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Over the next few days, whilst Kruz remained in Balfonheim on shore leave, James and the kremling captain caught up greatly with each other after narrating all his adventures to him. A few nights of drinking, raucous revelry and heartfelt companionship, helped restrengthen their bonds by the time he was ready to leave. It was also time for James to meet his crew in turn, once they all started coming back onto the ship in droves of up to 87 mixed Ivalicians, from moogles to humes to bangaa to seeq to nu-mou, with the oft-rarer instance of a viera here or there. But James was more concerned however by the results of Fayne's operation. When morning came and it was time to leave, the bangaa slowly hobbled his way up the gangplank with the telltale sound of a metallic thunk. Navarro and Dahlia walked in line beside him, along with the five chocobos on deck, trying not to look pitying upon Fayne as he revealed his new right foot beneath his robe, a sigh heavy from the bishop's heart as Baldwin kept by his side just in case he fell. Not that the new foot was any worse for it made a solid counterpart to his other foot as the cleric leaned more heavily on his staff, whilst stepping forwards. While the foot itself was of a rust-resistant iron, it had been painted in such a way to resemble his other foot, claws and all. From a distance Fayne looked no worse for wear other than by a slight unknown limp, but upon closer examination one could tell where the gloss of paint had been. It was a commendable effort regardless and frankly James had expected a simple wooden stop as Clan Koridai finally stepped on deck, the kremling bowing to the moogle deputy as he sweeped off his hat, the captain in full dress upon greeting his newest guests. "Welcome aboard the Broken Petal, madame. My crewmember here will show you to your cabins." "Thank you kupo." "You are free to roam the ship except for a few certain areas, namely the armoury and engine room." "Armoury? You have weapons?" "Of course, what good would I be if I could not defend my people or this cargo? Should we ever be in battle I advise you to stay in your rooms." "You do realise we are also armed ourselves, kupo." "I do, but unless you can fight at long distance then your skills in battle will not be needed...that is unless an enemy ship should choose to come within stabbing range." "If one ever did then we will fight alongside you." "I appreciate that, madame." With firm handshake of great respect between captain and clan deputy, she headed down below deck with Dahlia behind her as a crewmember guided them to their rooms, whilst Fayne hobbled his way up towards Kruz forcing a polite smile, nodding humbly before him with a tip of his hat. "Good morning," said the captain. "How's your foot?" "Very...odd," replied Fayne, "but your friend I am very thankful to, he made incredible work. I am...unused to the feeling of a dead foot." "You get used to it, I had to deal with my hand before, but I can't say it's any easier for a foot." "I have...pains...from where my foot had...once been. Even though I know that I no longer have it...I ache for it badly." "Ahhhh, phantom pain, that can happen but I can help with that. It looks good though, I can barely tell the difference!" "Hah...thank you, again, for the favour my good captain." "Oh definitely," replied Baldwin, "I wasszh really worried but it looksszh way better than I thought, thank you!" "My pleasure," said Kruz formally, "if you need assistance just ask one of my crewmembers. We'll be taking off shortly so take your time and rest." "Thank you."

The two bangaas bowed before being led down to their rooms as Kruz walked over towards James and patpatted him on the back, seeing the chocobos get taken down to where the stable dock was for carrying livestock. Taking the raptor up towards the helm where the steering wheel stood bravely against the winds, he smiled at his former crewmate noting: "Yer right about yer chocobos, they don't smell that bad even." "I told you," replied FG. "Okay but remember yer deal, you gotta clean up. So, ready to fly Rex?" "Aw hell yeah, let's do this!" "Once we got everybody in place we'll take off proper. I want you up here fer this, you ever flown an airship before?" "Nope, can't say I have." "Then yer gonna love this, soon as my first mate gets here." "Alright...so, what were they singing about you, the hero of the Karmesan Rift?" "Ohhhh yeah, they added that! I didn' wanna buff myself up too much but they insisted." "You some kinda hero now?" "To them I am. I saved them from slavery." "What?!" "I'll explain later, I gotta get the ship ready to fly." It was a few minutes later when he did, the first mate being a rather smooth-faced mid-30s hume of a paling tan and square head, a man more suited for the role of being a knight than anything else. With short hair almost perfectly cut like a ridged lawn, he wore a light suit of thin-plated armour that James thought he recognised as being like that of the border crossing guards. James was wary, but the hume saluted Kruz without a second thought and put his hands behind his back with utmost diligence. "Sir, all crew is shipshape and ready to go." "Good," said Kruz, "cargo all locked?" "Livestock and supplies intact captain." "Alright, time to sail Tennyson, so just give the order." The sturdy military-looking hume turned towards the ship and roared with full authority like a drill instructor. "ALL HANDS ON DECK! SET SAAAAAAAAIL!" From above the rigging crew had unbuckled the sails allowing them to flap briefly in the wind before fully unfurling, tied down once again upon being exposed to the wind. But then James noticed something odd when the sails did not actually receive the wind itself, but rather became suddenly infused by a powerful burst of magic shuddering through their forms. The twin masts now became like beacons of light, shimmering powerfully as the entire ship started to rumble with a great unusual power as Kruz commanded: "SKYSTONE! ACTIVAAAAATE!" As if obeying by his command, the entire ship lurched upwards slowly as James staggered on his feet. Kruz gripped tightly upon the wheel as the power of the Broken Petal transcended throughout the ship, his hat fluttering upon the steady breeze as his fingers glided across the navigation panel. Pulsating with life, the two masts glowed brighter than ever above before showering the sails themselves with magic, a radiant amber sparkling within its bosom as if breathing life into them, the brigantine groaning with life as they soon left the port behind. The raptor had not even noticed until he saw the horizon start to sink down beneath the ship, looking over the side with wonder before he saw the four circular steel rings extend out from underneath the ship. Groaning as they locked into place barely on opposite sides of the stern and bow, each one of them had two pipes pointing directly behind them like exhaust as they began firing up with an intense golden light shrieking with utmost power. Then he realised what was feeding it.

The sails themselves were pulsating the magic out towards each of the four rings, pumping energy into them as the raptor saw the sails glimmer with a hidden symbol, a sigil that had been woven secretly inside the fabric. Much to his shock, which caused him to laugh abruptly, it was the Kremling symbol itself of a crocodilian skull glowing with magic aura. But one thing was different for instead of crossbones, there now lied two roses crossed over each other beneath the skull, with thorny stalks pulsating magic directly towards each of the four rings. It was then that he felt the sudden blast of energy from behind as the Broken Petal fired up its real engine from below and thrusted upwards towards the sky, the kremling captain controlling the navigation by the console. A smile grew on his face as he watched James struggling to comprehend the lurching speed of the airship, the captain holding the wheel steady by his hook as he pulled back two levers with his one right hand, gauging the force of his ship's engine carefully. The hume first mate, Tennyson, simply balanced to lean with every jutter the ship made, stern-faced and unblinking. "SET SAAAAAAAAIL FOR BHUJERBA!" roared Kruz. "STARBOARD FORTY-NINE!" cried a voice from his console. "ROTATE FORTY-FIVE DEGREE ENGINE, PORT SIDE!" "AYE AYE CAPTAIN!" "YOU ENJOYING THIS REX!? KHHAAAAAAHAHAHAHA, HAAAAA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA!" Kruz was loving this, screaming with laughter like a madman as he rode wild upon the wind with such intense speed that James had almost never felt. On a starship from the Citadel and back, in galaxy far far away, he would never have felt such power from the smooth precision of their engineering. But on an airship such as this, of Ivalician technology, he had never felt such a rush like in all of his life. He was loving it too, and so he stood by Kruz gleeful like a child, a lost boy searching for adventure all over again as a blindingly brilliant shower of magic transcended across the entire ship, coating it in an amber veil that almost left him weightless by its touch. All across the sky of Ivalice were other ships off in the distance, trading vessels, military frigates maintaining the law or what little of it remained up in the clouds as Kruz steered cautiously. He saw islands far below, small and insignificant along with even tinier trails of water showing where sailing vessels went to and fro. The sails barely fluttered, no more than a transistor of magic as a constant gentle hum permeated the entire ship, the rushing trails of exhaust from all eight pipes underneath sending it straight ahead. James gazed over the console itself, a half-circle of steel in a slight depression upon the deck like a small inch-deep pit, with four levers, sixteen buttons and an intercom to the lower deck presumably. The wheel however took main priority over everything else, a solid wooden construct directly tied to the steering system of the ship. Whichever way Kruz steered the ship, the pipes cautiously turned along with him as if acting like a rudder, as well as the main rudder behind that diverted the flow of power from the ship's main engine. It was a wondrous feeling of freedom, the full sensation of power tremulent beneath their feet with the wind across their cheeks, a feeling they had both longed to feel standing side by side once again. Clouds zipped past them above and below, other ships came roaring with foghorn calls both warning and greeting fellow passersby, to which Kruz bellowed his call in turn with a lever he pulled. The sky unending all around them, the land of Ivalice stretching far beyond their eyes could see turning crystal clear by the minute. Tennyson the first mate stood unmoving until his next order came through, the riggers hanging from the mast and crow's nest where the spotter stood watch with high-powered telescope. Occasionally birds flew past them in mid-migration or feeding runs crying out as the crow's nest spotter waved back to them, a rather jubilant-looking young bangaa of incredibly pale yellow. Once he felt almost certain that he was on the right course, the captain handed the wheel over to a nu-mou who had arrived on deck, a learned-looking pale-furred female in red cloak. "Michelle, keep her on course. Tennyson, you're dismissed but if you need me, come find me at my cabin." "Aye-aye sir."

The hume and the nu-mou saluted whilst she took the wheel cautiously making sure of the speed they were at as Kruz patted James on the back and took him down to main deck. The first mate departed to his own private quarters with stridant posture, keeping an eye on the various crew members rushing back and forth with various duties. All around him he saw a hive of activity, moogles with supplies in their hands, bangaas on the rigging checking tautness of the sails, humes and nu-mous interlacing paths with rope or even just scrubbing the deck. "Who was that first mate of yours?" asked FG. "Tennyson?" replied Kruz. "Best guy I ever known in this world, can't really take a joke but that makes him a good first mate." "He's uh...Archadian isn't he?" "Not as much as most people think, trust me he's cool. We all got a story here Rex so why don't I introduce you to the more prominent members of my crew? You met Tennyson obviously, don't worry about introductions I'll have the two of you meet formally when we're not so busy." "And the nu-mou at the helm?" "That's Michelle, my helmsman, she has a good sense of direction that girl, always knows which way is north. Come on, let's head below deck." Taking James down to the lower decks which indeed all had wood panelling on the inside, the narrow passageways gave him a rather disturbing flashback to his time on the Gangplank Galleon. It even had ramps instead of stairs allowing true accessibility for all disabled folk, possibly within the crew as James noted the odd peg-leg or so but rarely amongst Kruz's people. The voices hollering from below deck as people stomped back and forth echoing along halls, the faint smells of food and weaponry, it all came back to him. Taking James to the kitchen, he introduced him to a surprisingly eloquent mixture of meals allowing a very well-balanced diet but never entering the room, the captain pulling him back against the doorway out of sight. Fruit was a necessity along with vegetables but of course meat took the biggest interest along with the eight workers lined up in white, the largest being a bluebacked Seeq with pinned-back ears alongside two smaller versions of him. They bantered gladly between each other snorting and laughing but James also noticed one lean bald hume meticulously stirring a pot, his jaw almost creeping out of his entire skull. "This here's my kitchen staff," murmured Kruz, "Marshuk is the big guy, the seeq with a tongue more refined than anybody else on this ship. His two brothers handle alongside him an' then you got the sous-chef Hansel that hume over there." "What's their story?" asked FG. "Marshuk was the sommelier of a fine Rabanastran restaurant, but the guy who owned it ran off with all the money and the place became bankrupt. His brothers he looked after thanks to his job, but without any support I took 'em all on here to work together cuz they got no one else." "What about the guy stirring the soup?" "Hansel there...is a prolific assassin. Said to have been the one behind the Liver Street Massacre, twenty-seven Rozarrian executives found dead at a hotel. With no evidence, they had to rule it a mass suicide since there were no witnesses, no entry broken into the rooms, but they were all poisoned by the same drink." "...and you...have him on board your ship?" "He's a fantastic sous-chef, worked fifteen years in Rozarria an' been with me fer three. I barely know anything about him other than what he told me. But he had reasons, he's not some psycho, he said those people were responsible for many lives ruined an' he wuz takin' justice. I liked his style an' turns out later that they had been involved in high-profile embezzlement, so-" "Clearly." "Alright let's head down to the armoury."

The armoury was more of a laboratory than anything seeing what were the ship's cannons now tucked away in storage, almost entirely handled by a staff of moogles. They didn't look anything like cannons to FG, more resembling strange laser transmitters fuelled by an unusual powdered mix towards a grand forge where all energy seemed to channel from to the weapons. There also was of course a variety of swords and even guns like the one Kruz wore on his belt underneath his cloak. They appeared to resemble ancient flintlocks like James saw in old movies set much further back in history, except with large handles to hold more pellets like an internal magazine, giving both modern and antique look to them. "These moogles are all the same family," said Kruz. "They were a circus troupe called the Fabulous Furry Fantasists an' specialised in daring feats. Experts in shooting, they sold out six weeks in Nabudis fer their death-defying stunts of shootin' apples off each other's heads...whilst they were trapezing." "Hahaha holy fuck," gasped FG. "Their parents were engineers an' wanted to do more excitin' stuff so they made their family a circus and operate out of Bhujerba. Now they work mainly fer me." "Life is too short kupo!" cried one dirt-faced moogle in reply. "Home life may be good and so is steady pay but life is about FUN and excitement!" "Kupo-kuree!" The entire room shouted out with practiced unison as the kremling captain shrugged smirking before taking him along towards one special room. A room simply called Navigation, it was an entire array of wall charts and mapped constellations circulating around the globe, with one central square table showing the entire map of Ivalice properly. James recognised the odd symbols around the world of Ivalice to be that of the Zodiac, from old dumb daytime TV when people would debate about horoscopes though he barely remembered more than three of the names. The room also strangely had four slatted holes where the wind from outside whistled in, but only when one allowed it by pulling up the slot covering. Only three people stood in this room, two brown-scaled bangaas and a hume. The hume who seemed to be at the head of it wore a dark blue cloak, perhaps a mage of some sort with spectacles and a well-trimmed beard covering cheek to cheek. Currently he was poring over the table scribbling fervently with a deep focus, the other two bangaas rearranging the wallcharts in order to portray the constellations correctly. "This here is Rzepka," said Kruz formally, "our chief cartographer." "Uhh hi! OH, captain!" The hume waved nervously before realising who was in the room before saluting properly, putting down his pencil. "Cartographer?" asked FG. "I make maps," said the hume, "it's uhh great to meet you, are you the new guests we have on the ship?" "Yeah I'm James, nice to meet you." He shook hands soon as he was offered as the captain chuckled, the raptor asking: "You really drew all these?" "Well yeah, I mean...kind of my job to navigate the ship." "Navigate?" "I tell navigation where the wind's going, what direction, what's new on the horizon, I map all this out, lay the course so we can fly nice and safe." "And the constellations?" "Well that's part of it, I have to keep with the days passing, changing our positions, I got a lot to handle here." "And you handle it well," replied Kruz, "Rzepka's steered me through the world better than anyone else thanks to his maps, kid's amazing." Blushing with an awkward grin, the mage rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "I'm not THAT good." "Hahaha, modest...and probably one of the few people on here that doesn't actually have a past criminal record." "That's...not really something I like to claim, captain." "I know...anyways, if you ever need a good reference on any places down in Ivalice, you let him know...but actually I wanna show you, Rzepka can you give me a demonstration of where we are currently?" "Heh, I was just about to do that just needed to...fix a couple things hang on." Feeling nervous as if he was on centre stage the cartographer drew out the last points he needed, brushing his pencil along the tabletop yet James never saw any lines being actually made. Once he was finished, Rzepka slowly put out both his hands over the main table and summoned a strange amber light from his fingertips, swirling across the entire table as the map became more complex in detail. It was a bizarre sight to see, the map deepening at first as if it were actually made of rock and water before slowly it began to ripple and undulate like a whirlpool.

The cartographer closed his eyes and flicked his fingers to the south and to the west opening up the slats in the walls allowing the wind to come brushing in. None of the charts blew away being tacked down but the map suddenly twisted faster underneath. As if concocting a spell from a cauldron, Rzepka chanted silently as the world of Ivalice unveiled slowly before them, sprouting, lurching forth into a full three-dimensional diagram of the entire world, or at least a corner of it. Even more surprisingly, the raptor saw tiny ships fluttering on the breeze like flies in the diagram as the map zoomed in towards the Balfonheim region. The Broken Petal itself was now shown as floating across the sky as a tiny little airship, viewed from above as well as from the side depending on one's perspective. James had not seen a sight so wondrous since the galaxy, afraid to speak lest he break Rzepka's concentration. The mage brought up his pencil and showed what it truly was, a magic marker in the literal sense as he drew out trajectories of various ships whilst saying: "Sou'west...on course, Bhujerba one moon, two suns away...frigate leaving out of range, pass to Archadia behind east of us...sailing vessels, mark six-four-nine south of us, four of them...storm's coming in from the north come three days." "Any battle?" "No...not today." "Good. Alright we'll stay on course but any battle flags up, you notify me." "Aye aye captain." The map slowly deteriorated back to the humble two-dimensional table as Rzepka opened up his eyes once more, the slats closing by his hand as the raptor was simply awestruck with mouth wide open, stuttering: "H-how...how did...how did you do that?" "I love making maps," shrugged Rzepka humbly, "kinda my gift, but I really studied as an Astrologer back in college, charting the stars and all that? Kinda helps a lot when you're navigating out on a ship and really I found that, my ability to chart them sorta worked really well for this." "What's the deal with the slats?" "The wind...kinda tells me what's out there, I can't explain it, I just...I see it all in front of me and normally I don't HAVE to make a diagram come out like that unless I really want you to see it." "That why you just...drawing all over the table and it's not making any lines?" "Yep. I see them, but you can't unless I make you see them when I make it all come out, sorta bring you the night sky...I know that sounds kinda sappy." "It makes you important," said Kruz, "least to me you are, it makes you an artist. I can navigate the ship well enough but with you, I can navigate fate itself." "...th-thanks captain." Rzepka smiled sweetly with beard creasing as he rubbed the back of his head once more before getting back to his work, the kremling bowing to him and taking FG out of the Navigation room. Heading further into the bowels of the ship, the sounds of engineering came quite clearly to their ears as the humming of the pipes increased with audacity. The central engine room was the most scientific place in all of the ship.

Twenty-five people milling about constantly in tight-looking garbs constantly besmirched by oils, powder and various magical essences that left them rather bitterly stinking of mechanical effluence. Four large generators connected with huge pipelengths to the outside of the ship, presumably for the four rings that kept the Broken Petal afloat. In the very centre however, was one beautifully radiant Skystone. James had never seen one truly until now, but it resembled a glossy block of vanilla ice cream shimmering from within a giant glass chamber, like the golden heart of the ship. It pulsated with energy, keeping everything afloat, channelling energy constantly to all five points including straight above it to where the masts were. James noted a hole above the glass chamber where presumably it pumped straight to the sails, a seemingly complex magical chamber fine-honed by Ivalician engineering. "Woaaaah," was all FG could say. "You like it?" asked Kruz. "Normally nobody's allowed in here or the armoury but seein' it's you I think I can trust you." "Yeah it...wow that's the thing keeping the ship afloat?" "Mmhmm, all twenny-five people here handlin' it. Normally it'd be thirty-five but uh, chief engineer found a way to increase productivity with less people." "You got any good stories about him then?" "WHY DON' I TELL YOU MYSELF KID?!" The voice shouting from across the hall in the midst of the almighty hum of the engine room sounded like an old angry man, stridant towards FG between generators as he gazed upon a rather squat-looking hume. Or at least he thought it was a hume despite the bristlingly huge beard trapped inside of a full-body suit of red, white and yellow giving him the look of a hairy frankenfurter with blue goggles over his eyes. Wearing a snug-looking dirty yellow helmet shaped like a hubcap, the 5'2'' engineer shook his filthy gloved hand, his entire suit appeared to be a onesie stitched together of various fabrics even covering his feet. "Cid Rzepka! At yer service!" "Uh, James Campbell...wait, are you related to-" "YEP, he's my brother! Strange guy ain't he but hooo...what a starcharter he is." "Wow that's uh...man Kruz you got a lot of brothers on this ship." "Not as many as you would think," said Kruz, "Cid what have I told you about taking names?" "WHAT?!" squawked Cid. "That is my name!" "If you have to take somebody else's name, at least take a name you did not use last month. Rzepka almost thought he had to pay over nine-thousand gil for a new hat he didn't order, he was quite upset with you." "What?!" cried FG. "Nine thousand for a HAT?!" "Hats are expensive!" replied Cid. "You know how hard it is to find a stain-resistant cap, I don' want any fluids drippin' on my damn head!" "Wear a hardhat then jeez!" "THIS IS A HARDHAT! It's the one I got on now look, see how nothin' gets through this?! Total, value!" The kremling rolled his eyes and decided to properly introduce the frenetic oddly-matched hume. "James, this is Cid, he's my chief engineer." "He knows that already!" said Cid. "What?! You think the goggles are just fer show?!" "Considering your criminal record, they might as well be." "HAH! Funny, it's only a criminal record if I get caught captain!" "Which you were, multiple times." "Wait what criminal record?" asked FG. "Ohhh you know," said Cid shrugging, "just various occupations I may have claimed to be but not actually have the job classifications of like schoolteacher, a pilot, a judge, a holy swordsman...maaaaybe a royal dignitary once-" "Hhhhahaha, wait, seriously, are you some kinda con man?" "Woah woah now, that's a li'l harsh there! I prefer the term 'mountebank', it sounds completely not like a scam artist." "And you're on this ship because?" "I'm the best damn engineer money can't buy! Literally because because I'm not legally allowed to work especially after all my names got tipped off by authorities." "What names exactly?" "Ohhhh just names like Cid Kramer, Cid Highwind, Cid Marquez, Cid Fabool the Ninth that was the royal dignitary I was once that was great, Cid Previa, Cidolfus Orlandeau that's the name I used when I was in the church, Cid Raines...Cid Randell, that I started out in the new Archadian judges with hhhahahaha they took MONTHS to figure out I wasn't part of 'em, aaaaaand...Cid Aulstyne...never really liked that last one, didn't last long enough."

James could not help but cock his head oddly at the short hume and slightly wince with a pained smirk, whilst Kruz did everything he could not to snigger at the engineer's long list of fabrications before eventually the raptor asked: "Iiiiiii...maybe NOT use the name Cid? Cuz I'm kinda sensing a theme here." "Whadda you talkin' about, there's always a Cid! You can't have a journey without a Cid can't you, that ain't right!" The raptor looked at Kruz disconcertingly as he simply shrugged before asking: "Okaaaaay what's your real name then?" "Rzepka! Cid Rzepka at yer service." "Wha-no you just used that!" "DOH! Fine, I'm sorry it's such a great name I can't help it!" "Just, could you at least pick the name of somebody not on the ship?" "FINE, Roger Bacon!" A moment of silence between all three of them as Cid looked back and forth between the two reptiles. "See, that sounds stupid, you HAVE to have a Cid." "How about not using a surname and we just call you Cid," said Kruz, "because this is getting too complicated." "Alriiiiight alright...jeez yer gettin' too smart on ol' Cid here I tells ya. Anyways, I ain't got no name, least not fer now, but gimme a few months an' I'll think of something." "I can hardly wait. Come on James, let's leave him to handling the one thing this airship's got from crashing into the sea a thousand feet below us." "UH, more like seventeen-thousand feet captain!" "As you were!" Moving back along the hallways, James was soon guided towards the cargo hold, a large assortment of weighed down crates and roped goods in boxes and sacks that spanned the entirety of the undertow. A special section was made for livestock, the five chocobos in medium-sized secured stable pens looking nervously around themselves. The wooden interior was admittedly not as cold and isolated as a steel hull, but the chocobos still seemed rather awkward, chirruping fearfully towards each other despite the room to be able to touch each other. Navarro was already down here, soothing them greatly as she stroked each of their beaks with both hands tenderly, feeding them a supply of greens from a sack. "It's alright kupo...you'll be alright." "Hey Navarro." She turned to see James and the captain standing at the door as she nodded back to them. "Good day. Your ship has an impressive hold, kupo." "Thank you," replied Kruz, "I hope your chocobos are doing well." "They are nervous, not used to being inside an airship but I am here with them. I will make sure they are soothed eventually." "That's good." "I very much appreciate the wooden panelling, it looks much more natural and helps their disposition." "It helps mine too, I never liked steel ships, if I could I would panel the outside too but that would cost more." "Hm." James walked over towards Cadbury who looked at him fiercely, as if insinuating that he was being betrayed by being put in a place like this. "Don't look at me like that," said FG, "you wanna fly alongside the ship?" "KWEH!" "Hey-ey don't get snippy with me, it's not gonna be long, besides once we get to Bhujerba you can all stretch your legs, right?" "KWEHHH!" "Ignore him," said the moogle, "he is frightened of being in a place like this, all of them are, it's not natural for chocobos to be in a sky stable." "I wish I could help more," said Kruz, "but I have my cargo to tend to. James told me you had an artifact on board, is it safe here?" "No, Dahlia has it, we trust her for being the most educated of us, kupo." "I see. Well then, glad you can look after your people, how about I show you to your room James?" "Ahhh sure," said James, "later Navarro." She waved once and went back to feeding her chocobos as James walked off with Kruz heading upwards to the crew quarters. Half the crew were resting up, a break room having been made available to them as one large area where gambling, dancing, reading and small contests of feats would be made against each other. He noticed in particular some card games being played along with armwrestling contests, lifting feats seeing how many crew members could one lift, as well as friends sitting together sharing memories with memstones or whatever books they had.

It certainly was much less raucous than he would expect on a ship, but eventually after passing the shower and bathroom area, which surprisingly was unisex and absolutely clean spick and span, they reached the guest quarters at the end of the hall. A series of four rooms each with two beds for sake of preserving space, with only two dressers on either side next to the beds. A rather spartan-looking set but it had all the basic necessities plus their own bathroom, but only two between four rooms. Fayne and Baldwin were sat up in one room, the bishop lying down to rest his foot as he saw the kremling and raptor enter in as Baldwin stood up, the slightest tense of fists before he relaxed on seeing FG. "Hey." "Hey there," said FG, "how are you guys holding up?" "Not bad. You need sszhomething?" "Just touring around the ship, getting used to my bearings, Kruz here wanted to show me everything." "I had to," said Kruz, "a captain's got to have pride for his ship after all. Fayne, was it?" "Aye," said the cleric, "Fayne...Smithee." "I also wanted to come down because, as a fellow amputee I wanted to offer some advice." "Really?" "He doesszhn't need your help," said Baldwin sternly, "I don't want you pitying him-" "Baldwin. Do not...speak on my behalf, I can do that by my own need." "...s-sszhorry." "That's alright," said Kruz humbly, "you love your brother and want to protect him, that's perfectly understandable. But I also want to make you feel comfortable while on my ship, so if you would." The kremling sat down onto the bed opposite of the one where Fayne laid sighing softly, with James watching still rather puzzled at how eloquent Kruz sounded in what was apparently Ivalician. "Have you been feeling...pains in your foot despite it not being there?" "I have," mumbled Fayne. "They come and go but it...is very burning, hot pain, I feel...as-if that dreadful knife, all over again had never left...hammering through my heel and driving into me..." The bishop took a moment to sigh shakily as if trying not to get upset, clenching and unclenching his hands to calm down as Kruz replied with: "When I lost my hand, the first thing I had to deal with was phantom pain, like you. That's not avoidable but I do know how to help it." "How?" "The best treatment I found, is massaging the limb. The most important thing though, is not to feel stressed, do something that calms you because stress will cause the phantom pain to come back. So maybe you can ask your brother here to help soothe the limb, massage the cutoff point just above where the foot is, that will help." "Very well...I admit that I H-HHHAAAA-AAAAAAGH!" Fayne suddenly shot up and cried out gripping his right foot tightly with hot pains burning through his ankle, before feeling the cold iron and realising what just happened. With deepened shame running through him he slowly started to weep, putting his hands up to his face shaking as Baldwin hugged him. "Hey hey hey brto, it'sszh okay...it'sszh okay-" "IT'SSZH NOT OKAY!" roared Fayne. "I LET MYSSZHELF BE FOOLED BY THISSZH WORTHLESS THING!" "Calm down," said Kruz sternly, "you'll only make it worse." "He'sszh right Fayne," said the brother, "it'sszh only been a few daysszh, you jusszht need to relaxszh and meditate." "That I recommend, that is a great idea." "I..."

The cleric put his hand over his mouth and could not speak for his rage and sorrow briefly, gasping with hot tears of frustration more than anything as he tried to relax knowing their words spoke true. "F-forgive me...a-a-ah...I jusszht...wisszh the pain would sszhtop." "It will, one day, your body's just getting used to not having nerves down there anymore, they'll eventually shut off." "That...doesszh not reasszhure me." "I'll say one thing," said FG, "the ladies do love a guy with a false limb, so mysterious and intriguing trust me no one's gonna look down at you." "Don't patronisszhe him!" said Baldwin fiercely. "Why would anyone look down on him huh?!" "Hey-ey-ey I didn't mean that, come on look at Kruz, he's a fucking captain and he's only got one hand." "He has a point," said the kremling gladly, "the ladies do love them amputated, tell a real story about you, I bet they'll be falling all over you talking about how you defended a maiden's honour an-" "Y-yesszh thank you." Fayne dismissed him with a handwave in frustration trying not to get angry. "I appresszhiate your trying to lift my sszhpirit but that will do naught to quell the pain I will feel for a good while from my crippled deformity." "Okay," said Kruz nodding, "I'm sorry...do you have any hobbies, stuff you like doing?" "Well...I enjoy reading." "We've got some books on board, not a library but we have a collection if that will help distract you, anything else?" "I am...something of a card player." "Ohhh you play Triple Triad?" "Aye." "I play too! Actually most of my crew do, you know I think it would be a great idea for you to try your hand against some of my crew." "Great idea!" said FG with hearty fist. "Didn't you say like months back you were super-good at it?" "He isszh!" added Baldwin. "Hey bro, why don't we sszhow thesszhe molliesszh a thing or two about sszhome REAL card-playing huh?! I mean, what elsszhe you gonna but sszhit here lyin' down like a log?" Fayne felt overwhelmed slightly, and admittedly a part of him just wanted to lie down and forget about things until realising that if he only had his foot to think on, it would just make the pain worse. With heavy heart and sense of frustration, he nodded softly and slowly got up, grasping his staff as he leaned heavily upon it before hobbling his way down towards the mess hall where the rest of the crew currently off-duty were playing. None of them turned and Kruz stayed out of sight just so his crew would not get nervous or have any reason to stop playing. The bishop was nervous, feeling rather weak in his moment of shame as Kruz simply stood back and watched, letting the two brothers walk up towards the main card-playing table. Waiting until the two current players were done, a brown-furred moogle with whitish pompom and a hume of ginger hair, the hume won the match with two small piles of gold as the moogle groaned half-heartedly and let him take his winnings before Baldwin stepped up asking: "You lookin' fer a new opponent?" "Hmm? Yer the guests we picked up aren't you?" "Yeah, my uh, my brother'sszh a card player an' he needsszh a good disszhtracsszhion." "Hehehehe...a distraction huh? I'll distract you enough to take the gil out your wallet." "Uhhhh...don't you not gamble on board the sszhip?" "Actually, we got a system here cuz it's too boring not playin' fer money, but we don' wanna take each other's money. So we got fool's gil." The hume brought up one of his coins earned to show it was indeed fake, quite blatantly so with an amateurish imprint upon the sides as Fayne asked: "Where did you...get that?" "Found some thieves whilst out sailing, tried to pawn us off with this crap then we realised hey, this money's not good anywhere, why not use it fer gamblin' an' see who's the real champion of the ship?" "Hmm...what a brilliant idea, the joy of gambling but none of the debt, whoever...devised it had-" "That was captain's idea actually, said it'd give us good competitive spirit but without debts to pay. So you lookin' to play?" "...Baldwin." "Yeah bro?!" "...hand me my deck." The monk did just that, slapping down a full pack of cards into Fayne's hand as the cleric sat down at the table. Under the lights of the mess hall, his foot clunked like metal against the table strut as the hume stared back at him, handing him a small pile of fake gil. "Here, just so you have sumthin' to lose bishop." "What charity from a mariner, but that will become your undoing. What rule are we playing?" "Same rule." "Open or Random?" "Neither." "Trade rule?" "Direct." "Hm, very well. Wouldn't want to make it...TOO-easy, now would we?"

The bishop smiled a dark grin that James had never seen before, flexing his fingers to form a tent above his pack as the two card players took their pick of their decks. Facing the cards towards themselves so the other could not see, they made their five choices and placed them down flat with a clear memory on which one was which. The central board was a three-by-three square allowing nine cards to be placed. Placing a triangle made of wood on the board, the hume spun it round fast almost like how one would spin a dreidel until it pointed towards him, indicating who had first turn. The first card to be laid down in the top left corner was a portrait of a Zaghnal against a pinkish-red background, four numbers clustered together to point north, east, west and south. Fayne in turn placed on the top right his own card of a Gazer, a familiar-looking demonic spirit of one single eye amongst its cloak imprinted against a blue background.. The hume placed his second card on the centre top part of the board, a living fireball known as a Bomb with a wild cackling face on the front of it. As soon as he did, Fayne's Gazer card flipped briefly into the air and shimmered a bright light of magic, before the colour of its background shifted to pinkish-red. "What happened?" murmured FG. "The guy took his card," murmured Kruz, "see the four numbers? Say the number of yer card pointing east is higher than yer opponent's card opposite, you flip his card and it's yers." "Huh, that how this game works?" "Yeah, basically." "I'm still trying to remember the numbers frankly." "You'll learn, there's ten of 'em, one to A." "A is...not a number." "It is in this game, it means ten." The raptor shrugged as Fayne placed his next card unintimidated by the loss of his Gazer. His next one was a Gigantoad, a ginormous-looking amphibian with rolls of fat down its neck as he placed it centre-left, flipping the Zaghnal card towards his colours in revenge. But the hume slapped down a Dive Talon straight in the middle of the board with a higher number than whatever the Gigantoad's was. In a startling turn of events, not only did Fayne lose his Gigantoad card but also the Zaghnal he had just stolen as murmurs rose even greater. "Awww shit," said FG, "why did that card flip too?!" "Combo," said Kruz, "any cards weaker than the one that got flipped get taken too, real gamechanging rule." "Fayne doesn't look too worried." Indeed Fayne was not as he simply slapped down a more weakened-looking card of a Battery Mimic on the centre-right square, the feeble-looking bug with electrical charges running through as it half-imitated a chest. James smirked at remembering such things as the Hume slapped down in turn an even bigger bug, a Killer Mantis with huge pincers and shrieking face from its green mossy carapace. The Killer Mantis card went bottom-right, taking the Mimic card easily as only two spaces remained. Bottom-centre and bottom-left. "What now bishop?" taunted the hume smirking, "two spaces left an' I get the last turn so do yer worst." "Very well...but remember you demanded it." "Huh?" Flipping up from his deck of five of which two cards remained, Fayne gave him the smackdown with his last card of the match, a steel-coloured golem of impenetrable metals known as a Babil. It resembled almost exactly the brick golem they had encountered in Tesla's mission, but what was even more startling was the board suddenly lighted up entirely. Not only did the Killer Mantis card flip, which in turn flipped the Mimic by proxy, but the Dive Talon in centre-square had also been taken which took the Gigantoad and Zaghnal. With one solid move Fayne had destroyed the board painting it blue as his robes.

The room erupted with gasps of amazement at the solid combo decimating the hume's chances of ever recovering, his hand brushing through his ginger hair with shock and admittedly some fury of insult. He planted his last card in the bottom-left space, a green-plated dragon with insect wings and plant-like tendrils known as a Gizamaluk. Nothing happened, no lights, no card flips. Nothing but the resounding groan of an entire room waiting for a comeback that would never happen, the hume's friends cupping their faces in their hands wildly. "Wh-what the hell?!" cried FG. "H-holy shit!" replied Kruz behind the doorframe, "he fuckin' wrecked that guy!" "...Baldwin!" "Eh?!" In the midst of the commotion James hurried towards the monk watching with glee asking: "Wh-what happened, how did Fayne win?!" "Classzhic sszhetup, the hume put down a Dive Talon in the middle of the board, it'sszh only got a number of 2 pointing sszhouth. Fayne sszhet up the game purely sszho he could put hisszh Babil card bottom-sszhentre, an' that card'sszh got a number 9 on BOTH easszht and wesszh...with a number 3 pointing north." "So...wait, he took out two cards at the same time with higher numbers on HIS card...and then it-" "Combo'd, yep, all thosszhe other cardsszh got flipped back over becausszhe the cardsszh he flipped were sszhtronger than them too. And that hume don't got a card higher than 9 to take down that Babil card on the lasszht sszhpace sszho he can't even flip it, COMPLETELY locked out!" James was still confused by the rules but the momentum of the crowd had infected him, getting excited for Fayne before they calmed down as the hume took his defeat with stride. "Heh, beginner's luck." "Really?" replied Fayne. "You call for another round, my good gentleman?" "Sure, let's see how long that luck lasts you, alrigh' hand me yer diffs." From the victor went the spoils as Fayne took almost all of his opponent's cards for himself, slipping neatly into his deck as well as some false gil putting neatly into a pile by himself. However he was unable to retrieve his Gazer which remained his opponent's colour at the end of the game, as well as the Gizamaluk which had achieved nothing by the endgame. The bishop however decided: "Might I add an...additional bet?" "Whut's that?" "...double the gil." The room turned quiet as they heard this proclamation. Fayne pushed all his false gil forwards including that which he had just won with a disconcerting grin, whilst Baldwin sat back onto his chair looking smugly at the card battle. The hume leaned back with a slight smirk, shaking his head with amazement at this. "Really? You that cocky?" "I am never cocky. I am confident." "Well...I hate to rob my guests but...you asked fer it." "I did. And...please, don't hold back, for I enjoyed your pity on me the opening round but...that-was-simply the warmup, would you not agree?" "Hehehe...yeah...I think it was. Alrigh', spin it." Fayne spun the triangle this time before it settled on the hume once more as they reshuffled their decks, five apiece after a minute's deliberation. Restraining the urge to roll his eyes, he slapped down a different card this time, his Gizamaluk coming out strong on the top-centre of the board. The bishop kicked back by a Malboro card on the top right, an odious-looking giant maw formed fully from tentacles all over its body, heaving breaths of hot filth. A beast so odious that the Gizamaluk card violently flipped, instantly taken by Fayne's control of a higher number.

The ginger-haired hume slapped down with counterstrike, the centre-right panel just underneath the Malboro now occupied by a Blood Gigas card. A towering grey-skinned ogre without a head, wielding a large axe of high numbers north, south and westwards to crush the Malboro's weaker number and take back the Gizamaluk along with it. A problematic encounter for the bangaa who noticed its only weakest number was pointing east directly against the game's border out of bounds for him to touch. A ponderment of only thirty seconds allowed him to revise his strategy, his Bellwyvern roaring forth from the bottom left as a darkened two-legged beast, wings as forearms with snout covered in bejewelled string. But the hume striked back with a terrifying Dullahan at the bottom-centre, another headless giant of strapping oily muscles, metal-studded kilt and a sword the size of a hume. The Bellwyvern fell to its higher numbers, struck down with a twirl in the air as if falling to its death. Four spaces now remained as Fayne did not even hesitate with the smackdown on the bottom-right, a Cataract Aevis which appeared to be a giant blind wyvern of steel carapace coloured a deep-sea blue. Whilst it clashed its weaker number to no avail against the Blood Gigas above its position, Dullahan received no mercy as Fayne in one stroke took the headless swordsman along with regaining his Bellwyvern. With his blue colours returned somewhat, the score balanced out a little more waiting for the hume's next move who brought down forth a horrifying-looking Coeurl, a leopard with whiskers like tentacles whose head had bloated to resemble a Lovecraftian sort of sea creature. Red eyes piercing from it did nothing to dissuade the fact it was the hume's weakest card, placed centre-left to pass a turn without even taking back the Bellwyvern. That was the opening vantage point Fayne needed as he brought out his secret weapon, right on the very centre of the board. But the moment he did, the entire room gasped violently with shock at the new card that had been placed. James' eyes widened and even the hume playing had pushed back his seat staring upon the new card in place. A methodical-looking bangaa of a most clerical portrait against blue background, with north and east sides showing a number 9 whilst west showed 5 and the south a shameful 2. Within one single move the hume's Gizamaluk and Blood Gigas had been stolen from him, bereft from their pack of fiends as Fayne's higher numbers destroyed their defence. But the Coeurl remained untouched by Fayne's mediocre westwards 5 against its own eastwards 6. The Blood Gigas card however was forced to relinquish its combo'd prisoner, the loathsome Malboro tucked far away on upper-right regained fully by the bishop, who now almost entirely had control of the board. The crowd began murmuring ripples across the entire room.

"I-it's him!" "A-are you sure?" "LOOK at him, it'sszh exszhactly the sszhame bangaa!" "B-but it can't be kupo!" "Why doesszh he have Fayne'sszh card then?!" "I-if it really IS him, wh-what is he doing HERE on our ship?!" "H-hold me I'm shaking hoh Faram!" "Are you really him?" The last one was said by the hume opposite of Fayne. "Are you...F-fayne Smithee?" "Would my card lie to thee?" The cleric simply swept his hand out showing the card on centrepoint. The hume was not impressed and did not jump to conclusions, asking very patiently: "If yer really him, what was the final deck you used in the Rabanastran Grand Tournament back in 556?" "Hmhmhahaha...what an odd thing to remember...but very well. The deck I employed contained...a-Gazer, a Mimic Queen...two-tonberries, and a Behemoth." "Alright...BUT. Why was your victory so astonishing, now if yer really him you would know cuz you had to have been there to know it!" "Simple. I did not employ my own deck, I made a bet to...the-Rabanastran Chronicle a week before that I could take on the champion, an overweening little brat of lower nobility called Caroline Dupree, with my own...brother's deck. And the proof I have for that...is-BALDWIN!" Said brother jumped up almost immediately with a start. "Your Behemoth card." The monk fumbled slightly in his satchel before he brought out his deck of cards which were nowhere near as weighty as Fayne's before he brought out the card of a Behemoth. A monstrous-looking thing that to James more resembled a blue-skinned feline the size of a house with an axe to match and armour down its back as everybody gasped with even greater shock. Particularly because of the oddly black spotmark burnt upon the upper right as the hume cried out: "HOLY SHIT IT IS! THAT'S IT, YOU ARE FAYNE SMITHEE, THAT'S THE BEHEMOTH YOU HAD!" "Indeed," said Fayne handing Baldwin back his card, "now...your move." "H-huh?!" "Your move, gentleman. I do not recall the game having ended, don't you?" All eyes turned towards the ginger-haired hume who began sweatling profusely, his pallid face quivering at the final space on the board top-left right above his Coeurl and west of the Gizamaluk. He had no chance to succeed and he made his time quick, with a slap of an old friend never to return. The Gazer that Fayne relinquished at the end of the previous match, sitting sadly by itself with no winning victory, the majority of the board firmly blue in favour of the bishop as the crowd erupted with firey joy as Fayne leaned over the table kindly. "Thank you for the card game, my good gentleman. It gave me a...wonderful-diversion." He shook hands gratefully with the hume who simply shook back whimpering nervously, bashful suddenly as half the room started cloistering around the bangaa with attentive squeals of admiring fans looming out of nowhere. Baldwin stepped up to keep them back carefully and not get too rowdy whilst Fayne carefully gave back the cards he won to the hume with a knowing wink, hearing the fans crying out in front of him fiercely. "I can't believe you're HERE!" "M-mister Smithee, I love you kupo!" "PLEASSZHE SSZHIGN MY TONBERRY!"

James and Kruz simply stood watching from the doorway utterly confused by this turn of events, seeing the adoration turn higher as Fayne managed to calm them and start speaking to them one by one. The captain looked over towards his friend shrugging helplessly with sheer alacrity, chuckling as he leaned against the wall outside of the room. "I...khhha ha ha ha ha...man you meet some strange people you realise that?" "I know...I had no idea Fayne was THAT big." "BIG?! Come ON you had to know who he was, fuck I knew you were an idiot but JEEZ!" "Wh-what, what, what I do now?!" "Fayne Smithee?! The reigning champion of West Valendia?! Triple Triad Tournament, he's one of the great masters of Ivalice!" "Wait WHAT!?" "Yeah this guy, right here, turned reigning champion of the entire West Valendian area fer nine years running!" "Holy shit are you serious?" "Well yeah, half my damn crew idolise him look at 'em! Starin' up at him like...I dunno, the guy's serious!" "Man...I knew he was a great card player but not the reigning champion." "Not THE reigning champion." Baldwin said this hearing James talk closer to the door. "Jusszht in Wesszhtern Valendia." "Still that's...pretty awesome, your brother's a celebrity!" "Oh yeah, he'sszh amazzhing! He got the real sszhkill for the game not like me, I got no passzhience...leasszht not like him." "That's still pretty good and hey look, he's not worrying about his foot now." "Yeah...hey uh...captain?" He turned towards Kruz who looked back at him. "Thanksszh...for helping him." "At this rate," said Kruz, "I should be paying admission the way my crew's lavishing on him, khhahaha!" "HAH, yeaaaaah uh Fayne isszhn't really great with people teaming up on him usszhually sszho..." "I'm just glad he's got something to focus on, you can play with my crew anytime just don't try to start any fights." "No worriesszh there." "You sure about that?" asked FG. "I'm practically hisszh bodyguard, I know how to handle pusszhy people without causszhing a fight." "Alright, whatever you say. But uh...why does he have a card of himself?" "All reigning championsszh get their own sszhpecial card if they've been running for longer than five yearsszh in the tournamentsszh. Only way you can get that off him isszh by beating him...if he ever usszhed it during the match that isszh, you can only win the cardsszh your opponent usszhed." The raptor shrugged with a simple smirk watching Fayne become adored by the people, letting adulation wash over him briefly before asking if anyone else wanted to play for money as well as their cards. Leaving the brothers be, James and Kruz headed back upstairs as the captain went back to his cabin, having shown James every bit of the Broken Petal he could before needing to get back to work. James decided to part ways in order to go check on Dahlia who he had not spoken to at all today, the nu-mou in her own room of choice putting all her items neatly inside the dresser.

She also now held the artifact they had taken from the cursed abbey, the strange children's book now hollowed out to become a prison for whatever dark power now laid within it. The book in question she was examining the front cover of whilst sat on one of the two beds, feeling the enchantment transcribed upon it of a medium-level lock that would keep out most loathsome intruders. She brushed her hand across it curiously, the pulsating hum of its inner strength oddly soothing and yet also sinister on a deepened level of her subconscious. Thankfully she was rather used to such things as a student of magic but soon she was interrupted from her musing upon hearing James enter the room cheerily. "Morning!" "Oh, good morning James. How are you?" "I'm great thanks. You okay, how you settling in?" "Oh, I'm fine thank you yes I've...settled in nicely." "Good book? Hehehe." "Heehee, quite, it's locked secure nicely." "That's good." The raptor sat on the bed opposite of her to give his feet a rest, laying down fully on the bed with a deep sigh before looking curiously at the tome, as she placed it inside her dresser safely. She did however ask whilst turning towards FG: "Is there something you need James?" "No just checking on you, also needed to rest my feet I been walking around the ship all morning. Hadn't spoken to you today either and wanted to make sure you were alright." "Oh, don't worry please I'm quite alright." "Alright then...hey uh, this is going to sound kinda weird but-" "Hmm?" "I know normally you and I we...share the same room to sleep but, would you mind if while on this voyage I slept with the captain instead?" "WH-WHAT!?" Her eyes blinked wide open and she almost crawled back against the wall with shock before the raptor shot up on realising what he said. "W-WOAH woah woah I did not mean like THAT come on I just meant sharing the same bed as him, that's it!" "Wh-...oh...o-ohhh OH of course you....hhhhohohoho, I-i thought you meant, you were-" "Yeah yeaaah I know, it's not like that, it's just that we're old friends and well...we're very close and I gotta say, sleeping in the same bed as him gave me the best night's sleep I ever had." "Really?" "Yeah like, you ever slept in the same room as someone you trust absolutely that you feel almost perfectly safe?" "...yes." Dahlia's eyes looked down towards her hands twitching softly. "I know that feeling." James cocked his head slightly trying to look upon her face. A small sigh had escaped her that she tried to cover up silently, but he saw her lips breathe. "...you okay?" "Hmm?" "You...did I say something wrong?" "N-no no that's-...not it I, understand what you mean James, I will not stop you from...being in bed with your old friend." "Alright...you sure? I don't want you to be sleeping alone or anything if...you wanted someone in the same room." "I-i'll ask...Navarro." "Not Fayne?" "Not when...Baldwin's in the same room." "Oh yeah, forgot. Hey, I don't mind if you need someone in the same room as you I-" "I'm not a child." She hardened up as she stared up towards him with insult. "I can sleep by myself, if I have to. I've done it plenty of times before, it's perfectly natural." "Alright, alright, I'm...sorry just, I worry about you." "Why?" "Because you're my friend...plus you're the only person in this group that doesn't either outright hate me or patronise me as anything but an idiot." "Th-that's not true, Fayne doesn't!" "No, you're right he doesn't but...you're not the one who thinks I'm 'afflicted'." "Oh ignore them, Baldwin is an imbecile who...who...he can't tell his arse from his elbow!" The raptor smirked with a giggling gasp like a school child hearing the teacher curse. "Hhhhhahahahaha, wow holy shit Dahlia." "What, you agree with me surely?!" "Oh yeah no I totally agree! Just...never heard you speak like that before." "As I said before, I am not a child." "Well alright then." The raptor smirked as Dahlia did the same in turn but only briefly. With confidence in her, he headed out the door seeing she was not in need of anything before adding: "If you need me for anything I'll be at the captain's cabin, alright?" "Alright...thank you." He left and headed back up deck, tasting the fresh air of morning clouds as the day rolled on. For most of the late morn he simply watched the world pass on by, fluttering magic sails above and the constant hum vibrating across the ship in various degrees of intensity. It was oddly soothing to him, his mind blanking out slightly as he leaned against the firm rail struggling not to look over the edge. 17,000 feet separated them from the waters down below, as well as any potential islands or mainland they would chance to happen across.

Eventually he found himself bored enough to wander back towards Kruz's office, the door always open as he stepped in after politely knocking to introduce himself. Silhouetted against the window, the Broken Petal's captain sat hunched over his desk whittling away the work with a quilled pen across various writs, all with surprisingly firm Ivalician script by his hand as he looked up towards James smiling gladly. "Hoy there." "Hey...um...howsit going?" "Busy, workin' away on these, gotta keep track on all my records." "What kinda records?" "Observations, cargo changes, passengers, incidents, the usual." The raptor sat down on the seat opposite of Kruz staring at his work upon the desk. Currently Kruz was scribbling down into what appeared to be some form of maritime journal, with strange yet oddly familiar symbols to him as well as what he knew were Ivalician numbers. But the symbols he somewhat recognised whilst struggling to think, asking: "What are there all these weird symbols in your book?" "That's the months," said Kruz dully, "have you not used a calendar even in this place?" "N-no, not really, I let Navarro handle that since I can't read any of this." "Oh right, forgot that, well these are the twelve months, currently we're in the month of Sagittarius, in the year Old Valendian 560." "Wow it's still not next year? Wait, Sagittarius!? Waitaminute, that's astrology isn't it!?" "Yeah?" "Yanno, like horoscopes and shit, people read up on them and think their lucky day's gonna come if they're like, Sagittarius this week or something, that housewife bullshit!" "Khhhahaha...well, in Ivalice they name the months after them, astrology's quite big here, kinda makes the whole world go round." "Seriously?" "Yeah the whole zodiac, all these twelve constellations, each one representin' a month cuz that constellation is right over Ivalice fer all of that one month. You got Leo, Virgo, Capricorn, Cancer an' so on. Right now it's Sagittarius." James' eyes simply widened with dull shock at this as he raised his hands up before slapping them back on his knees. "These coincidences get weird as shit man." "Tell me about it...anyways, I don' got much left to do on here so, how's yer crew handlin'?" "Fine I guess, you saw Navarro and the brothers but...I'm not sure about Dahlia?" "That the nu-mou girl right?" "Yeah...she was kidnapped along with Fayne I told you, right?" "Yeah you told me like two days back." "Well...nothing happened to her physically but I'm kinda worried that maybe she's not fully sorted out herself mentally." "She wuz captured to be part of a ritual fer gods knows what, I'd be pretty terrified too." "I guess...she says nothing's wrong but she shuts up immediately if I ask her about what happened. She used to be a much bubblier, nicer kinda sweet little angel sort of girl...now she...god I dunno what I can do, and Baldwin's not helping because the two of them keep butting heads and I don't know why!" Kruz simply shrugged with not a word to answer, looking up partially as he did before going back to his writing. He decided however to rest a bit and finally finished up his book, closing it shut and putting his pen back in the inkwell on his desk sighing gratefully. "EHHHHHhhhhhhh...yanno what, I'm bored as hell, you wanna fight?" "Wait what?" "You an' me, let's have a fight, not real I mean just with wooden swords, come on." "Wh-why you want a fight?" "Because we got nuthin' to do fer fuck's sake come on Rex! Where's that fightin' raptor I once saw back seven years ago, I been meanin' to show you what I learnt since then." "What HAVE you learnt exactly?" The kremling simply smiled and stood up gladly with a grin gleefully. "How to kick yer ass an' make you feel like a bitch. More than usual." The raptor stood up in turn seeing it was a threat, playfully but still he took it. "...that right huh?" "Mmhmm." "Alright...get your wooden sword, I'm gonna show you how much better I am than when last you saw me." "I sure hope so. Lemme get mine an' we'll do this outside but uh...don't sass me in front of my crew, I still got a rep to keep." "Heh, okay then mister high-and-mighty."

Kruz walked over towards his armoire and pulled out from a smaller cupboard door within a fine-carved wooden cutlass, almost perfectly a replica like that of his own that hanged from his belt. A curved scimitar-like length of 2 feet long, he swished it finely before FG showing how surprisingly aerodynamic it was with smooth-grained texture and its blunt yet narrow edge. The raptor in turn brought out his long wooden sword from over his left shoulder and stepped out the door with Kruz, the two heading out onto the open deck as the captain cried: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! What you are about to witness here is a humiliation...of my old friend who has dared to challenge me to a test of combat. Those of you not currently on duty, you are invited to stay and watch only to witness those who think they can do better than me, on board my ship." "YOU'RE the one who wanted it," said FG cockily, "I just said I was gonna show you how much better I was than when you last saw me." "That's reason enough!" With a swish of his thicker tail out behind him, he stretched his legs out straight upwards in front of him in a slight arc one at a time, as if prepping to do a run whilst limbering up. He twirled his cutlass in his grasp before him, spinning briefly whilst his hand still kept in the hilt before pointing it towards FG, the raptor simply cricking his neck slightly before out came his sword in front of him. "You'll rue the day you ever faced the Broken Petal himself." The raptor rushed forwards first as Kruz waited for him to come close, the longsword-length of wood swiping out horizontally from the left as the kremling lightly deflected it with his cutlass at vertical. He knocked the swing of the sword upwards slightly off-centre as a test before James tried to swing once more from the opposite direction. Kruz was slowly testing him, watching the almost playful slap of sword against sword as occasionally one of them advanced. James would step forward, strike across Kruz's vision and force him a step back. Likewise in turn, the kremling would push through with his smaller sword and make a tender swiping motion of three scimitar swings. Right, left, right he went, occasionally adding a flourishing twirl of his blade swinging out far to the right before circling straight up from above to come down cleaving, the raptor forced to stand guard and block against it. As if they were taking turns, James came forth and made a thrusting stab with his wooden sword that Kruz dodged briefly to the left of. The raptor swiped towards where Kruz's head was, but in turn Kruz ducked low to evade before he stepped back with a lean-legged step, his left leg extended before him briefly before he stood up straight as if about to perform a dance. Once more FG striked, this time a more diagonal attack that would carve through Kruz's lazy guard but the moment he did there came a blur of brown scale sweeping past him. As soon as James swung down diagonal, the kremling spun towards James' right with a sudden pirouette, twirling perfectly on his left foot before swinging his right leg out exactly like a ballerino would. The kremling's right foot cracked hard to the back of James' head before he even realised it, stumbling forwards as Kruz slashed down with sword upon FG's back, "scarring" him. "AGH, wh-...what the hell?!" "What's wrong?!" taunted Kruz. "Did my ronde de jambe hurt you?" "Wrong-de-what?!" "Never mind." Kruz put his right foot down softly with a turn of the leg gracefully, his wooden sword out before him as the crew started murmuring with excitement at the beatdown about to commence. "Come on, try again, you only got yer reputation to lose." Starting to distrust his friend's potential skill, the raptor rubbed the back of his head after staggering back on his feet with sword out and ready. Moving close he made a sudden combo of three hits, left, right, downwards of which Kruz deflected the first two well enough. But as he expected the downwards strike and readily backed off, James stopped mid-swing and thrusted hard forwards to jab him in the chest. A sudden forceful punch to the sternum that made him wince, but chuckle gladly as the kremling countered back.

Swinging his left arm upwards into a bent curve with hook dangling above his head, his sword all the way out to his right, he swung the left arm down just after slashing from the right to strike James as the raptor ducked. Right where his hook was as Kruz smacked the back of it against his head with a sharp tap, stunning him briefly enough for Kruz to put his heels together and bend the knees perfectly to a ballet-like crouch with arms horizontal for balance. With raptor's head in line with where his sword now was, he stood back up quickly whilst slashing upwards striking FG underneath the chin, as his head forcefully went upwards stumbling back with surprise at the sudden move. With distance now between them, the kremling smirked wickedly before he made a running start, leaping straight into the air with both legs perfectly in-line with each other. A vicious yet perfect Grand Jete of one leg stretched behind and one leg stretched forwards heading straight towards FG's face, the front foot kicking him hard in the snout as he fell backwards from the sudden force. Knocking FG down, the kremling landed on both feet just past where his friend fell as he stumbled back up, looking slightly bruised before crying out: "Are you...SERIOUSLY fighting me with ballet?!" "YES I AM!" cried Kruz. "Yanno why?! Cuz I told you it wasn't fer faggots so now I'm gonna kick yer ass with it!" "WHAT!? You're STILL mad about that, I thought you didn't give a shit?!" "Khheheheh...you didn' think I spent seven years doin' nuthin' now did you Rex? I been achin' to show you what I can do, show you everythin' my body's still capable of...now show me what you learnt you little powder monkey slut!" Grinning jubilantly he taunted FG to come forth, the wild-eyed look encouraging him to step forwards as he returned the favour. Seeing he wasn't holding back, James spun himself in a circle the moment he came within two feet of Kruz, ducking low to swipe hard at his legs but Kruz simply hopped over expertly, until the raptor elbowed him hard in the solar plexus mid-spin. Smacked down sideways with the wind from his lungs gone, the kremling gasped harshly and clutched his stomach before James struck him across the jaw with his wooden blade. Sent down to the floor, Kruz swiftly hopped up on both legs before he bent down once more with heels almost touching before striking an upwards kick, straightening the legs as James swiftly backed off out of range. However the kremling had him planned as such before spinning halfway round with his back towards FG, leaving himself completely open to attack. James was not fooled, but knew he had to spring the trap sooner or later as he rushed forwards right before Kruz slammed one foot directly out behind him, whilst his arms went above and to the left in an arabesque posture. James knew it was going to be a kick of some kind as he dodged to the right, slashing down upon the back of the raised leg but the captain was quick to reply. Before FG could strike, the right arm he had raised above him came swinging down with sword in hand straight onto FG's head knocking him hard on the skull, dulling his vision with blistering headache. The crew clamoured with a growing joy rooting for their captain as Kruz swished his blade smugly, with cheering support behind him. "Port de bras," murmured Kruz fiercely, "now for the effacee!"

Facing towards his friend Kruz suddenly hopped back on one foot with the hook behind his back before springing forwards with sudden ferocity, roaring like a beast as his knee slammed straight into the raptor's sternum. His hook came swiping out in the same moment, the dull side of it aimed perfectly onto FG's cheek with a literal pimpslap, backhand across his face without the point of the hook ever touching safely. But the moment James felt the knee strike him in the gut, he swung out in a blind instant of fury and struck Kruz hard across the shoulder, repelling his hook-handed left arm violently as Kruz spun the other way with his back towards FG by accident. James shouldercharged him to try and send him down on the floor but again Kruz ducked perfectly upon realising by the bend of his knees, straightening his balance flawlessly as he readied his blade as the crowd gasped in unison. This time however the raptor was ready, and jumped over the slice of the wooden cutlass Kruz made towards his knees before dodging back out of range, just in time to avoid the sudden upwards kick. Kruz however kicked straight upwards almost perfectly perpendicular, showing a brief moment of incredible flexibility with his right foot straight above his head. He grinned teasingly with a knowing wink as he lowered his leg softly, bending it slightly towards his right as he cupped his hands in front of his chest to a sublime position. "Fouette en tournant," said Kruz winking. "Had enough bruisin' yet?" "Oh I'm just getting started!" cried FG. "Time for you to get off the stage!" "NOT BEFORE MY ENCORE PAL!" Slipping away from FG to put a large distance between them, Kruz started running towards him as the raptor waited to see what he would do next. The captain bent his knees into a sliding motion skidding on his feet with James putting sword low ready to slice at the head. That's when the kremling vaulted with a spinning leap as if he were ice-skating, somersaulting sideways through the air as his sword came twirling down onto FG's head. The raptor decided two could play at that and instead of dodging or guarding, leapt straight up to meet him. The crowd jeered in shock and admonishment as the two clashed briefly in mid-air, with swords scraping hard as James stopped playing easy. Boosting himself with a gust of wind from his nano-fuelled claws and struck furiously against Kruz to repel him. With his spin attack interrupted the captain fell back onto both feet easily as James spun through the air in counterattack, whooshing gales surrounding him keeping him uplifted before would come the cleaving strike from above.

The kremling dodged, but did not expect James to suddenly turn himself sideways in mid-air like an eagle about to dive, his sword whirling like a propeller with his arm outstretched to slash across Kruz's tail hard. A dull scraping motion fast enough to sting, but he simply cackled as James landed on all fours like a jungle cat. The raptor rushed forwards hoping to throw Kruz off but the captain spun fast twirling upon his right foot, swinging the left leg out hoping to crack FG on the back of the head. But the raptor had other ideas and ducked hard before forcing a sudden breeze from underneath, blasting him upwards briefly before he spun with roundhouse kick straight across the kremling's face in revenge. Stunned briefly from the harsh blow, he blinked wide-eyed with surprise at this before dodging back upon seeing FG come down upon his head. With the perfect opportunity, he leapt forwards with effacee striking his knee harsh upon James' head, the sharp bony thrust knocking him hard to the floor with blinding headache before Kruz had pinned him. Slamming his legs down onto James' thighs to keep him from moving up, the kremling brought his hook swiftly to the throat, glinting dangerously in the light of the Ivalician sun. The lukewarm steel rubbed tantalisingly on his neck feeling the bob of the larynx against it everytime FG breathed, before Kruz replied shakily: "Hhhhhh...y-you think...ballet's fer...faggots now?" "You...hhhhhh...really...wanted to...fight me, just to prove a point?" "I take my work...seriously. Seven years...I trained to do this, seven damn years refinin' my own style so that no one could fight me, no one could predict me, no one could stop me...from what I have to do." "You are...such an idiot, you could never win a fight like this." "Says the one who's...gettin' his ass kicked by...ballet, and uh eh-hem...don't think I didn't see those scissors of yers either." "What's wrong with them?!" "Ehhhh..." He cocked his head simply to the side shrugging with his free arm. "Where do I start?" "Fuck you...hhhmhmhmhahah, well you sure showed me something." "Indeed. Alright, show's over." The kremling stepped off and allowed James to sit up before his crew cheered raucously, signalling the end of the fight and who clearly the victor was in this as he proclaimed: "MY PEOPLE! You're all dismissed, the show is over, your captain has proven his point! Now let's keep sailing for Bhujerba shall we?!" "Aye-aye captain!" With the crew heading off back to their places feeling rather refreshed with the distraction, Kruz looked down upon FG before pulling him up with a hand offered to him, sails fluttering in the breeze above him shimmering their magic motes. "I'm really glad I got to show you finally." "If you really wanted to show off," said FG, "you could have just danced in front of me like you would on stage." "Pfffft, yeah right, as if you'd care, only way I'd get your attention is by takin' yer ass to bed or takin' you out in front of everybody. Besides...I always wanted to square myself off against you, get a real test against the one who managed to stand against King K. Rool...without gettin' his head cut off." "And you chose me and not those monkeys?" "Well...we got time now, don't we?" "I guess we do." The two walked off back towards his cabin as Kruz went back to work, settling back into his seat with long dull reports and the occasional talk with FG. For the most part their journey had become uneventful, at least for the first two days and all James could think of besides Kruz himself, was the fate of his group's shakier relationships.