times before he threw them off and stood up once again. He breathed heavily, clutching his chest as if it had been wounded before readying his stance once again. Lu vaulted for him, standing on two legs with sword down to the left of her body, crying out fiercely: "RAINBOOOOOW SLASH!" Her wings flapped uselessly to give her an extra boost as she streaked past the pirate raptor with an incredible speed, far more than he expected. She managed to score a good sweeping slash past him, straight across his belly as she skidded along the ground by his feet. He reacted a second later, the speed of the cut just catching up with him as he dramatically roared and kneeled. He wasn't down and out yet, and readily charged towards Blum in a stumbling run. He struck the viera with a small delay at the end of his swing to scrape his sword across her side, making her roll over and cry out in false agony. "NOOOOO!" "BLUUUUM!" Lu cried out and charged once again, but James was ready and clashed hard with her sword before lightly smacking her down with a face-cut. She fell in turn, determined but unable to get up from her fictional wound, crying out. "Nooooo!" "Hahahaha, what now fillies?! Ahhh, of course, now yer next, little nu-mou." She whimpered at having to face him alone, her knees buckling slightly as she tried to stare up at him. But her friends called out their support from their wounded positions. "B-belle!" squawked Lu. "You can do it! He's weak in the belly, get him!" "Y-yeah," cried Blum, "don' let 'im win, or he'll hang us from his sails!" "I-i-i can't!" squeaked Belle. "I can't do it alone!" "We believe in you!" "Enough!" James cut the banter short with a villainous sneer. "Show me what you got Belle."

She closed her eyes and squealed an adorable cry of vengeance before charging ahead with sword in hand. James pretended to attack, clearly overshooting and missing her completely as she struck for his belly, a good solid smack of the dull sword to send him crashing down in a spinning fall. "NNYAAAARGH!" He fell heavily, breathing hard and looking at the girls with overdramatic anger. "YOU...BILGE-RATS! I'll...gut you fer garters on my sails!" "Not anymore!" cried out Blum. She had managed to recover, as did Lu, the two of them faking wounded limps as they hobbled over to the raptor, who snarled at the three. "You ain' gittin' away this time! Now we put an end to you, avengin' all them poor souls you taken!" "Worthless little whelp, I'll have my vengeance yet!" "This ends now!" With one mighty thrust straight beneath James' armpit, the raptor clenched her wooden blade between arm and chest as he cried an agonisingly-overwrought death cry. With one stuttering thrust of his chest, he fell back against the grass, mouth agape in false death. The dreaded pirate Finale was no more, slain by the noble Cupid Mark Crusaders. The three united with a celebratory victory pose, triple-high-hoofing each other before dancing in a circle, jubilant at having slain their fictional foe. "WE DID IT!" "WE DID IT!" "WE BEAT THE PIRATE KING!" "CUPID MARK CRUSADER PIRATE SLAYERS GOOOOOOO!" "...you girls really go overboard don't you?" James chuckled from his death pose, handing back Blum's sword before rolling onto his side with a chuckle. The three girls giggled, a little embarrassed before jumping with joy. "That was AWESOME!" cried out Lu. "Yeah!" said Belle, "I mean, did you see the way I knocked him down for that final blow?!" "Totally!" agreed Blum, "You're awesome mistah James, we not had a good fight like that in a looooong time!" "Hahaha, well I'm glad you had fun, been ages since I had a good time like that. NOW...I have a special gift for you. Wanna know what it is. "Sure!" cried out all three as the raptor got up. Moving back into the house, he went to the storage room where a small case had been put aside as Dahlia noticed what it was. She realised upon seeing the armoury symbol on the top of it as she put a hand on his arm nervously, asking: "Are you...sure they're ready for this?" "They know responsibility," said FG, "trust me." "But...I don't think-" "I know you're worried but they're not cruel, they would never do bad by it." "I know that...but...children are fickle, you've only been with them a month and a half, should we really do this without their usual teacher around? Did you ask the church this was alright?" "I did, I asked Mariel about it and she thought it was a good idea and even set out a nice plan for me. Something of a small field trip she scoped out for me whilst reading up on things." Her eyes widened with anxiety upon realising what he meant, shivering with alacrity. "Y-you-...you're really going to do this?! Th-that's dangerous!" "Kids need to know danger, in a world like this you've got to learn how to survive, we're just going down to some nice easy place there's no dangers enough to hurt them too badly." "I'm coming with you then," said Dahlia firmly, "I won't let you take those children off somewhere without needing assistance." "Alright. GIRLS!"

The three girls looked up as the raptor stepped forwards out from the cottage house. Holding a medium-sized red box in his hands somewhat resembling a jewellery case, he bent down on one knee as if offering a marriage proposal, cautiously opening it. Inside were three steel blades the length of short swords, each one of them inscribed with a special marking for each of the three girls along with a scabbard for each. A feather, a bow and a musical note on the handguard separating both sword and hilt. The girls were incredulous with astonishment, how they glinted so in the light tantalisingly murmuring: "Woooooooooooooow!" "These are your new blades," said FG. "I've been planning this for the past month so that when you were ready, you would have these blades. BUT!" He snapped the case shut away from them as they looked up fearfully. "I want you to promise me, one thing. Never. EVER. Use these blades to hurt those undeserving. When you take these swords, you will promise me under oath that you will only ever use them to defend the weak and helpless, to never kill those unarmed or weaker than you. To stand against evil and against monsters, not some playground fight. That's where your wooden swords come in, but with these blades...these are serious. These are not toys, they are tools and they are LETHAL weapons. Promise me." He opened the case as Dahlia looked on nervously. "Promise me you will do no wrong by them." They all took their swords along with their new scabbards to fit around the waist. They held them curiously, almost fearfully, rubbing their fingers along the length of the blade and becoming frightened by how sharp they were. James did not say anything, simply cold with utmost serious expression as the three of them said all at once: "I promise." "Repeat after me," said James. "I swear on oath, that I will not take the blood of an innocent by this blade. That I will protect the weak, that I will fight against all evil no matter where it may be. I hold this sword as a warrior, not as a child, and I will always ALWAYS treat it thusly." "I swear on oath, that I will not take the blood of an in-no-cent by this blade. That I will protect the weak, that I will fight against all evil no matter where it may be. I hold this sword as a warrior, not as a child, and I will always ALWAYS treat it...thusly." "Good. Now...why don't we go on a little field trip?" "H-huh?" "You swore your oath, now I want to see if you can uphold it. Whilst we were training, I found some monsters that need to be dealt with off in Snowfly Forest. And I need some extra blades to help me handle it." "You...a-are you," stuttered Blum, "asking us to take yer mark?" "That's right, this is your first mission as Clan Cupid Mark Crusader...that really gonna be your title?" "It always is!" said Lu. "That's what we agreed on!" "Heh...alright then, do you accept?" "We DO! We're ready to go anytime mister James!" "Excellent, Dahlia will accompany us as white mage so when you're ready we'll all head out." "I'm ready!" said Blum. "Me too!" said Lu. "I-i think so," said Belle. "I just need a few minutes," said Dahlia, "then we can all head out together. Where exactly are we going James?" "Just a nice easy stroll down the forest," replied FG, "I found a good place where we can test out our skills sooo let's do this gang!" With swords out and ready to fly, the Cupid Mark Crusader group followed FG out of the orphanarium quarters and to the outskirts of the city, with Dahlia following up behind them cautiously. It would have been a big risk, but James was earnest in proving his capability along with the three children. After handling a wasteland full of worse creatures, he was much more confident than ever in teaching the next generation how to handle themselves with the means of combat and survival.