Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

I was reading this other guy's fic one day, and it just suddenly struck me, and I couldn't stop thinking and planning it for the next day or so. So when I got home, I just started writing, and in just forty-eight hours I hammered out some 50 thousand-plus characters of writing, the most I've ever done in that amount of time. It's nothing short of an explosion for me.

So now, here it is, the product: Where it all Began, a short saga chronicling my version of how the War of the Magi began. Enjoy.

Note to Elena: My style of writing's a bit wierd; I rarely do revisions, if ever, preferring to just keep the raw first draft as the final one. I feel that if it's not good enough as it is, it's just not good enough period. Ikiiri is the only exception to that rule. So basically, this section is ready for posting as soon as you're able.

Note 2 to Elena: The prologue is separate from the rest of this, I just couldn't think of a better to get it submitted other than the first section.

General note: This is set up kinda like Narratorway's Lights series or Gilman's Reintroduction, in that this is the first "book" or "act" as you might call it. There will be more to come.

Edit

Where it all Began

Prologue

***

Some stories are destined to be told, to have their truth stretched and blurred so much that the story becomes myth... fact... historical... even legend.

Some stories are never told, just faint memories of a distant time and place that only those involved can remember. The most private of stories.

And some stories... are forgotten.

Edit

Shadowplay

Chapter 1

***

"Click, click, click, click, click," the sound of chocobo feet ambling leisurely along a road in a forest.

And on his back, a man, dressed in leather armor. His hands kept a gentle hold on the reins while his eyes wandered about ahead of him, hazel eyes that appeared wistful that day. Short-cropped dark hair hung about his face in a messy arrangement of tangles and knots -- he really did mean to get that taken care of... just never got around to it. His eyes passed over a hedge lazily, glancing over the rose bush growing beside it and the first blooms sprouting out.

But the scenery wasn't the first thing on his mind that day; his father was. It hadn't been very long ago that they'd had yet another argument, about how his duty was to the state, not to his own fame and fortune. As usual, the youth paid him no mind, and said in no uncertain terms that he'd chosen this way of life, not that of a bureaucrat.

And as usual, too, his father was angry, and threw him back out after a heated debate that went nowhere. No matter how many times they argued, however, it never seemed to stop hurting the youth, because he would always recall fond memories of childhood, of play and laughter... and sometimes, he regretted that he had to end it.

"Bloody cart!"

He pulled back on the reins slightly, slowing his bird down a bit, and listened close.

"Just like you to break an axle on me, eh?"

An elderly woman's voice... he kipped his bird in gear and rode on towards the sound, curious and feeling in a helpful mood.

He didn't have to ride far before he saw her and her cart on the side of the road, partially on and off it. He glanced over the sight and saw that she was busy trying to get the left wheel off, while her chocobo was sitting down, gnawing on the grass and not paying anything much mind.

He rode closer, trying not to scare her too much, and said softly, "Excuse me, miss..."

She spun around quickly and looked at him, maybe a little bit surprised. "Do you need help?"

He dismounted and walked towards her, keeping one hand on the reins. As he walked he noticed that she wore a yellow dress, with a white bodice covering her blunt torso. Her eyes were a strange shade of blue... very pale even for a Jidooran, and her hair was long and white, hanging around her in ragged locks. She stood straight and brushed some of that hair aside, looking over at her wheel. "Oh, well uh, yes... it's my axle..."

"Do you have a spare?"

She looked up at him as he drew to a stop near her, then down again at the wheel. "No, I'm afraid I don't..."

"Well..." He tied his chocobo up to a limb quickly and knelt down beside it, saying, "I suppose we could try mending it... I might have enough grunk balm and cloth to tie it back together."

He stood straight again and looked her in the eye. "It won't hold long, but it'll at least get you back home for a replacement axle."

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much," she said, smiling.

He smiled back and started to turn away, but she went after him and called out, "Wait, there's one more thing you can do for me..."

He stopped and turned back a bit, asking, "Yes?"

Metal flashes through the air quickly, just before her dagger finds it way into his stomach. He recoils and draws the knife out upon doing so, and looks at her in shock as her disguise quickly fades.

"You can die," she sneers.

What he sees in her surprises him even more than being stabbed: she's not even old, and even though wearing the same dress he saw her in, she could even be thought beautiful... if not for the many scars around her eyes, neck and the big one on her left cheek, and the one on her lower lip. Her eyes remained the same color, however, the same very pale shade of blue, and her hair stayed waist-length and silver, but now was smoother, more flowing.

Not wasting a second more, though, he quickly drew his sword and prepared to defend himself as she drew hers. The two locked blades for a second, and two more men suddenly jumped out of the bushes around them, and one more from the (conveniently curtained) cart. Knowing he'd better end it quick before the numbers overcame him, he twirled her sword around in an arc, and then struck back. She parried his two blows, but he gave her a fierce backhand slash that knocked her arm sideways, giving him the opening to slash upwards with his sword and slice open her chest from her liver up to her left shoulder. She screamed and almost dropped her sword, staggering off the side, as her dress fell open at the front and let blood pour out.

She tried to look back at him, but she couldn't even see him thrust his sword through her heart. Her face locked up in shocked surprise at the swift brutality of it, but it was the last thing she felt. He withdrew his sword and let her fall on the ground, finally dropping her own sword beside herself and collapsing on her right arm.

There wasn't time for gloating, however, as he turned about quickly and parried a strike from one of the bush men and then punched him in the face, knocking him aside temporarily. He then turned his attention on the second man, running at him along the length of the cart. He was easy to kill, since he simply parried his sword and swung it around his right, and then twisted the tip up and pierced the man's heart in one move.

He whipped around and ducked under the first man's sword as he attacked again, then gave him another mighty right hook that sent him reeling... again. He was looking good right up until a fifth attacker stood on top of the cart -- a fox-man, no less -- and leapt down on top of him from behind, stabbing his left shoulder with a dagger and yelling, "YAH!"

They both fell on the ground, the fox-man on top, and then broke up as the fox-man gave him time to get up and fight fair. He stood again and readied his sword, looking ahead as the fox-man glared at him with a sneer, licking his lips. He'd seen the fox-man's kind before, and heard stories of them, but even that time it still amazed him that something so different from him existed that had language and sentience. Yet there he was, dressed in a revealing v-cut leather shirt and pants, and brandishing a dagger.

Then, they lunged at each other, and the fox managed to duck and sidestep several of his parries successfully and jab at the man a few times. Neither of them hit the other, but the first bush man ran up to him from the side and tried to attack, shouting a battle cry as he ran. He ran right on by the fox as the latter tried to attack again, right into the traveler's arms as he managed to sidestep his sword and use his arm as a pivot.

He then found himself being whipped in a circle, and then a searing pain in his back, right below his heart. He tried to breathe, but couldn't, and spent his last few seconds being dropped on the ground by the traveler. The fox growled and shoved his fellow bandit aside, then tried to lunge again, but the traveler was too fast: he caught him in the gut with his sword, then pulled it out in time to parry a strike from the last man and then stab him the chest, too.

The last two men fell side by side in the grass, and died quickly. He paused to look around at the carnage, then stumbled back over to his chocobo, who by then was scrambling along with his fellow bird, trying to get away and making a general racket. He looked down at the woman as he passed her, and saw her blank, but shocked gaze fixed on the ground in front of her. He felt a strange sensation as he passed, almost something like... destiny...

But he shook that off quickly and reached into his item sack, where he then withdrew a potion and drank it, reveling in the pleasing sensation of healing. "Ahhhh..."

He leaned against his ride, panting, and looked up in his big bird face. "Damn, Hollick... they got me good, didn't they?"

"Wark," was all the bird said, eager to get out of there.

"Right. Let's go."

In seconds, he mounted and rode away, straight for the nearest town.

***

Hours passed as leaves fell around the bodies, lying where they died. Blood stained the grass, poured out of their wounds in large puddles, some of it drying under the sun that seeped in through the forest canopy. A glint off the woman's sword momentarily flashed over her face, but her eyes neither saw it nor did she feel the warmth it gave, instead staring blankly out ahead of her at the grass. An eerie sight it is, those eyes frozen in an emotion of surprise and calm.

Soon the sound of footsteps falling began to reach the area, each step heavy and crunching the leaves underneath. As the sound drew nearer, the clouds above seemed to darken ominously, but it was really just the storm predicted earlier rolling in. Still, one can't help but wonder if there was some deeper meaning behind it, some foreshadowing for the tall, cloaked man that walked towards the dead bandits and stopped in his tracks.

Deep brown eyes scanned the area, and his great muscular face grew hard... disappointed, even. He removed the hood from his face, revealing short-cropped blonde hair with bangs hanging around, and sighed heavily as he lifted his arms out to them, palms up. In turn, pillars of light began to come into view, collections of tiny shafts rotating about the bodies and slowly growing taller with the high-pitched hum that also grew louder.

The shafts began to speed up, rotating faster and blending together into single thick rays of white light, while he looked side to side at the progress of his spell, and in an instant, the whole area flashed bright white... and then nothing. Just the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

"Uuungh..." the woman moaned softly.

He looked over to her and watched as she blinked a few times, then grimace as she moved an arm creakily, placing it to her side and lifting herself slowly off the ground. Around her, the other men began to stir, and the whole scene was awash with sounds of strained moaning and groaning. The cloaked man lowered his head and shook it side to side, mumbling, "Again."

He looked back up at the woman as she lifted herself up and scooted her knees underneath her, then curled up in a ball and hugged herself tight, trying to shut out the pain. He walked over towards her first, not even giving the other men a second glance. "Get on your feet. You should be used to it by now."

At that her eyelids flew open, and her breathing sped up. She jumped to her feet quickly and faced him, anger in her eyes. "You try dying and coming back to life some time!"

"You failed me," is all her said to her, every hint of disappointment proven in his voice.

"We wouldn't have if you'd been here to help!"

"I tell you what to do, you don't tell me." He spun and began to walk away, then added, "I will not tolerate many more of these failures. There is too much at stake for me to begin changing my plans now."

In a huff, she walked after him, marching forward with her fists clenched. "What're you going to do if I fail again, huh?! Kill us like you always say you will?! I already died, remember! Why don't you go ahead and do it now?!"

He lowered his head and sighed, but wouldn't slow down his pace. She grew angrier and held her right fist out to her side, summoning a ball of lightning into it that began to grow larger. "Why don't you deliver on one of your promises for a change!"

He felt the magic behind him and stopped as soon as she finished speaking, and in one very rapid move removed his sword from its sheath and spun around to his right, holding the blade sideways. She didn't see the move coming, not even the flash of the metal as it hurtled towards her, and instantly found herself lifted from the ground and impaled against a nearby tree, pinned down to the hilt of his sword through her stomach, just below her ribs.

Her spell quickly dissipated and her head and the rest of her body slapped painfully against the tree, a split second after her chest, thanks to inertia. She switched to holding his hand with both of hers, feeling blood coming up into her lungs and groaning in pain. With incredible strength he held her there with one arm, and leaned closer to her face, growling slowly and gruffly, "I will only put up with your insubordination to a point!"

He then removed his sword and let her fall on the ground in a heap, clutching at the hole in her chest. All she could think to do at that point was stare at the ground in front of her with a look of utter terror and shock, and she rolled over on her side and curled up on the ground. The fox-man with them stepped forward, worried for her, but paused as he saw the cloaked man reach into his belt and remove a single potion, and toss it down on the ground beside her with an angry scowl on his face. After that, he simply turned away and walked off into the forest, while she snatched the potion up and drank it, healing herself before it was too late.

"Clean yourselves up and return to the fortress." He walked a few steps further, pushing a low branch aside while she got back on her feet. She was breathing hard, trying to get a grip on herself after that experience, but he added, "And fix your dress. You look like a harlot."

She stopped and glared at him.

Silence fell over the forest, deafening even as the other three men left after their master. All she could think about at that moment was how much she hated him, how she hated the way he treated her and everyone else, as if they were lower than property...

The fox-man walked up behind her and looked up and down her body, flicking his tail once over and perking his ears up. "I think you look nice."

With a little frown she gave him an elbow to his gut (not enough to hurt, just enough to make her point) and hugged her chest, covering herself. He doubled over slightly with a light "oof" and put a hand there, but stood straight again as she asked, "Jen... why do we keep following him?"

"Because he keeps us alive," he answered grimly.

"No, I mean... can't we just.... break away? Leave?"

She looked up back and up at him for his answer, hoping to find some ray of hope in his eyes. "If you got any ideas on how, I'd be happy to go with you."

She paused for a second, but then sighed, shaking her head and walking away. "Never mind."

Jen watched her leave, then shrugged and began following her at the tail end of their little party, since they were the last to leave the roadside.

Edit

Shadowplay

Chapter 2

***

Soon they returned to the fortress, but not before night fell. To Jen, it was a good time, the best time of day... he loved nighttime. And not just the time itself, everything about it: the scents, the sounds, the sights, the way the stars seemed to wink down at him and remind him that better days might still be ahead.

But those days never seemed to come. Instead, he had remained an unwilling servant to his lord, the "Great" Matao. Some "great" leader... he kept hidden in the shadows, using his minions to carry out all his deeds and rarely doing any of the work himself. Jen found it hard to respect the man, especially with the way he abused his followers. And especially with the way he abused Iani.

He gave her a sideways glance as they walked down the corridor leading past the main courtyard, watching her clutch her dress close to her chest. Jen often wondered to himself why Matao was always so hard on him and her, but the only explanations he could come up with revolved around Matao just being the most supreme of assholes, or with them being the two leaders of all his followers. He looked forward again and shrugged, figuring for the umpteenth time that Matao probably felt that he had to be hard on them, just to keep them in line and motivated. After all, an unmotivated soldier is no soldier at all.

They all turned a corner and headed for the west wing, where their living quarters where. Halfway up the stairwell they each branched off and went different ways, heading for their own rooms.

***

The throne room was as dark as the night and the people's moods that night, lit only by rows of candles lit in front of the throne. Matao always had a somewhat lavish dream of what his lifestyle should be, and the throne room certainly reflected it: huge floor-to-ceiling height tapestries hanging from the walls, exquisite candelabras and torches on the walls, grand carpeting, and of course, the huge array of candles set before him.

His followers could never figure out why he felt like he needed to have them there (it always looked like a bit... too much, especially considering all the torches already in the room), but only Matao knew the real reason why he needed a twenty by sixty set of candles: he used them to help cast a special spell, using the centerpiece of the whole set to focus his power.

He sat lazily in his chair, raised high over the rest of the room on its great dais, leaning his head heavily on one arm propped up on an armrest, and looked out at the four faces rotating about the centerpiece totem in midair, lit by candlelight and the glowing aura coming from within each one.

"Time is growing short. We must act fast, or our enemies may soon discover us," said the face of Bravery in his gruff voice.

"I agree, we must act swiftly..." Matao turned a lazy eye over to the face of Wisdom, and his high, raspy voice. "But we must also act in discretion. We can nigh afford to be exposed at this point."

"So you've said... time and time again," said the face of Justice, who then rotated into view. He should've been looking at Matao, but he was instead looking at Wisdom. "We're all quite aware of that by now, don't you think?"

Wisdom rotated back, also looking at Justice. "Yes, yes, but we all know how our friend here likes to forget things in the heat of the moment," he retorted, pointing out Bravery with a nod.

"Now look here," Bravery tried to say, but Matao raised his free hand and cut them off.

"All right, all right, everyone settle down..." They all stopped and faced Matao, slowly rotating about the totem still. "We weren't able to kill Hans this time."

"Or the time before," added Bravery.

Matao conceded the point by shutting his eyes and nodding once, slowly. "Or the time before. If we should attempt many more such assassinations, he'll start getting suspicious."

"Well, we can't have that," noted Caution, in his tiny, timid voice. "It would be disastrous!"

Matao shook his head, still resting it on his hand. "No, no, not disastrous... merely... inconvenient."

"Yes. Try to calm yourself, things aren't as bad as they seem," Justice said to Caution.

Caution whimpered "okay" and looked down, sullen.

"Perhaps it would be better if we were to, say... capture him?" Wisdom asked.

All three of the other heads looked up at him, and Matao did, too. "We've been over that before, and we decided it might be too great a risk," Matao replied.

"Yes, but things have changed since then..." Wisdom and the rest of his brethren shrank a bit and drew back a little, as a projection of a city square popped into view in front of him. In the picture, Hans was walking through the crowd, and making his way towards a small inn and café. "He's been shaken by a recent attack, he and his father had another fight, and he won't be expecting another attack so soon."

Matao finally sat up and lifted his head off his arm. "What are you suggesting?"

"An alternative." The map disappeared and Wisdom came back to the front, just as a vial of some liquid appeared and floated in the air in front of him. "Ayanicé poison. We can poison him with this, and tomorrow when he's recovering on his way back to the castle, he can be captured then."

Matao took the vial and held it up in his hand, watching the liquid spill around inside. He glanced up at Wisdom with his eyes to ask, "What makes you think he can be captured then?"

Wisdom's face grew a wide smile, that confident "I know something you don't" look, which appeared even more sinister from the vial's viewpoint. "The nearest available army unit to escort him is the Green Dragon Company."

Matao's face also slowly grew a smile as the pieces began to fall into place in his mind. "The greenest unit in all of Coridea."

He sat back on his throne and closed his fist around the vial, ever confident with his new plan. "Yes... and it can be made even more convincing if we use our new recruits as would-be assassins."

He looked back up at the four faces. "We will have him this time."

Wisdom nodded his head and smiled, rotating out of view as Bravery came about. "Finally! Victory is within our grasp!"

"Indeed," Matao said with a smirk. He rose from the throne and watched as the faces faded out slightly and came together in a ball, becoming one as they reentered his body and made his spirit whole again. The candles then swayed sideways as a gust of wind blew through, and with one last sigh he walked down the steps and out of the throne room, heading for the briefing chambers.

***

Up? Down? Up?

"Uurgh!"

Iani finally undid her hair and threw it down, letting it hang all over her face in a frizzy mess. She then threw her hair tie down on the dresser in frustration and looked at herself in the mirror with a heavy sigh. Figuring out how to wear her hair was the last thing she needed after a day like that.

She looked down at her body, and felt some comfort in the fact that she at least found something she kinda liked wearing. Looking back up at her hair again, she found new resolve to try something, and picked up a hair clip and started to lift some of her hair when a knock came at the door.

Her eyes rolled up and she grunted again. "Coming."

She pulled her hair up as quickly as she could and set the clip in place just as she opened the door. "Oh, Jen!"

"Iani," he replied with a smile, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He was already in the door and the room when he asked, "Mind if I come in?"

She turned and looked at him, then smiled and said, "Well, you're already in, so what's the point in asking?"

He laughed to himself as she shut the door, and went over to the dresser to look at himself in the mirror. "Still not ready yet?"

She went over to the dresser and elbowed him aside so she could look in the mirror. "No."

"Like your hair, by the way," he commented.

She looked over at him slowly with an evil-looking glare, then gave him another elbow in his side and turned back to the mirror, smiling. He clutched at his side and backed away, out of her range. "Jen, did you come here to chat or play?"

"Both," he answered, leaning against the wall. "But, umm..."

She worked on her hair for a bit, trying to find something she liked, and when she noticed he was pausing, she asked, "But what?"

He looked at her with a look of concern, and answered at length, "How are you feeling?"

Her hands stopped moving so fast about her hair and the movements become more deliberate. She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror, and forced her answer out. "What do you think?" she tried to say with a fake laugh. "I got slapped around a bit again."

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to..." He waved his hand suddenly and hung his head. "No, wait, never mind. Forget I brought it up."

She tried to fix her hair up again, but instead stared at herself with a long sigh. Glancing down at her dress, she started to look at -- no, really look at -- the way the lines hemmed together, the trim and colors, and she began to see that she didn't really confound it all, now she didn't like her dress, either! She took her hair down again, abruptly, and picked up her brush to comb it, trying to decide what to try next.

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, until Jen broke it. "Maybe... maybe you should try that thing, you know, that, that... braid thingy..."

He motioned to his head with his fingers, trying to wave out the image he had. She looked over at him and tried to decipher the "code", and asked, "Jidooran braid?" *

He snapped his fingers and pointed. "Yeah, that's the one."

She glanced over at herself in the mirror and looked for a moment. "...Yeah... yeah, okay..."

Looking over at him while starting the braids, she said with a little smile, "Thanks."

He crossed his arms and tilted his head against the wall while she worked, watching her with halfway sleepy eyes. "You know, I've been thinking about what you said... about, you know, uh..."

He lowered his voice a bit, somewhat paranoid. "Leaving?"

"Yeah?" she asked, keeping her voice quiet, too.

"Well... I started thinking that... maybe we could do it... just slip out one night, or ditch when we're out on some mission."

She brought the braids around in front of her after working down to her neck, and continued while he went on. "I just don't know, though... I mean, he could always just come after us and kill us for deserting."

A moment of silence fell over them for a time as they both thought about it. "I don't doubt it," Iani said at length. "Probably why I haven't left already."

"True," Jen said flatly, shutting his eyes. But when he did, images of her being beat flashed before his eyes, fellow men and women being slaughtered for failing to obey, and the remembered pain of being beaten himself... it was too much, and he opened them again, and looked at her.

She was done. He watched her fling the braid over her shoulder and look at herself for a moment, then turn to him with a smile. "What do you think?"

He smiled back, still looking tired, and answered her. "Beautiful."

She looked back at the mirror and fingered her dress for a second, thinking about changing into something else. And as she did, another thought came to her. "What do you think he'll do to us this time?" she asked him.

He paused in answering, looking at her with his head still tipped lazily to the side. Unenthusiastically he finally muttered, "Probably the same thing he does every time."

She paused for a moment, but then nodded her head slowly, sighing and looking down at her dresser. "Probably."

A silence feel between them as they took in the enormity of it, but Jen finally had enough of it and got up with a start. "Come on," he said, patting her shoulder. "Let's get this over with."

He left her alone in her room and went to the briefing room, knowing she'd still need a little more time to finish prepping.

<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-style: italic">* Equivalent of a French braid</span>

***

When Iani entered the briefing room, everyone else was already gathered. Jonathan, Jen, Grant, Gracie, and last but not least, Matao, sitting on his throne at the top of a dais (he sure loved those things). She shut the door behind her softly and took her place in line, with her head slightly bowed. Her clothes had changed: she now wore a manly-looking shirt and a pair of billowing pants meant for martial artists.

Matao looked at the line of minions gathered before him, with Iani in the center and Jen to her left, and rose to his feet. "You failed me."

"Not that it was the first time," Iani couldn't help but whisper.

It looked as if Matao was going to say something, but he caught himself with a heavy sigh. "No, it wasn't the first time, but if your failures continue, I promise you, you'll wish it was the last."

She lifted her head slowly and glared at him through a low-hanging lock of hair. "What do you want us to do?"

"Not you as a group: you," he said, looking directly at Iani.

She looked up a bit more, quizzical. "Me?"

"Yes..." He walked to the side and picked up a vial, then came about and handed it to her. "Ayanicé poison. I want you to put this in Hans' drink."

He turned again and walked back up to the throne, going on. "He'll be at the Raledas Inn tonight. I will transport you there, where you will slip that into his drink and then get out. That is your mission."

"Just poisoning him?"

He went over to the side, where he scooped up a small amulet and paused, then answered with a nod. "Yes. That is all."

She held the vial up and looked at it for a second, thinking. He noticed her look and anticipated her next question of, "But... certainly he'll have an antidote for this on him?"

"Of course. I'm expecting it. Your job is to poison him, then get out, because he will then be set upon by Scian assassins." He lowered his head and added with a slight smirk, "Or at least it'll look that way."

Her left eye twitched, and Jen looked sideways at her.

"Here," Matao said, tossing the amulet at her. She caught it with her free hand and turned it over, looking at the medallion part. "Use that when you are clear. It will return you to the fortress. But first... stay out of sight and report to me whether his assassination is a success or a failure. Directly to me."

She looked between him, the vial, and the amulet for a bit, then lowered her arms and asked, "What're they doin' here, then, if this's my job?"

She nodded her head to the left a bit, pointing out Jen and the others. Matao looked at everyone gathered and answered, "Grant will go with another new recruit and pose as the Scian assassins. Jen... has a different task. Jonathan and Gracie will accompany him."

"What job is that?" Iani asked him plainly.

"It is none of your concern, Iani. You are to obey my orders without question," Matao replied, his voice firm as he quickly became annoyed. "You know that. Just do as you're told."

She was fingering the amulet in her left hand, but she lowered her arms to her sides after a moment and bowed her head slightly. No words were needed as far as she was concerned. "Good," Matao said. "Now go."

With a wave of his hand a pillar of light surrounded her and enveloped her. Once it was gone she was no longer there. Matao looked around the room and addressed them suddenly, raising his voice slightly to get their attention. "All right, then... now for your task, Jen."

Jen looked up at him and straightened his posture a bit.

Edit

Shadowplay

Chapter 3

***

Hans threw back his head and chugged the beer in his hands, down to the last drop, and set the mug down on the table, where he cradled it in his hands and looked around himself again.

The room was empty that night, save for a few late-night drinkers and eaters, but they were scattered all around the room, mostly sitting along the walls or in the corners. He was the only one sitting out in the middle, at the table just in front of the counter.

He felt so alone. And not just because he was sitting so far away from anyone, it was also because he felt like his father was growing more distant from him all the time, and lately, he'd been attacked by random bandits and assassins more times than he could count... well... maybe four times in the last two months, but who's really keeping score, huh?

But there was something else eating at him, too... something about that woman that he had killed earlier. There was just this something in her eyes that made him feel uneasy, and he didn't like how he couldn't get that image out of his head, or shake that strange feeling he had. He was even starting to feel it with the fox-man, too, which was the other crazy part about it.

He shook his head and tried to take another drink, but saw that his cup was empty as he got it halfway to his mouth. "Bartender?" he asked, raising his mug.

***

Iani could see the fortress chambers fade out of her view, and into blackness. She felt strange... that odd, cold way that people do when they're lifted from one place and transported to another. As the view faded back in from the lights and colors of the transport spell, she found herself somewhere in a bedroom, next to the head of the bed...

She quickly looked about herself, and soon figured that she'd appeared in the right place, in the inn, since she could see the rival café across the street. She looked around for a place to start and glanced first at the bed, where she found a waitress' uniform lying on the pillow. Tilting her head to the side as she looked at it, an idea started forming in her mind.

The uniform found itself picked up seconds later, and a flash of soft light gave away the fact that she'd changed her appearance.

***

Another glass filled, another glass emptied. He lowered the mug back down to the table and stared inside at the emptiness, seeing about the fiftieth allegory of the night for his feelings in there. "Bartender," he said, starting to get sick of it. "More."

"Don't you think you've had enough?"

"No. Not yet," Hans replied, setting the mug down sadly.

The bartender sighed at him and shook his head, then waved over at him for the waitress to go get his mug from him.

Iani came down the stairs at about that moment, fixing her uniform one last time. Her eyes had turned a shade of brown, and her hair a deep black. Different enough to fool him, especially since her facial features also changed somewhat. She hurried down the stairs and watched as he ordered another glass, then rushed over and stopped the other waitress by the arm. "Wait, I'll take him."

"What... who're you?" she asked her, surprised.

"Oh," Iani started, trying to look pleasantly nice. "I'm new here! They just hired me today, I start tonight. Right now, actually."

She walked past her and headed straight for Hans. She grabbed an empty tray first on her way over, and then took his glass back up to the bartender while the other waitress thought that over. Iani ignored the other waitress, waiting as the bartender filled up the glass while giving her a strange look, every second seeming like a minute to her. She took the mug and turned when he was done, spotting the other waitress going towards the bartender out of the corner of her eye.

Hurrying, she kept her eye on him and very carefully slipped the vial's lid off in her palm, letting it slide down her sleeve a bit as she poured it in, making it look like she was simply holding the glass still with her hand. All the time smiling.

The bartender and the waitress started exchanging questions behind the bar as she took Hans his drink. He looked up at her only barely, just enough to take the glass and mutter, "Thanks."

She smiled back at him and curtsied, then turned and headed back over towards the kitchen area. She got behind the counter and was starting to go back there, but she saw the other waitress walking towards her and tried to will her off. No, no, go away, don't stop me up here, don't stop me up--

"Wait, excuse me..."

Aw, crap.

"Yes?" she asked, turning enough to look at Hans. He was just staring at his drink for the moment; apparently he hadn't drunk it yet.

"I don't remember Susan saying anything about hiring anybody new..."

"Oh, it's just something she did just yesterday," Iani said, laughing a little. "I--I'm not really from around here..."

She hung her head low and looked to the side, trying to look "shy", and glanced up at Hans while doing so, passing it off by scratching at the hair behind her left ear. She saw him start to take a drink, and noticed two dark shapes start moving in the back of the café.

"No, I really think Susan would've--"

"Um, 'scuse me, but can we take it to the back? I don't think the customers would like to see us arguing in front of them."

Iani looked over at the people, and sure enough, a couple of them were starting to look. She took the opportunity to glance over at Hans again, who was still taking a long swig from his glass. The other waitress looked out there, too, and nodded slowly. "Okay..."

They started to go to the back, but Iani grabbed her shoulder lightly and said, "Oh, wait, maybe I can show you something that'll help. Be right back!"

She then hurried up the stairs and back towards the inn, leaving the waitress to wait in the kitchen for her. Iani rushed up the stairs into her room and locked the door behind her, then began changing into her old clothes quickly and switching her disguise, knowing that part two of the plan was being carried out three floors lower.

***

Back in the café, things quickly got ugly. Seconds after Hans starting drinking, he noticed that it was getting hot in the room... really hot... he also noticed that two men were walking towards him, and reaching into their jackets for something...

Oh, no.

He knew it was poison, but what type? If he had more time, he might've found out, but instead he removed three types of antidotes and drank them all at once, deciding to live with the pain that would most likely cause him.

As he looked up he saw the closest of the two men remove a short blade and stab at him. He tried to sidestep but the poison and alcohol slowed him; he took a slash across the chest that cut him open, but he drove a backhand fist into the back of his assailant's head as he passed. The next one tried to come at him, too, but he grabbed his chair and threw it at him, nearly losing his balance in the process.

He turned and backed up as the entire café area lit up in noise, because of people screaming and running for the exits, calling for help. The two assassins stood side-by-side in front of him, brandishing their weapons. He studied those as he starting backing up towards the bar, and saw that they were of a very unique design, one only given to... Scian assassins...

One lunged and swung at him, but he jumped up on the bar and out of harm's way, and reached behind him to catch his balance. The other one tried to come at him then, too, but as he got close and growled, Hans came back with a whiskey bottle and shattered it over his head.

"OW!" screamed the guy, who then fell onto his back clutching his head.

The other man tried to lunge at him again, but Hans lifted his legs up and rolled onto his feet behind the bar, where he started grabbing bottles and glasses and throwing them at his two enemies. They ducked and blocked the bottles, cutting some in two with their swords, but the ones that did hit them hurt and made them hop if it hit their leg, or recoil if it hit an arm.

Hans began swooning behind the bar and his vision tried to go double on him, but he focused and kept them off balance long enough to draw two small dirks and throw them, burying the blades hilt deep in both their foreheads. They stayed on their feet for about two seconds, but eventually fell over onto the floor, faces frozen with eyes and mouth wide open.

Finally he could relax, and let the pain he was feeling get to him. The bartender rushed over to him from his hiding place in the back and caught him before he could fall on his face, and tried to hold him as he fought spasms and unconsciousness.

***

Iani changed into her old clothes in record time and left through the bedroom window, making sure no one was looking first.

Now on the street, she snuck around the side of the building and hid in the shadows, waiting for Hans to either come out alive or be carried out dead. She hugged herself tight in the chilling night air, and hadn't been waiting for long when she looked with now-green eyes at Hans as he was helped out of the inn. She stood on the side of the building as they walked past her, and she could see that he was stumbling and bleeding from the chest, but was still alive.

They started walking down the street towards the hospice, and as they passed her she looked off to the side slightly, trying not to be noticed. Luckily for her, no one did, tending to Hans instead.

She started walking after them, following them until halfway to the hospice, when she broke off and headed through a set of buildings, and out into the forest beyond. She walked on for a few minutes until she was certain she wasn't being followed and that she was out of sight, then took out the amulet and held the medallion in her hand.

A short whispered chant later, and she was transported back home.

Edit

Shadowplay

Chapter 4

***

Iani walked through the hallways of the fortress again for the second time that night, no longer disguised and unsure of what she'd find when she got to the throne room. Would he hold her responsible for the assassins' failure at the inn? Would he be very upset, or just mildly disappointed? Would he take his frustrations out on her again? If he did, she didn't know if she could take it. She'd had enough of that for one day.

Eventually, she found herself standing before the throne room's great double doors, and stood in front of them for a long time, breathing deeply to compose herself. Finally, she pushed them open and went inside.

The room was dark, as usual. At night, Matao tended to prefer it be really dark, to match his typical mood by that point. But today something was different about him... he seemed to sit differently, he seemed to scowl at her differently, and there was this intangible feeling that he might somehow actually feel... satisfied with what he was about to hear. She went before his throne feeling all these things, and knelt at the steps leading up to the throne.

Her head bowed low as she still feared some form of punishment, and gave him the news. "The assassination tonight, at the inn... didn't go as planned..."

He shifted in his seat. "Explain."

"Well..." She had to stop herself from saying "my lord". She could never bring herself to say those words to him... ever. "Grant... and the other... they failed to kill him."

"But the poisoning?"

Something wasn't right... for a change, he was more interested in something besides the main goal...

Unless... "He drank the poison. He's being treated in the hospice right now."

He sat back in his seat, and a smile crept across his face. "Good."

She looked up at him, surprised. "Good?"

He nodded down at her. "Are you surprised? It wasn't entirely unexpected." He sat forward and folded his hands in his lap, going on, "I had little doubt Grant and Barin wouldn't succeed. The key to everything was the poisoning, not so much the assassination attempt. Now, you see, the Coridean government will think that the Scian have tried to have the Chancellor's son killed, but failed."

She looked up at him, dumbstruck, as he finished with a wry grin. "So you see, it has begun. There is no more turning back. Well done, Iani."

All she could do was stare at him in amazement, and disgust.

***

Meanwhile, outside the town, Jen and his team found a good ambush point and set camp, just a short ways back from the road. In the morning, when Hans would be escorted back to his castle via caravan, they'd spring the trap, and bring their master his first great prize: the son of the Coridean Chancellor. Jen himself laid on the southern end of the road, lying on his back and staring at the stars above, and tried to keep himself from thinking about what he was about to do.

Namely, laying the groundwork for war.

Edit

Shadowplay

Chapter 5

***

Hans sat back in his carriage and relaxed, breathing deeply after taking a sip from a canteen. The nurse attendant in the coach with him leaned back in his seat and looked out the window, bored to tears.

Both of them were, actually. The road to the Coridea castle was long and would take half a day to travel, if they were fast. But the caravan wasn't in any kind of hurry, apparently. Just getting to this point in the road had taken them half the morning.

The lead driver kept a sharp eye on the surrounding woods, knowing that bandits tended to like striking merchant carts on that particular road, especially when they traveled in groups. He took some comfort in knowing that a company of soldiers was traveling with them, though, and blissfully drove his chocobos on, listening to the birds chirping.

Far to his right, behind some brush, Jen lowered his head and took out a small black object, shaped like a cannon ball but much smaller, and sporting a fuse coming out of one spot. He looked over to his left, at another one of his men, and nodded. The other man acknowledged the signal and passed it along, and soon all eight of Jen's men were lighting the fuses and readying their grenades.

Over all the hoofs clattering and carts creaking, nobody heard the fuses light. They didn't hear it, either, when they were thrown, but they did hear them when they clattered in the carts next to them, startling all the drivers and soldiers who happened to be in them.

But it was too late for them. In a fraction of a second all the bombs began exploding, sending wood chips and bodies flying in the air. As the chocobos panicked and tried to run in any direction they could find, smoke began to fall over the whole area and further hinder the soldiers trying to deploy. Jen's men then all stood up, crossbows at the ready, and aimed for only a split second before firing, taking down most of the rest of the soldiers and a couple of merchants as well.

Frantic shouting and screaming of men and women broke through the air as all the non-combatants leapt out of their carts and ran for safety. Jen rose from his bush and walked onto the road with a grin on his face. A perfect ambush.

The rest of his men jumped out and charged, running straight for the few soldiers left. Try as they did, they were no match for the raiders, since they were green, startled from the abruptness of the attack, and confused since their commanders were dead and weren't giving them direction. A couple of the merchant men tried to defend their carts, but they were hacked ruthlessly and swiftly, and the goods they tried to protect were ignored. One lady ran the wrong way and ended up bumping into one of Jen's men. For her mistake, she had her throat slashed.

Hans' nurse aid had abandoned him as soon as he figured out what was going on, clamoring out of the side door frantically.

"Juno, wait!" he said, trying to stop him. "Juno!"

It was no use. Juno jumped out of the window and ran into the forest as fast as he could, muttering to himself an old prayer. "Coward..." Hans said to himself as he reached for his sword.

He jumped out of his cart and looked around, seeing nothing but smoke and debris all around him.

"There!"

He faced the voice, and saw that they'd found him. "He's over there!"

He raised his sword and prepared to defend himself, then jumped back in surprise as a man leapt out from around the side of the cart at him. He barely managed to parry his short blade, but he soon outmaneuvered him and disarmed him, then ran him through the chest and stood back as he fell. He looked up again to see five more men running at him, but the thing that really surprised him was the heavy weight that hit his back and drug him to the ground. He gave whatever it was on top of him an elbow and rolled back to his feet, then paused and blanched as he saw who it was.

"Surprised to see me?" Jen asked with a grin.

"But... but you're dead!" Hans stammered.

Then a sharp tingling sensation struck him in the neck and he instinctively reached for it, then pulled out and looked at the dart that had just stuck him there. His vision got blurry almost instantly and his feet suddenly felt weak. He almost fell on the ground, but Jen grabbed him and helped him to a slow fall, replying, "Not so dead as you think."

He blacked out of consciousness after that, and Jen let go, letting him lie on the ground.

***

When he woke again, he found himself in a prison cell in some castle somewhere, with one small window up high giving the small room light.

He tried to sit up, but his back screamed at him to stop, and he obeyed. With a grunt he let himself fall back on the ground, and he noticed that his arms were cuffed together with heavy shackles and a short, but thick, chain. With nowhere to go he just lay there, counting the seconds and trying to think of ways that he might be able to escape.

All the scenarios he could think of involved him being slaughtered by a castle full of men with big pointy swords, unfortunately.

***

Matao walked briskly down a hallway, followed by Jen, Iani, and Jonathan, who had just joined him and were all trying to keep up.

Jen tried to catch up with him a bit, and asked, "The prisoner is ready on your word."

"Good. You've done well, Jen. Now bring him to me."

Jen bowed his head and walked off, Iani and Jonathan going with him. Left alone, Matao entered the interrogation chamber by shoving the door open, then went over to a table standing on a raised dais in the middle of the room, across from a set of shackles chained to the wall. He stood for a while, looking over the instruments at his command, and waited for them to return with Hans.

***

The heavy locks on the door clanged loudly, and the sliding sound they made rolled like weak thunder through the heavy wood. Hans lifted his head creakily to look up as they walked in the door and stood looking down at him. "Ready yet, hero?" Jonathan asked coldly.

Hans just looked up at them defiantly, and remained still, but when he looked over to Iani he stopped dead and stared at her, mouth opening in surprise. She noted his look and glanced down at herself, asking, "Matao doesn't like letting his best minions die... permanently..."

He continued to stare at her, and Iani nodded to Jen. "Don't be so surprised. We've all died a few times before."

They went over and lifted him to his feet, then carried him out by his arms, dragging his feet along the floor. He fidgeted with his hands while they carried him, looking around for anything he might have to remember should he attempt escape. As they took him along, however, he couldn't help but let his eyes shift a little to the right, towards her. That odd feeling from the day before was getting back into him, and the further they went, the greater he started to feel that something bad was going to happen.

But the trip to the interrogation chamber took less time than he thought, and he soon found himself being carried into a room with a table, restraints on the walls, and a tall man.

"Stop," commanded Matao with his back still turned. They halted and stood still, holding Hans just inside the door, while he lowered his head and looked at the floor. Matao turned to them and set his eyes on Hans, and spoke.

"So... the great Hans Gunther. Son of the Coridean Chancellor, retainer to the throne, and revered hero. You've eluded me a long time..." Matao had listed his accomplishments with some amount of disdain, and now walked towards him... slow, measured steps. "I've been hunting you for years. You've eluded capture, foiled my assassins, ruined my plains, defeated my best warriors, and slain my men!"

He grabbed the back of Hans' head, getting a fistful of hair, and lifted it so he could look in his eyes. "Somehow I thought you'd be taller."

Matao released him, but Hans didn't let his head drop again. Staring back at him, he said simply, "Sorry to disappoint you."

The two stared off for a second, but Matao then turned and walked over towards the table, taking his time. Hans asked while he walked, "What're you gonna do to me?"

"Simple. I will use the Pa-Rathi on you."

Iani waited until he stopped at the table and picked up an artifact, then scoffed and crossed her arms. "That was your plan along?"

Matao threw his head back slightly. "Oh, how little you understand me."

He turned and looked back down at her from the dais, now cradling the item in his hands. "There is far more going on here than one man. Far more."

He stepped down from the dais and headed back towards Hans, attaching the artifact to a notch on his large necklace. Then he nodded to Jen and Iani, who took Hans and dragged him towards the wall, where they then shackled his legs and an arm when Matao came up and stood before him.

"Pa-Rathi?"

Matao stopped Jen and Iani with a wave of his hand, and stepped closer. "Put simply, mind control. I'm going to make you my servant, Hans."

He sneered back at Matao and chuckled once. "What, do you think that's gonna work on me?"

Matao shrugged one shoulder and turned around, walking the other way a few steps. "It doesn't work on everybody... some people... can't be controlled through it..."

He stopped walking and glared over at Iani, who glared back at him. "But for those who can..." He turned back and walked towards Hans again, finishing with a sneer, "They come under my complete control."

"And which group do you think I am?"

Matao nodded to Jen again, who took Hans' last arm and slammed it into its shackle.

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" Matao asked, then grabbed Hans' head suddenly and gritted his teeth as energy began bolting out of his hands and Hans' head.

Hans began screaming in pain as his whole body resisted the intrusion, and Jen and Iani could only stand back and watch the sight. Iani swallowed a lump in her throat, because both she and Jen knew the pain he was going through... they just hadn't been turned.

***

His screams echoed through the night, and even when he finally fell silent, his voice rang in the ears of many in their sleep.

Therefore, the night was long. When morning came and the chieftains of Matao's private little army where gathered, all were silent, deeply contemplative and pensive of last night's "interrogation". They were all in the usual line, but this time Matao had ordered them to kneel and bow their heads. The room was dark, darker than usual, and the only light was coming from candles behind Matao's throne, casting him in a silhouette that made him look more foreboding and intimidating than usual.

Silence fell over the room for a long moment, leaving everyone to think deeply about what he was about to do. Finally, he rose. "Today is a great day for our cause. Our fortunes change today, and for the better. Allow me to introduce... the newest member of our family..."

He stretched his hand out towards the door, which opened slowly and bathed the room in a new, second light. A thin sliver of dim light shone on Matao's face as it did, revealing the confident smirk he wore as Hans walked slowly towards the front of the room, and stopped before Matao. Everyone looked up at him, and studied him as he turned around to face them all. Iani could see that his face was different, just like it had been the night before... his eyes were distant, cold, blank... and his face, it had the most placid of expressions. He'd clearly been turned. "Hans Gunther."

Matao lowered his hand to his side and stood proudly watching his minions. Iani caught herself almost feeling the want to shed a tear, but held herself back. Oh, Hans... if only you hadn't fallen to him... maybe then you'd know what we have to suffer for... Next to her, Jen just clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to shake his head.

He watched them for a time, then ordered Hans to take his place alongside them and began to sit on his throne again. "Now, the next stage is about to begin..."

What happens next to our villains?! What happens next to our heroes?! What random plot twists and unexpected turns of event will happen now?! Tune in next time, to Where it all Began!

--------------------

~Status Report~

* Completed... Dragon's Head
* Completed... Soldiers of the Empire: Disciples (release pending)
* In Progress/Undecided... Of Love and Betrayal
* Planning/Assembly... Where it all Began

Pretty good so far. I wonder what's going to happen next? Oh, the torment of To-Be-Continueds!!!!!

--------------------

"No matter what happens, I will always be with you... forever." ---- Pocahontas, Pocahontas

"Only those who are already at the top are rewarded without trying."----- Delita Hyral, Final Fantasy Tactics

http://www.ffshrine.org/fft/fft-midi/1-42-back_fire01.mid ---- My favorite FFT battle song

Okay, read all that's here so far. Interesting, and gets into the action very quickly.

So, I'll get to part 2 soon. :-)

I didn't find any major errors, though I was confused at first about the name "Jen". I'm used to it being a girl's name.

--------------------

I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

Exactly, which was all the more reason for me to use it. ^_- Just use a flat "e" sound, like in English "net" to get the right sound I imagine for it.

--------------------

~Status Report~

* Completed... Dragon's Head
* Completed... Soldiers of the Empire: Disciples (release pending)
* In Progress/Undecided... Of Love and Betrayal
* Planning/Assembly... Where it all Began