Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen Prayer ❯ Friends Don’t Charge Friends ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: Okay, I admit it. I directly took the ATE from Final Fantasy IX. ^^' And I don't own the ATE idea or Final Fantasy.

Stolen Prayer

Chapter Eleven- - Friends Don't Charge Friends

But…if the Queen Fury was here…what about Wink and Nicholai?

<Active Time Event: Boat Problems>

"What do you mean that the Queen Fury cancelled its trip!?" Nicholai bellowed to the sailor at the dock. He slapped his hands on the wooden counter, looking ready to massacre.

"S-Sir," The man stammered. "It's not my choice…" He shrank behind the counter. "If…If you want your money back…"

"I don't want the money back!" Nicholai snapped. Wink was standing behind him, reluctant about whether or not she should step in. "All I want to know is WHY? When I came here yesterday, all the preparations were made. Now would you MIND explaining to me why we can't get on the dam- - "

"Hey, it's all right," Wink told Nicholai before he could finish his curses. "We'll just wait here for a few days and…"

"We don't HAVE a few days, Acacia!" Nicholai growled at her. "If THEY come here…" Nicholai stopped, assuming that she took the hint.

And she did.

He turned back around, sighing. "Well this is a felicitous turn of events," He said sarcastically.

"There was an urgent matter, Sir," The sailor told him. "The Queen Fury never cancels departures unless it's for a good reason."

"Oh, and I suppose the POPE is in town?"

The sailor shirked back even more. He avoided the Wingly's deadly eyes. "I-I'm sorry…but…but there is nothing I can do…"

"It's okay," Wink stepped up to the plate again, seizing her partner's arm with her bandaged hand. "We understand." Nicholai allowed her to pull him, but didn't take his menacing gaze away from the sailor.

When they had rounded a corner leading into an alley, Wink stared hard at him. "It's no use to get ourselves in trouble. We'll just find another way around it."

"Don't you UNDERSTAND!? Faust is looking for us! We have to get off of Mille Seseau as soon as possible. This was our only chance. If we're spotted here…"

"Then fly us there," Wink commanded.

Nicholai wanted to slap himself silly and then her next. "What's it going to take to get it through your thick skull? That old pillowcase has the skies occupied! One step out of here and it's pushing up daisies for us. In case you don't know what THAT means, it's a euphemism for 'we're going to die'."

Wink bit her lower lip, eyes narrowing. Nicholai couldn't quite tell what she was feeling at the moment, but she was quick to tell him.

"Why do you have to be so mean!?" She shouted. "You call me stupid and you mock me and you make the death of my city look like a travesty!" Tears had filled her eyes, but they had not fallen. "Your crude attitude is enough to disgust even the sleaziest of adversaries. With 'friends' like you, who needs enemies!?"

"Hey, I saved your life!" His rejoinder was harsh and critical. "Don't stand there and call me a villain!"

"Because of YOU, I have no hometown to go back to! Because of YOU, everyone I love and adore is dead! It's all because of YOU!" The tears were falling freely down her puffy, red cheeks now. She turned away from him, her face buried in her hands.

He froze. This had happened before. And he had been the cause of it…and her demise…

"Nicholai!" Her voice was raspy and hoarse. Probably from all the crying she had done. "How can you turn your back on me!?" She was small, her body so frail. He wanted to protect her, but all he had done was cause her the utmost misery.

"Zeellia…" He reached for her…but she faded away…

He was possessed by her memory as he moved closer to Wink.

"Zeellia…" He whispered, too low for even her to hear. "I'm sorry…" He wrapped his arms around her, around his Zeellia. He would never make the mistake of losing her again. "Please forgive me," He murmured.

Wink felt the arms pull her towards him, her saturnine demeanor slowly dissipating. She remained intransigent, her hands never leaving her face.

"I'm sorry," He repeated. "I shouldn't have done that." He felt Wink loosen slightly. "You're right. This is my fault." This woman he saw before him. It was not Zeellia. This illusory…could he really see around it? Could he really…? When she looked so much like she had when she was so small?

'She would be about this woman's age now…' Nicholai released Wink 'So beautiful…'

"I'm sorry too," Wink told him, her head looking down.

"Listen…You're right. There's no use getting angry about the boat. We'll just find a way around it." Unexpectedly, he leaned forward, scooping Wink into his arms. "If we stay low to the surface of the water, I'm sure Faust won't catch a glimpse of us."

He looked both ways before sprinting off towards the water.

"But where will we go?" Wink asked, her arms wrapping around his neck. "Do you have any idea where to look for the Azurakey next?"

"I remember hearing about a place to the west in Tiberoa. It was the homeland of the Gigantos. I'm suspecting that there was a reason they were wiped out so suddenly. A total genocide."

"Are you implying that you think the Azurakey is through the Valley of Corrupted Gravity?"

"I'm not saying it is and I'm not saying it isn't." Nicholai turned his gaze towards her. "But you're going to need some weapons. Like I promised you, you can choose out anything you want at the weapon shop."

"Which one?"

Nicholai paused, leaping into the air and then falling forward, the wings sprouting from his back. "Let's go to Fletz," He said. "It's a kingdom and I doubt the King is going to give pogo sticks to his knights for battle."

Wink conjured a smile and looked back to the horizon.

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The boat ride was given to silence, the badinage dull and tedious. Under such circumstances, no one could bring themselves to happiness- - Not even Dart. Even the acclamation from the crew had dried up. Albert remained imperturbable throughout the voyage, lounging around in his cabin with the lights off. It felt like someone had just died. And that was a legitimate thought too.

Dart felt as though he were going to go mad with all the stillness. Not a single person could even look the other in the eye. He greeted the horizon with a paroxysm of laughter once Puler announced that Mille Seseau was within reach. Their peregrination was almost complete.

Or so he hoped.

But the land was redolent with the scent of death. Dart was letdown and was blatant to let everyone know it.

"Neet is over yonder," The first knight told them as they stepped off the Queen Fury and onto the safer grounds of Furni.

"I know where it is." Dart responded bitterly, raising his head slightly to the darkening sky. Dart looked askance at the sickening wave of terror perched above the ruins of the Kashua Glaciers. Did he really want to go in there?

"The skies do not look so promising," Albert stepped up beside him, Shana following closely behind, mimicking Dart's gaze. "We must find a way to attenuate the suffering of the people."

"Shall we go?" Dart looked at the King, trying his best to smile. "Just like old times," He reminded his comrade.

Albert nodded and walked ahead.

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"That charlatan will never think to look here," Nicholai muttered as he and Wink strolled through Fletz. It was nearing four o'clock. 'But even for such an idiot, it was amazing that he was able to decimate the civilians in Deningrad…' Then he turned to Wink, who had fallen in step with him. 'Yet this woman shares this benign performance with me, although I know not why. I was the cause of Deningrad's death and her unhappiness.' His head drooped. 'Zeellia…'

"There," He heard Wink say. "The weapon shop is there."

Nicholai looked up, forgoing his thoughts. "Yes." Then he turned to the sky. "But it's getting late. We should hurry before dusk falls, else there won't be a room vacant at the inn."

Wink nodded, fraught with excitement. "Anything I want?"

"Am I talking with a lisp?"

A huge grin cracked on Wink's face as she darted inside the weapon shop. Nicholai stood in the middle of the road, puzzled. "How can she be so happy that she's getting weapons? Maybe she misunderstood the meaning of 'war'…" Brushing the thought aside, he walked in behind her.

She was busy browsing through the bows at one end of the shop. She quickly disposed of them and moved on to the staffs. "Acacia," He called out to her. She did not reply at first, and then she quickly grabbed a jeweled staff and showed it to Nicholai.

"This one," She said.

He took it in his hands, observing it carefully. "Why are you so giddy about getting a weapon?" He asked, not taking his eyes away from the weapon. "Don't you know that these things kill?"

"I do."

"Then why? You don't seem like the kind of person who would be happy about taking someone's life…"

"I know what war's about. I'm just happy now because I can fight alongside with friends to protect the ones I love."

"Friends?" Nicholai pulled his gaze away from the jewels at the top of the staff. "So we're friends now?"

Wink thought that it was a ludicrous thing to ask and responded almost immediately. "Of course." Then she paused. "…We are, aren't we?"

Now it was Nicholai's turn to laugh. "The thought hadn't crossed my mind. After all, you were the one who chose to follow ME."

Wink's face did not change. She had become inured to his obtuse remarks. "I thought you were penitent for Deningrad," She snatched the staff away from him. "For that I was willing to forgive you. Then I just wanted to fight alongside you. I'm sorry, my dear acquaintance." She said the last word through clenched teeth. Then she placed the staff neatly on the rack. "I'm sorry I was oblivious to your repulsive opinion of me." Nicholai rolled his eyes.

"We'll never get along," He muttered to himself.

But Wink heard. "That's because you'll always be an overweening ass!"

Nicholai froze. He had never thought to hear such language from a genteel girl such as Wink. He had not meant to rebuff her friendship. He grabbed the staff back off the shelf and pushed it in front of her. "It's a good staff." He said. "It's mahogany."

She snorted and he walked off to the bows.

"Which one do you want?" The asperity that had once been held in his tone was now gone. He pointed to one in the far back. "That's a good one. The burnish on the surface is still almost new."

"Which one?" Wink grumbled, but trudged towards him anyway. He continued to point until she caught sight of it. She picked it up gingerly, running her fingers along the surface.

"Well you have not deprecated my recommendation yet, so I will assume you like them both?"

Wink attempted to hide her ebullient mood through the anger that she had directed at Nicholai earlier. "Well, I guess so. I'll pay you back once when I can."

"I already told you not to bother paying me back," He said, taking the bow from her. "Friends don't charge friends." As he turned towards the counter to pay for the weapons, Wink could not help but give a big luminous smile that stretched her face. Maybe, just maybe…

…he wasn't so bad after all.

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A Foresight Into Episode Twelve

"Well, why is it so important that we go to the Valley of Corrupted Gravity right away?"

"First off," Nicholai counted on his fingers. "I don't like wasting time. I'm always in a hurry. Secondly…" He pointed towards the continent of Mille Seseau. "Godly Gruesome is building an army for the onslaught on us. Once he pervades his armies around Endiness, we're done for. Why? Because they are all activated by magic and cannot die until he does. Don't you think it's best to arm ourselves now before he reaches the nub of his power?"

The downtrodden girl nodded in agreement. Nicholai exhaled a long breath.

"It's going to be a long and hard ordeal but if we can trust each other not to flounder about vulnerably, then I think we can do it. What do you think?"

Wink looked up at him for a long while before snatching the bag from Nicholai and swinging it over her shoulder, clutching the ends of it with her free hand.

"Let's go," She told him.

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Woot. Still continuing on with this story. Hope you all like.

Kat