Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles ❯ Stowaway ( Chapter 6 )

My thanks goes out to Sari-15 for the review she sent in regards to chapter one! Hope to hear from you again sometime soon. Anyway, as you may have noticed, I bumped up the rating on this fanfic because of the inclusion of high-level swears and nasty name-calling, in addition to some sketchier elements that will make an appearance later on.

 

~

 

Dusk fell as the caravan came to the entrance of the River Belle Path. The summer sun had managed to fry three of the four travelers into masses of red skin and hot tempers. Degio, who had barely managed to retrieve his helmet and return back to the relative safety of the chalice's barrier before passing out, wasn't prepared for the further abuse he was receiving from Nikki.

 

“I bet you're so very cheerful, you formless piece of ectoplasmic shit.” Nikki said, her fair skin damaged by the ultraviolet rays to the point that she was already developing blisters, although dusk had barely fallen.

 

“I, uh…” Before his defensive statement could be finished, or even formed, Degio was attacked again by his irritable travel companion.

 

“`Look at me, look at me! While you all burn to a crisp from sunburns, I'm incapable of being afflicted with mere mortal maladies because I don't have a fucking body, although this will make screwing you all rather difficult when you pass out from heat stroke.'”

 

“Please stop, I'm not doing anything to you…”

 

“Did you say something, Armor-all?”

 

“No.” The brevity and fullness of his reply stunned Nikki, leaving her speechless, her brain incapable of understanding what had just happened.

 

“That's it! We're stopping for the night. I'm sick of walking, I'm sick of arguing, and we won't be doing anymore tonight.” Pulling the reins on the paopamus, Nadia fell to the ground against its legs, rubbing her calves in the hope that feeling would be restored to them. Following her lead, everyone else collapsed in a rough circle in front of her. Silence fell on the group, no one quite sure what was supposed to happen next.

 

“So, what now?” Velius' wits were addled as well from the overexposure to sunlight, and his normally proud stature closely resembled a soggy book; cold, damp, and limp. His mind turned to the notion of heat, but he couldn't find the word necessary to describe what was needed to create heat.

 

“We need a fire.” Despite blistering skin and a horrid disposition, Nikki was able to recall the word that Velius forgot. With his pride suddenly insulted, he began to speak up.

 

“But we need some wood.”

 

“Well, I guess you can go get some, and then Armor-all over there can start it up.” Without the energy or the desire to confront Nikki on her good sense, Velius reluctantly got up to gather wood by the side of the road. When he had successfully managed to construct a crude pit and place the wood in it, he beckoned Degio over for him to start a fire. When the wood had caught, they all gathered close to it, the night chill descending over the area as the sun's glow faded from the sky, orange descending to red, then to purple. Recovering from their stupor, the travelers began to prepare a makeshift camp, each member attending to duties set down by the strange telepathy that sometimes develops between people with similar goals. By the time all trace of sunlight had disappeared from the night sky, there was already a roast cooking above the fire, and blankets were set down for people to sit on. When the roast was done, it was removed from its position above the fire and cut into roughly equal portions, and served to the caravanners, who had finally struck up amiable conversation between each other. As they were eating their dinner, Nadia spoke up with another problem.

 

“Who's sleeping in the wagon first?” This was a fair question, since no order was yet determined for how the quartet was going to use it. It wasn't large enough for all of them to use at the same time, and so this left the remaining members out with the fire.

 

“Vhshell, phi shpay mwe phomwen get ith fiorsht.” Pieces of meat flew from Nikki's mouth as her garbled sentence failed to be understood by anyone, the juicier tidbits fizzing as they flew into the fire.

 

“Repeat with an empty mouth.” Degio suggested, unimpressed with the blatant lack of manners she had in her possession. Swallowing the mass of food trapped in her now-closed mouth, Nikki repeated herself, unaware of the condescending tone of voice Degio carried.

 

“I say the women get it first. It's only fair, you know.” Returning her attention to the roast in her hand, Nikki failed to realize she was drawing reproachful looks from Velius and Degio.

 

“But then what about tomorrow night? Who gets it then?” Asked Velius.

 

“Us women.”

 

“That's not fair, though. We should try setting up some kind of cycle system.” Nadia's brain was already fully engaged. The system she had in mind gave everybody the chance to sleep in the wagon for two nights, each with a different partner, and gave her and Velius an opportunity every two nights to spend some `quality time' together. This time spent between them would require extreme caution and the absence of clothing from both of them, unless she decided to tell Nikki about their affair, at which point caution could be thrown out the window. Her mind had been actively engaged with devising a system that would work the entire time she had been walking that day, although her brain, like everyone else's, began to lag when the sun reached noon and beyond.

 

“Like, everybody spends one night in the wagon every four days? I mean, that might work and all, but that'd get awful confusing in a hurry.” Nikki's share of the roast was already gone, and she was reaching for a second helping when Velius slapped ithe offending limb with a nearby branch. Pulling her hand back toward her, she glared daggers at him as he withdrew the branch, the two of them carefully eyeing the other.

 

“I was thinking that each of us would spend two nights in the wagon with two different people, and then they would sleep outside for two nights with two different people. It would go through a cycle like this: there would be you and me, Nikki, then it would be me and Velius, then Velius and Degio, then Degio and you, then finally back to you and me. How does that sound?” Before Nikki could log her protest against always getting stuck with Armor-all, Degio and Velius nodded their heads in agreement. Unlike Nikki, who was ignorant of the situation, they had managed to determine what would happen if this cycle was initiated, which left Velius giddy with anticipation and Degio predicting a catfight. He decided to vote it into action more because it would allow the entire scenario to alleviate itself, rather than voting against it and having to try and break the tie on the decision.

 

“Then it's settled.” Said Nadia, finality reigning in her voice. `Once every two nights,' she thought, `that means even if we're only gone a month, which is unlikely, we'll have done it more times than we have in one year!'

 

“Hey, what about me?” Nikki protested as Nadia forcefully took her to the wagon. Watching them in their awkward procession, Velius and Degio exchanged glances, then turned back to the fire.

 

“Once every two days. Are you sure you should be taking that big a risk?” Degio's lack of facial features caused him to transmit much of his emotion through his voice, which in this case exhibited signs of concern and knowing, as if he knew the answer but didn't like it.

 

“There's nothing to worry about.” Velius replied, his usual pride and assurance revived after a hot meal. Reaching for the meat Nikki had tried to take earlier, Velius took off a piece and held it in his hand. “There's more ways to enjoy yourself than just the standard path. Me and Nadia have been very creative in the past. We'll manage to entertain ourselves without any danger of parenthood.” With that, he bit into meat that was waiting in his palm, reveling in the brilliance of his lover.

 

~

 

As the conversation between Degio and Velius continued, Nadia was locking up the wagon, while an indignant Nikki watched from inside the wagon.

 

“What was that all about? You had that system all planned out, didn't you? You had been thinking about that for a while, and you managed to get Degio and Velius on the bandwagon without me noticing. What's going on, `cause I know you wouldn't have done all that work just to set up a stupid sleep cycle.” Nadia was wrestling with the problem that Nikki was suddenly presenting to her. `How do I tell her without freaking her out? Do I even tell her? She'll find out eventually, and if she finds out because she sees us, she'll freak for sure.' She knew that the situation at hand was a volatile one, but she guessed that it had been volatile when Velius told Degio, which gave her some reassurance. `Only thing is, he wasn't dealing with a powder keg.'

 

“Well?” Nikki was growing impatient. Selkies are naturally hot-tempered, and Nikki was easier to set off than most. Resisting the urge to lash out at being ignored was testing the outer limits of her restraint, and it was about to break.

 

“I have a secret, Nikki.” Nadia' mind turned circles as she tried to find a way to reveal the truth without startling her companion.

 

“Really? And what is this big secret you're keeping?” The tantalizing concept of being privy to a dark secret placated Nikki's nerves, her curiosity overriding her anger for the moment.

 

“I'm… in a relationship.”

 

“So? Who cares?” Nikki's previous irritation returned upon hearing the anticlimactic response to her question, and she saw Nadia beginning to fidget uncomfortably.

 

“Well, the relationship is a bit, uh, unorthodox.”

 

“And?” Nadia was beginning to lose her resolve. `This isn't supposed to be hard, dammit.' She thought.

 

“I've been keeping this relationship a secret because people wouldn't be accepting of it.” Although she had had her suspicions with the comment that the relationship was a secret one, Nikki felt that this last sentence confirmed her fears.

 

“Dear gods, you're a lesbian?!” Upon screaming her sentence, Nikki pressed herself against the wall of the wagon in sudden fear, alarm bells going off in Nikki's head as thoughts of kidnappings and dark cellars proceeded to crop up in her brain.

 

“What?! No!” Nadia could feel herself blushing furiously at Nikki's exclamation. `I hadn't even suspected that of being a possible conclusion.'

 

“Then what is it?! The only other thing you could possibly be hiding along those lines is you and Vel…oh.” The true picture came into focus. `That certainly explains the wagon cycle.'

 

“Do you get it now?”

 

“Y, yes. You and… him are…?”

 

“Yes. But we need you to stay quiet about this because of… the… scandal surrounding this, what are you doing?” Nikki had placed her head against an iron chest that she had been leaning against the whole time. She put a finger to her lips, signaling for Nadia to keep quiet. Drawing her racket, she smacked the chest, producing an uncharacteristic thud rather than a clear ringing sound. Swinging open the chest, she fished around inside, and made a strong, pulling motion, as if she was tugging at a very heavy object. At last, Nikki made one final heave, causing the object inside to come flying out from inside the chest. Out came a boy who appeared to be the same age as Nadia, the same height as Nadia, and had very similar shades in hair and eye color.

 

“Well, look what I just found. No offense, Nadia, but your brother is one heavy bastard.” Pulling him up by the neck of his outfit, Nikki threw him toward the wagon doors with the enough force to break them open and send him hurtling face first into the dirt outside.

 

~

 

After recovering from the initial shock of Kedan being thrown out of the wagon, Velius finally got around to binding his hands and feet.

 

“Well, nice of you to join us, Kedan, though I must say the elder was pretty clear about restricting you the right to come with us.” Watching Velius as he bound the unexpected visitor, Degio was eating an apple that he had kept in his pack. After adapting to the situation, Degio was not at all surprised that he had followed them and at some point stowed away, nor was he surprised that he had been caught.

 

“You think I should gag him, too?” Velius asked as he tightened the knot on the rope around Kedan's hands.

 

“Suck dick, peewee.” Replied Kedan to this comment, determined to put his mouth to use before being silenced.

 

“And an iron rod up your ass, boy.” Still, Velius decided against the gag as he saw Nikki and Nadia emerging from the wagon. `If he flaps his mouth like that, Nikki can always teach him a lesson he won't soon forget.'

 

“I love it when people get what they deserve.” Said Nikki, her trusty racket resting on her shoulder as she took a seat. “How are the bindings, Kedan? Chafing? Too tight? Want me to distract you for a moment?”

 

“If getting hit is what you consider distraction, then no, I don't want to be distracted.”

 

“I have to say, Kedan, I expected greater sense. If you were going to stow away, you could have at least had the sense to reveal yourself when we had no choice but to keep you.” Nadia placed her hands on her hips, wondering how he had managed to make it into the iron chest inside the wagon to begin with without them noticing.

 

“Not my fault I sneezed at precisely the wrong moment. And you didn't have to toss me out like a bag of flour, you know.” Clapping her hands and cupping them above her head, Nikki caught a piece of apple that Degio tossed to her, and ate it before deigning to answer Kedan's complaint.

 

“Me and your sister were talking about sensitive material. You should be happy I didn't just beat you senseless when I had the chance.”

 

“How much did you hear? And don't lie to me, otherwise Nikki gets my full permission to beat you senseless.” Nadia eyed her brother carefully. Although he wasn't always a good liar, she had seen Kedan spin a tale of bullshit so well that he escaped all possible harm, even when it was all but blindingly obvious that he was guilty.

 

“I had initially been asleep, but Nikki had woken me up after screaming something. After that, I heard whispers up until you said something about Nikki needing to be quiet about something scandalous.”

 

“A lot of somethings in those two sentences. I say he's lying and I should beat him for it.” Nikki said, reaching down to pick up her racket. Kedan felt himself break into a cold sweat as she reached for her weapon, unable to even shield himself with his arms should she strike.

 

“No. He isn't lying. He's not a threat. I say we just tend to the myrrh tree on the River Belle Path, then turn around and drop him off back in Tipa.”

 

“What about a threat? And you can't send me back! Mom and dad will kill me!”

 

“Well, you should have thought of that before stowing away, shouldn't you have?” Turning around, Nadia walked back into the wagon, closing the doors behind her.

 

“Meeting adjourned. I suggest you gag him before he makes a proper nuisance of himself.” Following Nadia's lead, Nikki headed back to the wagon.

 

“What? You… hey, what, what are you doing?”

 

“Gagging you, my good man.” Going behind Kedan and tying the cloth in his hands tight at the back of his head, Velius made a final, violent tug, which was met with a muffled cry of pain. Unable to speak, and barely able to move, Kedan leaned to his right and fell over, inching himself over so that his head rested on a filled sack that substituted for a pillow.

 

~

 

“So, now that that's over with, I have something you should have.” Reaching into her belt pouch, Nikki pulled out a vial of her mother's contraceptive fluid.

 

“Isn't that the stuff you'd gotten all emotional about this morning?” Frowning in irritation, Nikki wondered whether not to give her the fluid.

 

“Yes, listen. My mom gave this to me before I left. It was a part of that `talk' I told you about.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“It's a fluid that keeps you from becoming pregnant. I figure you're probably going to need this.” Holding it out to her, Nadia took the vial from Nikki's hands, albeit begrudgingly, since Nikki's word choice made her sound like some kind of nympho.

 

“So, how does it work?”

 

“Uh, you're supposed to drink it, and it keeps you from getting pregnant for one month.”

“But how much do I have to drink?” This question left Nikki at a disadvantage.

 

“I don't know. You can try drinking about a fourth of it, and see how long that lasts.”

 

“And how do I determine if it's working?”

 

“Is your period coming up?” Nikki's blunt and rude offer had already succeeded in irritating Nadia, and this question set her off.

 

“Why does that matter?! Do you have any idea what this stuff does? Or are you just bullshitting me with colored water?”

 

“The reason I asked that question is because any contraceptive will prevent your period from occurring. Supposing that you have a fairly regular period, you can drink one fourth of what's in that vial. Then you can determine how long it lasts by counting the number of missed periods. If you miss one period, it lasts at least two weeks. If you miss two periods, one fourth of the vial will last you one month.” Seeing the sense in Nikki's words, Nadia nonetheless took the vial with a large degree of suspicion.

 

“You didn't have to beat around the bush so much in order to give this to me.”

 

“And you didn't have to beat around the bush so much when you were telling me about your secret relationship, even if it seems your aversion to talking directly about it saved us a lot of trouble with your brother.” Crawling underneath blankets she had laid down on the exposed floor of the wagon, Nikki laid down and closed her eyes. “Anyways, it's not important. Let's talk about it some other time. I'm getting tired.” Turning her attention from her discussion, Nadia also realized she was exhausted.

 

“Too much happened in one day.”

 

~

 

Looking over at Kedan as he lay sleeping near the fire, Degio glanced over at his childhood friend.

 

“So what do you think?” Turning his attention away from the wagon, Velius looked at him with a dazed expression. Tilting his head a little towards Kedan, Degio spoke up again. “What do you think? He didn't find out now, but what if he finds out later? Do you want to tell him now to save yourself the trouble?”

 

“I don't think he needs to know. Ever. He's one of the obstacles I'm always dealing with. Both sides of the coin present major obstacles. And I don't trust him. I probably never will. He may be kin, but not mine.”

 

“Just sayin'. The man wouldn't have had to buy a new boat if he'd just plugged the first leak.” This comment was in reference to a fable often told to young children to encourage diligence. It is about a man who notices a crack in the hull of his fishing ship, but does nothing about it, since the crack is high on the hull, far from any water. He happens to get caught in a storm, and his boat, otherwise watertight, sinks because of the water that fills from the crack high on the hull. He manages to survive and make it back to his village, but he must buy a new boat because his old one had, of course, sunk.

 

“I'm well aware of the situation, and he isn't any kind of leak. No one would believe a word he said, with as little information as he has.”

 

“If you say so. Just remember this conversation.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, so I can say `I told you so' when something goes wrong.” They both laughed at this comment, partly because it shouldn't have been laughed at, and partly because it held an absurd amount of truth. They both knew they were playing with a kind of fire, a fire that could be lethal in a very different kind of way than most flames.

 

`If need be, he won't go back to Tipa. I'll strand him at Marr's Pass, or some other small town, and hope I never hear from him again.' Velius' thoughts rang silently in his head, both scaring and reassuring him with their finality and decisiveness.