FFOG3 Chapter 2

After being assisted by Civan, a soldier from the northern continent, the group sneaks back into Eijopi in an attempt to find passage across the sea. However, they're attacked by Mog along the way. After severely wounding him, they escape via Civan's ship.

In Truvia, the group makes passage to Battant, the capital of the country, in order to explain their situation to the Queen-Empress. While stowing away on a cargo train, they are attacked by Zimon, a former Truvian lord who went insane and became a bestial monster. Leading a pack of Chocobos, Zimon knocks them unconscious and drags them to his cave; Giuseppe is sent away to deliver a ransom to the Queen. However, Calaria manages to send a message to Chocobo the Djinn for assistance. Chocobo proceeds to infiltrate Zimon's pack.

At the cave, Civan and Kyson are separated from the others; Zimon offers them a chance to join him, but they refuse and their fight continues. Imajin, Stubbs, and Calaria are grabbed by the Chocobo pack and overhear their plans to kill Zimon and the rest. The Djinn Chocobo protects them until Zimon shows up, upon which they strike. The bard, Franz, steps in and soothes the Chocobos with music, then escorts the group to Battant.

Civan arrests Zimon and sends him to the palace dungeons. While Imajin searches for Giuseppe, Kyson and Stubbs make plans to enter the dungeons and speak to Zimon; they are joined by Calaria, having now learned the danger she is presented with for being a summoner. At the same time, Worthengraut the Unnerving arrives at the palace as a representative of the northern countries to attend a banquet set for the Queen.

Franz infiltrates the banquet via the band Frogsong and attempts to assassinate the Queen-Empress, but Civan and his superior, Luth, protect her. Franz is taken to the dungeons while Kyson, Stubbs, and Calaria are leaving, Kyson having offered Zimon a second chance without the others' approval. Franz tells Civan that the Queen-Empress is working with Vizier Hal'amek and had his family killed, raising Civan's suspicions. This is confirmed later in the banquet, when the Queen-Empress announces an alliance with Osyllia, right before being kidnapped. The Queen-Empress's bodyguard, Talia, instates a full city lock-down.

Kyson, Stubbs, and Calaria stumble upon Imajin, grievously injured during his search for Giuseppe by a man with glowing red eyes. The fatal wound has not affected Imajin at all, however, and it is determined that he has been zombified, with no apparent cure. Civan arrives and relays to them news of Hal'amek's arrival; the group decides to make their way to Auberon through Barren, with Civan and Kyson trading places so that Kyson can continue his work with Zimon.

Chapter 2: Just a Monster

Lupus

Imajin cringed as his body forcefully tore apart, ready to transport through the atmosphere. His limbs felt like they were being bent in the opposite direction they were supposed to go, and his ears pounded with what sounded like a million voices speaking at once. His eyes felt as if someone's thumbs were pressing them into his skull as hard as they could, and in front of him he could see nothing but a swirl of light and colour as all laws of the Universe were discarded and magic merged all into one. Occasionally he could make out something he recognized; the spires of the palace in Osmirri blurred into the crunching gears of the Floating City he had only seen in books, which in turn blurred into the Lighthouse of Eijopi...

His stomach shifted as he suddenly felt himself falling. He closed his eyes, and then--

***

He regained consciousness sometime later, his mind taking a few seconds to remember what had happened.

If this is what mages go through every time they teleport, then...

Imajin opened his eyes and looked up. He was lying on a bed in the corner of a one roomed house. From the looks of it the owner wasn't rich; it was scarcely decorated with humble belongings, but it felt cosy. Across from him, on rugs laid out on the floor, laid Kyson, Stubbs and Calaria, fast asleep.

"Finally awake, are you dear?" a woman's voice said, surprising him.

He glanced over at her. She was a thin, aging woman standing at the sink with a plate in one hand and a tea towel in the other. She smiled at his look of confusion.

"Who are you? Where is this?" Imajin asked rapidly. "Where's Giuseppe?"

"My name is Maram. You're in my house. And if you mean the tall fellow, he went for a walk," she replied immediately.

Imajin swung his legs off the bed and stood up. A sharp pain flashed up his back and he groaned. "What happened?"

Maram shrugged and turned back to the sink. "I don't know, dear. You'd best ask that friend of yours when he gets back. He brought you here." She turned back. "Are you hungry?"

Imajin shook his head.

"You don't have to lie to me, dear. You've been out of it awhile. Have some food."

She glanced at Imajin knowingly. Imajin was half way through shaking his head again when his stomach rumbled loudly. Maram laughed. "Are you sure?"

"I guess I could eat something," Imajin conceded.

Maram nodded and walked over to a pot on her stove. She started spooning out soup from the pot into a bowl.

"So how long have I been 'out of it'?" Imajin asked, trying to make conversation.

"Well, you've been here all night, dear," she said, bringing the bowl over to the table. "Before that, I don't know. Your friend brought you here last night but you were off with the fairies then. Sit," she commanded, motioning to the seat at the table. "Eat."

Imajin nodded and sat down. He picked up the bent spoon and dipped it into to the soup.

Suddenly, the door of the small house opened and Giuseppe appeared. He took one look at Imajin and let out a sigh of relief. "Imajin."

"Giuseppe," Imajin replied curtly. Despite all the thief had done to get him and his friends out of trouble, he still didn't quite trust him, nor forgive him.

Giuseppe took his top hat off and tucked it under his arm as he entered the room. "You're okay. I was worried."

Imajin snorted. "I wasn't aware a teleport spell leaves you unconscious for half a day. It seems sort of inconvenient."

Giuseppe smiled lopsidedly. "Well, about that. I sort of... teleported you a few meters above the ground."

"Only a few?" Imajin retorted, rubbing the side of his torso where pain still lingered.

"It seems you were right about him, Giuseppe," another voice said, as a figure emerged from behind the thief. His clothing immediately told Imajin that he was some kind of foreign military leader, perhaps from up north. On his hips hung a sabre and a pistol. "Stubborn 'til the end."

Giuseppe entered the room and walked over to where the other three lay on the floor. "I just hope these three are okay too... Time to get up!" Giuseppe shook the three sleeping figures. The sleepy grumbling from the corner told Imajin that his other companions were fine.

Imajin turned his attention to the newcomer that had just entered. "And who is this?"

The man nodded his head in Imajin's direction. "My name is Civan. I work for the Queen-Empress. I'm on the annual peace keeping trip; you know how it is..."

Imajin looked suspiciously towards Giuseppe. "Why do you trust him? He could be anyone."

Giuseppe chuckled, but Civan answered for him. "We've met. It was a long time ago... and I wouldn't call us friends. In fact, back in those days I swore I would get his head some day..."

"That sounds familiar..." the slurred voice of Kyson came from the corner. Imajin nearly snarled.

Civan smiled. "Anyway, you should see the wanted pictures they've got of you guys. Pretty lifelike. I identified Giuseppe immediately."

"That can't be good for my career," Giuseppe sighed.

"Well, they've got some different name under your face, but I could tell it was you."

"How did you find him? I assume the Caliph has got men searching everywhere for us," Imajin asked.

"Ahh... it's all about being able to see the trails of a teleport spell. It's a handy ability."

"You can do that?"

"Well... no. But one of the men on my ship can. He saw the trails in the sky yesterday, and the Caliph told me you had escaped in a similar way. And because of the laws, you don't exactly have people teleporting every day in Eijopi. It's just a matter of putting two and two together." He glanced at Giuseppe. "Anyway, Giuseppe just finished telling me your story. No wonder the Caliph is looking for you."

"Of course he is," Imajin said. "But he won't find us for awhile hopefully. Where are we anyway?"

"Eijban."

Imajin nearly choked on his soup. "What?" Eijban was a small town directly to the east of Eijopi. That meant they weren't as far as he'd originally thought.

"Also my fault," Giuseppe said. "I never claimed to be a magician. I only did what I could."

"Jus' be glad we ain't down the neck of a volcano!" came Stubbs' voice from the corner. "We're still alive, ain't we?"

"You won't be for long if you don't get out of here," Civan replied. "Your likenesses are posted all over the city. And probably every other city on the continent by now, if the Vizier's persuasive abilities aren't exaggerated."

"And you?" Imajin asked. "Why haven't you reported us yet?"

"I was considering it before Giuseppe told me your story. That's why I came all this way after all. But my loyalty is to my home, not this place. I may speak with the Caliph from time to time but I don't like him."

"So what do we do?"

"We leave," Giuseppe said, matter-of-factly.

"We?"

Giuseppe sighed and looked at the floor. "I fear this gentleman thief may have bit off more than he can chew this time. They may not know my name but they know my face. But more importantly... more importantly..." He looked up at Imajin. "A man is his morals. I saw it, you did too. Whatever the Vizier is up to..." He trailed off.

"He's experimenting with magic," Kyson finally said. "Testing resistance. It's practically torture, he doesn't even care if they die. It can't be legal."

"So what now?" Calaria asked.

Civan frowned. "I don't pretend to be involved with this, but my crew and I are sailing north to Truvia before heading home. The Queen-Empress isn't the kind to listen to southern monarchs, so you'll be safe there for awhile."

"What do you get out of it?" Imajin asked.

"I never did like the Caliph... I don't really think the Queen-Empress does either. And," he added with a half-joking sigh, "anything that keeps Giuseppe alive long enough so he can pay back what he stole from me."

"Then we should leave now. We can think about what we're going to do next when we're out of the Vizier's reach."

Imajin got to his feet, his soup long since forgotten. He hurried out of the house, followed by the others.

"Your boat is docked in Eijopi?" Imajin asked Civan, looking towards the west.

"Yes. It's only a few miles west to the Eijopi walls. There's no real danger until then. Just try to keep your head down."

Giuseppe turned to the thin, aging woman who now stood in the doorway of her house. "Thank you Maram. I never steal from ladies but if I did..." Giuseppe flipped his top hat onto his head. "I'd make an exception for you."

Maram smiled.

"You might want to keep that top hat off, Giuseppe," Civan interrupted. "It's fairly nicely drawn on your wanted picture."

Giuseppe complied reluctantly.