#anyway then i woke up after that part as declan and i rushed off
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Contributing to the #RyukoPrompts this month (albeit belatedly), Final Fantasy 14 with my wife and sister-in-law has been helping us to get through the lockdown! After all our time spent running through Eorzea, original adventures inspired by our time playing came to mind...and I thought to write one out.
Enjoy~! :)
The following story’s canon is questionable,
both with the in-game lore and how the characters are presented.
Viewer discretion is advised, void where prohibited,
see store for details, careful of wet floor.
~
Hear...
Her voice was calm and crystalline.
Hear.... Feel....
The air was warm.
Hear.... Feel.... Listen....
There was great weight to her tone and a quiet urgency.
I am Hydaelyn. I know all...see all...I have seen you...and you are needed.
You will be required for a great task. One of which you must not fail, for to do so would bring great ruin.
The task which you have been given is monumental – you will help to stop a primal where no one else can.
My words...keep them. Remember them. Heed them.
You must not forget, Muto. You must not forget.
~
Muto blearily opened his eyes. Outside the world was waking. Light was coming in through the window, still orange as the sun started its journey above the horizon. Birds were already in song, announcing to the world that they had survived the dark night. Windows were beginning to light as the people of Gridania awoke.
As he lied in bed, something urgently tugged at Muto's mind. Something desperate. Something important. His eyes shot open.
He was out of toilet tissue.
This was the fourth attempt that Hydaelyn had made to spur the Hrothgar toward his quest.
Stumbling out of bed in his boxers, he rushed for the door and threw it open. Rushing across the small house, he passed by another white-furred Hrothgar and a tired-looking Lalafell who were sitting at a table with mugs. On the side of the beastman's in large block lettering had originally been “#One Brother,” but the number had been messily scratched out and replaced by “#1st”. It was a gift Muto had made while still learning to read and write Eorzean. The Lalafell, meanwhile, had a tankard large enough for a Roegadyn filled to the brim with coffee.
“Just one morning,” Lalinu sighed, “I would like for him to be decent when he comes out of there.”
“Muto is not naked,” Tahro observed.
“A marked improvement,” the Lalafell admitted.
The door to the back was flung open and Muto rushed out. A minute later, he rushed back and stood before them, eyes wide with excitement. “No more emergency!” he announced.
“...I'm sorry?” Lalinu asked. “Wait, no, forget I—”
“Muto thought there was no more toilet tissue, but Muto was wrong!”
“You were wrong about something.” She went to have a drink of coffee. “How about that.”
“Tahro buy,” Tahro informed him. “Tahro also fill up larder. Get groceries. Get good deals.”
“While somebody was out playing adventurer.”
“Muto is real adventurer....” Muto insisted.
“If you got sustainably paid, you could be considered a 'professional' adventurer. Just like how I'm supposed to be a 'professional' accountant.” She had another drink of coffee. “Though I currently lack the dignity that comes with such a position.”
“Muto think Lalinu is great!” He grinned brightly, hoping the smile would affect her mood. It remained as dark as her coffee.
“Muto need a good job,” Tahro informed him. “Get good money. Money not lasting.”
“He's right. It's not.” Lalinu swiveled in her chair, then hopped off. She walked across the kitchen to where her desk was set up, which was a little lower than the Hrothgars' knees. She sifted through the stacks of papers, brought up one, then put on her glasses. “After your last trip to...hold on....” She squinted and leaned in, then removed her glasses and sighed. “I can't even pronounce half these names.... Anyways, your exploits are currently not economically self-sustaining, even cutting back on everything – including feeding that beast in the barn – and your queen's 'adventuring grant' won't last forever.”
“Muto need to do more,” Tahro gently informed Muto. “Cannot keep doing light duties.”
“Grand company have nothing but light duties for Muto!” Muto protested. “So many adventurers in Eorzea! So many legends!” He put a hand to his chest. “But Muto is legend in heart.”
“We know how great you think you are,” Lalinu said after another drink of coffee, “but until you make that a reality, you're under a ticking clock.”
Muto looked above himself. “...where is clock?”
Lalinu gave a throaty sigh of frustration, but Tahro spoke up in her stead. “Lalinu mean...get big job...or no more adventuring.”
It looked for a moment like someone had slapped Muto, as his expression went from shock to heart-rending sadness. His ears drooped, his tail went limp, and he looked like he was about to cry. However, the moment was brief, as moments later, his ears went back up, he brought his fists near his chest, and he bore a determined expression.
“Muto get help!”
~
The world was warm and comfortable. She was a ball. A warm, fluffy, pink ball. All was well in the world.
And then she woke up.
“Miyu...!”
“Mm....”
“Miyu, hey...!”
“Nuhhhh....”
“Come on, it's time to get up.”
“Nuhhhhh...!”
“Don't 'nuhhhh' me. You asked me to get you up.”
A pink tail emerged from the blanket ball and began to angrily swish. “That was before it was morning....”
“I even let you sleep in a little,” Ryuko said, poking Miyu through her hammock.
The blanket ball tightened. “Then you can let me sleep in more.”
“If you sleep in more, you're going to miss all the good jobs.”
“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmhh.” The blanket ball loosened and Miyu's head poked out. Her hair was skewed to one side and only one eye was open. “You know how unfair this is.”
Ryuko stood before her already clad in her dragoon armor, leaning on her spear. “Oh, I know, but Eorzea isn't gonna help itself.”
“Why not?” Miyu tucked herself back into the blanket ball. “Seriously. People treat us like their servants sometimes. Like...picking mushrooms a little outside the city's walls. 'I'll give you 50 gil to get ten for me!' Get them yourself! Seriously, the creatures outside are not bad if you don't bother them. We have other things to worry about, we're not here to do your chores for you.”
She heard the Au Ra's boots walking away. “Technically speaking, that's exactly what we're here to do – do whatever people pay us to.”
“Well, some of us have standards....”
Ryuko's boots came back. “Are you getting up?”
“In a moment....”
There was a pause. “Moment's up!”
The carbuncle was dropped into the hammock and immediately starting rooting through the blanket to find an opening, while Miyu's limbs flailed. “Ack! Twitchums! No! Stop! Off!” His nose found Miyu's face, then eagerly started licking. “TWITCHUMS!!”
The hammock twisted from all the activity, dumping Miyu and Twitchums on the floor, followed by the blanket, which fell and draped over half of Miyu's face. Ryuko did her best to hide her amusement. “Glad you're up!”
“That was meeeeaaan...!” Miyu whined, pushing Twitchums away. He was trying to jump up on her chest to lick her face, both because he loved her and because it was time for breakfast. He was a bright, shining topaz color, indicating how thrilled he was to see the Miqo'te.
“You asked me to get you up,” said Ryuko as she turned and headed for the door.
“I'm asking you for less next time...” grumbled Miyu. She stroked Twitchums's head, making his tails twitch in delight.
“Go and get ready soon!” Ryuko waved from the door. “I'm sure you're gonna get a great job today!”
~
“It's Declan,” he said, flashing a bright, sly smile, “but you can call me 'Dec.'”
The Viera lady looked to the Miqo'te less than enthused.
“Y'know, I'm kinda big around these parts,” Declan went on. “I took out some primals singlehandedly, you know. Like Titan? Yeah, that was me. I even took his crystal, just because I felt like it. I sold it for a million gil, even though I didn't need the money. Did I mention I was rich?” He flashed the Viera a bright smile again, who returned a flat stare.
“Declan,” said someone behind him.
“Not now,” he said, waving the person away. “Okay, okay,” he went on to the Viera, “I've got a secret...but you've gotta promise not to tell anyone.”
She just stared.
“I...am actually one of the original Warriors of Light. I know! I know, but it's true! I was there when Bahamut broke out. I was actually right by Louisoix's side. I told everyone, 'Get out of here and I'll protect you!' I was gonna save everyone, but Louisoix decided to hog the glory. He totally stole my idea.”
“Declan.”
“Not now.” He leaned against the wall, still eyeing the Viera. “So, I wouldn't call myself a 'legendary hero,' but some people do. I just was trying to do what was right, y'know? However, I'd love to have lunch with ya. I know this lovely place near the Steps of Nald. My treat! You like Lalafell cooking?”
The lady sighed. “I'm gay.” Then she walked off.
“All right! All right, that's fine! Hey, you do you! Just making polite conversation!” She wasn't stopping. Declan sighed, his ears lowering a bit, then looked to a nearby man in a hooded white robe with glasses. “What do you think, Bo? You wanna try?”
“No, Declan...” he wearily sighed.
“Awww, you're no fun....” Bo hadn't been “fun” ever since he had become a white mage and swore a vow of celibacy. Declan ran his fingers through his hair, then turned to face the young, dark-skinned man. He had a metal-clad grimoire hanging from his belt and waiting with his arms crossed. “Yeah?”
“About time.”
“I was doing important business, thank you.”
Enzo took a hardboiled egg out of his pocket and bit into it through the shell. “Does Kijhon'a know about this 'business?'”
“Hey, I was just being friendly is all! Just making a lady feel welcome!”
“Sure, whatever.” Enzo tilted his head. “I've got a lead on a job. A big one, and I could use your help.”
“Ehh?” Declan arched a brow. “Well...maybe. Maybe. What's it paying?”
Enzo inwardly cringed. He knew this might be where things fell apart. “Technically, it doesn't.”
“Not interested,” Declan immediately responded.
“It's a Garlean facility,” Enzo went on. “It's currently lightly guarded. I've got a lead on—”
“Ehh....” Declan gave a dismissive wave, then walked off.
“You can have a share of whatever we find inside!” Enzo called after him. Declan turned a corner, then was gone. Enzo's ears flattened, while his hand went to the ring on his necklace and rubbed it while in thought. As much of a blowhard as Declan was, he did have considerable skill, which was exactly what Enzo needed right then.
Enzo popped the rest of the egg into his mouth. If Declan was out, what other options did Enzo have? His sister, sure, but he could guarantee she would say “no” straight-out. This wasn't something that he could entrust to just anyone at the grand company either, as secrecy and decorum would be needed, and the grand companies documented everything.
“Hmm....”
There was an idea. Not the best one, but it would work...enough.
~
Miyu waded through the crowds. She was running a little behind, both because she had been tired, plus Twitchums had decided to take his time with “doing his business.” What made this situation all the worse is that it was Tuesday, meaning that all the week's fresh jobs were just posted. Miyu mused that maybe this week, people were still recovering from the last one and weren't likely to be out there this early.
Seeing the grand company's building, her heart sank. She was definitely wrong.
A large crowd of adventurers clustered in front of the building. Some were crowding around the posting boards, while others were waiting in line to talk with representatives. It was always surprising to her how most of the larger races hardly ever stepped on the smaller ones, particularly the Lalafell. If she were a giant, she could see herself being lost in her own world, but then again, it was likely taught to them from a young age to be mindful of the small ones.
Getting to the board, she likely wouldn't find too many good postings left. Her best bet would be to wait in line with everyone and to see what someone of her rank could get. Given her record of...nothing big or impressive...it likely wouldn't be much. But she had been consistent, at least!
Speaking of which....
Someone who was determined to be an adventurer, even if he just got duties picking mushrooms, was a Hrothgar she was always happy to see. Regular as ever, she always saw him in line at this time. While waiting, he was looking to the large postings, reading them and slowly sounding out the words to himself as he did.
“Muto!” Miyu called, jumped, and waved. Despite her best efforts, it was all for naught. His full concentration was on trying to sound out “tyrannic coeurl.”
Miyu knit her brows, then knelt down and gave Twitchums a stroke from head to tail. “Eee!” squeaked the carbuncle.
“Where's Muto?” she asked. Twitchums's tails went up. “Wheeeeere's Muto?” The carbuncle eagerly looked about, his nose snuffling at a surprising speed. His tails flicked about wildly as he concentrated, seeking out his quarry, until his eyes locked on the Hrothgar. “There he is!”
Twitchums shot off like a bullet. He nearly collided with a Lalafell as he went past, snaked through the crowd, and the next thing Muto knew, there was a carbuncle who was so happy it was bordering on gold pawing at his leg. It took Muto a moment to realize he knew this carbuncle, then broke into a wide smile.
“Oh!! Is Twitchums!!” He bent down and scooped up Twitchums, who eagerly went to wash Muto's face. “Are here alone? Is not good to be alone! ...wait, is Twitchums here to be adventurer?!” The Hrothgar became incredibly excited. “Oh!! Muto teach you everything!!”
“Mutooooo!!”
The carbuncle's ears flicked, then wriggled out of Muto's grip and ran back towards Miyu. The Hrothgar followed his path, then brightened up.
“Is Miyu!! Hello!!”
“Muto!” Miyu called over the din of the crowd. “Wanna adventure together?”
“Miyu and Muto be party?”
“Yeah!” She nodded. “Let's party up!”
“Join Muto!!”
The crowd was thick and unmoving, and prodding a couple Hyur's in fur-trimmed armor to ask to get by only got Miyu dirty looks. She then eyed a nearby street lamp, shimmied up it, then – at Muto's encouragement – leapt straight for him. He caught Miyu, and after a bit of shuffling, she crouched perched on his shoulders while holding onto his horn for support. She could feel the glares of the Hyurs who initially spurned her, and simply playfully swished her tail back and forth at them.
“Next.”
“Hello!” Muto greeted the Elezen representative.
She blinked in surprise at seeing the Miqo'te perched on top of the Hrothgar, but neither of the pair paid it any mind.
“Badges, please.”
Muto passed hers down to Muto, then he placed them onto the counter, smiling brightly to her, hoping his smile could at least pass on to this person. As it turned out, working customer service did not make the Elezen feel like smiling.
“Okay, two one-stars. Are you working together?”
“Muto and Miyu make best team!” Muto affirmed.
“Uh huh. All right, we have plenty of one-star jobs. If you're interested in working locally, there's a farmer who has had some kobolds spotted near her farm. It looks like she'd love to have some able-bodied adventurers on hand to scare them off...or permanently deal with them if it comes down to it. Until they make a move, though, she would love to have some help harvesting her crops. That will be 200 gil and 50 points towards your next rank. Sound good?”
Muto perked up, happy to have work at all, completely forgetting what Tahro and Lalinu had said earlier. “Muto think sounds g—”
“Wait...wait, wait, hold on.” Miyu's tail began to angrily swish. “You're dealing with two one-stars...and you're giving us farm duty? That should be a zero-star job! We qualify for at least a two-star.”
The Elezen gave a weary sigh, and in her best customer service voice, she repeated what she had many times before. “The stars in your rank do not accumulate when doing jobs together. You can only do jobs at your current rank or below, except in special exceptions. Those exceptions are when requested specifically by a higher-ranking adventurer or in times of great peril. Is there a third member to your party who is above you in rank?” She paused only long enough to see the tell-tale facial expressions that said “no.” “Then in that case, you'll have to take one of the one- or zero-star jobs, and at the moment, this farm job is the best one I have to offer you. Tuesday jobs are first-come, first-serve.”
“Muto think that sounds gr—”
“Come on!” Miyu pleaded, leaning further down and out, yet somehow keeping her balance. “Do you know how long we've been working? How much we've been trying and trying to rank up? We've been grinding for who knows how long! Week after week doing these one- and zero-stars, just wanting a chance at a two star! Just a chance to make an impression, to show how truly amazing we are! Haven't you ever wanted just a chance? And here you are, the only person able to give us – us great adventurers with greater promise – that chance we need. You are the gatekeeper and we are horses, only wanting to get through the doors, wanting to gallop on our way through to the beflowered fields promised to us. We want to truly spread our wings in the skies of—”
“If I give you a two-star, will you stop the monologue?”
“Yes.”
A paper was shoved towards Muto.
“Next,” she called, looking past the pair.
Muto and Miyu made their way out, looking over the assignment.
“M-mee...” Muto sounded out. “...meerk...meer-ka-haynt....”
Finally hopping off his shoulders, Miyu leaned into Muto and dragged her finger along the page. “Merchant seeking protection along road from Gridania to Ul'dah. See, says here they're departing tonight and are looking for at least two guards. Well...with you, me, Twitchums, and maybe some friends, I'd say we have this one in the bag!”
A fairy flew by, making tinkling noises and illuminating the page before flying off.
“Muto did not bring bag....” said Muto bashfully, suddenly worried about his bag-less status.
“No, it's...ahh, nevermind.” Miyu had tried explaining metaphors before, including cracking the joke “I never metaphor I didn't like!” In response, Muto had given the smile that said he had no idea what Miyu was saying, but he was very happy that she was enjoying herself. “Either way, we have an actual two-star! Sheesh, trying to give us farm duty, pff, go eat a chode, we're adventurers, not bloody farmers.”
“Muto sometimes get bloody when doing farm work! Weeds are spiky....”
“That's why you wear gloves, Muto.”
“Muto strong. What does not kill Muto make three mistakes – not kill Muto, make Muto stronger, make Muto angry!” He grinned, showing off his teeth, then punched into his palm. “Muto kill and eat, just to show how tough Muto is! Weeds taste bad, though. And make tongue bleed. But Muto show them.”
“Muto, please don't say not killing you is a mistake.” Miyu rubbed at his arm. “The world would be less without you in it.”
“Oh, Muto not leaving!” He flexed hard and showed off his bicep. “Muto too strong for that! Plus Muto have Miyu!”
“And Enzo?” said another voice.
“Enzo?” Both Muto and Miyu looked over. The Hrothgar immediately reacted upon seeing the dark-skinned Miqo'te. “Oh!! Muto have Enzo today!!”
Enzo was leaning against a nearby building with his fairy Eos fluttering near his shoulder. “Meowdy.” His cool demeanor was quickly replaced by mild panic as the ground shook and a shadow overtook him. The next moment, he found his feet off the ground and himself in Muto's tight embrace. “Hrrk!!”
“Enzo, hey!” Miyu greeted him. “You already go through the line?”
“Hhhhhh...!”
“Muto, let go.”
Muto did. Enzo took a moment to get air back into his lungs and straightened out his coat. “Good to see you guys too. Bit...less tight next time, hey, Muto?”
“Muto sorry.” He grinned brightly, showing off his fangs. “Just happy to see Enzo!”
“Always mutual.” He flicked an ear, then took a boiled egg out of his pocket. “Egg?”
“Okay!” Muto took it and shoved it into his pocket. “Have later.”
Enzo brought out another. “You?”
Miyu lowered an ear. “I'm...fine, thanks.”
Enzo shrugged, then bit into the shell. “To answer your question, no, I haven't gone through the line. I don't need to. Came here to get some help, actually....”
Miyu squinted, suddenly very suspicious. “You didn't 'need' to go through the line? What, did you get a job elsewhere?”
“More or less.” He quirked a brow. “You two interested?”
Muto looked down at the paper in his hands. His ears went back slightly as he concentrated, trying to decide.
“Well, first off, what kind of job are we looking at here?” asked Miyu. “This have a ranking?”
“It's...an independent venture.”
That term – sometimes called an IV – was always a bit scary. Adventurers may come upon a task that needed doing, and instead of going through the paperwork of posting a job and seeking additional adventurers in an officially sanctioned job, they sought to resolve the problems themselves. Once the IV had finished, it was documented, submitted, and appropriate ranking points were assigned.
While in the past, adventurers had said certain troublesome events were “IVs” to give themselves an excuse, the grand companies quickly put harsh restrictions and punishments into place. Extremely foolhardy ventures – such as trying to assassinate a foreign dignitary and potentially starting a war – were punished so severely that getting put to death was an option. Retroactively saying something was an IV as an excuse for causing trouble or damage was severely punished, with it not uncommon to to lose one's adventuring license entirely, or at least a few ranks. The same punishment went with falsified IVs.
IVs were always a gamble, though. While the grand companies could at least guarantee payment and ranking points, there was no such guarantee in an IV. Even if adventurers barely made it out by the skin of their teeth, if they accomplished little or had nothing to show for their time, they would likely get little in regards to advancing their rank. However, the benefit was that IVs were not limited by rank or the number of adventurers allowed to join, meaning a great amount of money and advancement could be open to anyone.
“Go on...” Miyu said slowly.
“Not just yet. This's a hot job, big reward, and shouldn't be too tough, but I first need to know if you want to join me.”
“Sounds too good to be true. Where'd you get this?”
“Long story.”
“Shorten it.”
“I've got sources. Good and reliable ones.” He reached into his pocket, dug around, then made a face. He pulled out a white rat, which looked at him with wide, curious eyes, then handed it to Miyu. “Hold this, would ya?”
“Wh—?”
He then pulled out a rolled-up communique. “A little chocobo told me about a nearly abandoned facility that's ripe for picking through.”
“'Nearly' abandoned?” The rat scampered to Miyu's shoulder.
“A couple leftover guards, they're basically just babysitting the place now. Easy pickings. And you don't have to worry, they're not 'good guys' by any stretch.”
“Mmmmm...”
Enzo motioned with his chin at Muto's paper. “What rank's that mission?”
“Oh!” Muto held out the paper proudly. “Is two-star! Miyu is best ne-go-shee-ater!”
Enzo got a lopsided smile, proud of their accomplishment. “Well look at you! You're moving up!”
The rat climbed up to Miyu's head, where Eos flitted near to investigate. “We're looking at 700 points for this job.” Miyu then snorted derisively. “She was trying to give us something with 50, can you believe that?”
“Yeah.” Enzo shrugged. “It's kinda unfair to us lowbies like that.” He took a moment to look between them with a twinkle in his eye. “...but what would you two say to a four-star?”
“...I'm sorry?”
“IS FOUR-STAR?!”
“Shhhh!!” Enzo and Miyu hissed at Muto.
Muto clapped his hands over his mouth, while Miyu recomposed herself. “Okay, this is definitely sounding too good to be true. How is it a four-star?”
He moved the hand holding the communique, showing the emblem stamped beneath. “It's Garlean, but don't let that scare you.”
“Don't let that scare me?! Just the Garlean empire, nothing threatening....” Her sarcasm was interrupted as another thought came to her. “And what's the pay?”
“A third of whatever we find over there.”
“And what should we expect to find?”
“That's all a bit—”
The unseen hand of Hydaelyn nudged Muto's memory.
Muto gasped and clapped a hand heavily on Miyu's shoulder. “Oh!! Muto remember!! Tahro say to get big job! Or Muto have to stop adventuring!” He shook Miyu, making her head bounce about and dislodged the rat. “Is Muto's big chance! Show Tahro! Show Lalinu! Show queen! Show the world!”
“M-Muto....”
“Muto help Enzo!”
“But what about our job tonight?”
“Muto know math!” He was excited to share his academics. “Four is bigger than two!”
“He has a point,” Enzo chimed in.
Miyu looked between the two. They were both looking at her with wide, expectant faces. She gave a heavy sigh, then poked a finger into Enzo's chest. “All right...but we're trusting you! If this IV is a bust, you're going to be the one to pay the gil, all right?”
“Sure, yeah, that's fine! Let's say...500 gil if things don't pan out?”
Miyu squinted. Her shrewdness was kicking in. She knew she could negotiate for something a great deal higher, but Enzo was a friend...and she was curious exactly what they would find in this Garlean place anyways.
“Deal.”
“And you, Muto?”
“Huh?” His attention had gone to Eos, hovering above Enzo's head.
“Is 500 gil acceptable?”
“Okay! Umm....” He held up the paper with the two-star adventure. “Should Muto share?”
“Oh, that?” Enzo shrugged. “Yeah, just pass it along to someone else.” He turned to Miyu. “So...out in eastern Thanalan, there's this Garlean lab....”
While Enzo explained the job, Muto looked down at the two-star adventure, then to the crowd. He saw a frustrated Au Ra wandering away from the company building. It was the telltale sign of a poor adventure...and Muto had the solution. He wandered away, while Enzo continued his explanation.
~
Its breath was thick, and stank of blood and meat. Its lip were curled back in a permanent snarl, showing every single dagger-like tooth, while ichor-like saliva dripped from between them. Its teeth were literally the subject of horror stories, capable of piercing flesh and bone easily. Its jaws were powerful enough to crunch all manner of alloyed metal, whether it was armor or the side of an airship. Each claw was like a curved saber, able to rend its prey to pieces with a single swipe. Its muscles were beyond natural, fueled purely by aether and pure menace. Its kind had killed countless and would kill countless more. “Nightmare” was not enough of a description for the beast. To be seen by one was to already be counted as dead.
“Smoo-thie!”
It was an odd stroke of fate that a behemoth had ended up in the care of Muto. It was a hassle to care for, but nobody wanted to take it for domestic purposes, Muto refused to give it to those who intended it for battle, and him and Tahro seemed to be the only ones to whom Smoothie seemed to listen.
Pupil-less eyes swiveled onto Muto as he approached, carrying a fresh pig carcass behind him. Smoothie growled, and even in the warm climate, a cloud of breath could be seen.
“Muto got you nummies!”
He tossed the pig over the top of the cage, where it slipped through the bars before falling. Smoothie caught it in its jaws, and bit down, causing a small spray of blood against the side of its enclosure. Muto leaned against the outside of the stall, his tail swishing back and forth contentedly as he watched the behemoth feed.
“Are hungry, neh? No worries! Muto off to do big job! Can get even bigger pig next time!” He reached through a patted one of the behemoth's horns. “But am sorry, is in Thanalanalan. Smoothie is too big to go on airship!”
There was a loud crack of bone and spray of viscera.
“Awww, don't be sad! Muto is sorry, but will definitely try to take Smoothie on next big mission! Will try to get one in Gridania! Muto knows Smoothie likes hunting for deer!”
Smoothie shook its head, flicking droplets of blood across Muto's armor.
“There you go! Now you behave! Muto loves you!” He kissed his fingers, then put them to Smoothie's horn, before absently wiping away the blood.
He walked to the neighboring stall where his chocobo was caged. For some reason, it was always wide-eyed and nervous.
“Hello, Legbird! Time for adventure!”
~
The desert sun was high, but it barely reached them.
The storm had been sudden and filled with rage. The world was roaring. Wind violently whipped the sand about, shoving them about as their chocobos struggled onward. Enzo led the pack, all while keeping his grimoire open, its pages emitting a barely visible light.
Each of them wore caps that had been customized to fit over their cat ears, while goggles protected their eyes and scarves covered their lower faces. The chocobos had been given similar head protection, with glass shielding over their eyes and an insulated covering that went over their beaks.
Enzo held up a hand to halt. With one hand holding the grimoire open, the other reached into his pocket, then withdrew a scope. He scanned in the distance, tapped a switch a few times, then grinned to himself.
Turning to the others, he gave a thumbs-up and enthusiastic nod.
~
“You'd think there would've been something in the weather report.”
“What?”
“I said, you'd think there would have been something in the weather report!”
The other man gave a helpless shrug. He only heard half of what was said, but agreed with the sentiment. Things had been miserable ever since the main arm of the Garlean empire had pulled out. Insurgent forces had set up a fantastic base there in Thanalan, which was to be a hub of operations. However, due to a lack of resources – both material and personnel – and with the staff already there, it instead became a self-sufficient laboratory.
It was a risk having a lightly guarded Garlean base so close to Ul'dah, but it was a calculated risk. They were able to glean bits of intel regarding Ul'dah to occasionally send back to Garlemald, while the handful of scientists continued their research.
All the while, they held onto hope that the Garlean empire would make a push into central Eorzean lands once again, they would have a seat of power in Thanalan already ready for them, and everyone there could finally return to their lives in Garlemald.
Admittedly, life hadn't been too bad. It could be boring, even. The guards took shifts in their camouflaged watch box, nestled under an outcrop of rock that disguised the entrance and gave them shade. Cooled air piped in from the main facility made even the hottest days pleasant. All the while, the scientists continued working on...whatever it was they did. Something about crystals...of course. It was always crystals.
This sandstorm had rattled the guards, though, because their schedules depended upon sandstorms. Every time there was to be one, a cart would either leave or return with supplies hours before a storm hit, which would then hide the tracks leading to the base. Sure, someone could follow the cart, but they had had training and tools to help them detect when they were being followed or spied upon. This system had been working for them for years. However, the sandstorm predictions had been inaccurate before. This one, though, was particularly harsh.
One of the guards squinted out through his view port, then turned to his comrade. “I thought I saw movement!” he shouted over the rush of the storm.
“There's a lot of movement!” The man smiled. “It's the sand!”
He just got a flat glare in response.
A Miqo'te stumbled through the sand to the shelter of the overhanging rock. It wasn't much, but it was at least some kind of shelter. Her face was bare and grimacing, and she held her hands over her ears to prevent sand from getting in. She drew close against the wall and tightly pulled her knees to her chest with her eyes closed.
The two guards looked to each other. This was a problem. They could wait out the storm and hope she left once it had passed. However, if she stayed there long enough, she might take notice of the disguised doors. They had done what they could to keep up maintenance, but years with only what scant supplies they could get from Ul'dah without raising suspicion had left some telltale chipping, uneven edges, and a silhouette if you knew what to look for.
The guards pantomimed to each other about what to do. One was silently saying they should kill her, while the other one was pleading to leave her alone. Their silent argument was becoming more heated, until they heard her speaking.
“Please...! Please help...!”
Their hands froze mid-conversation.
Was she talking to them or praying?
A large stone punched through the wall of the watch box, hitting the one guard in the face, rocking his head back and into the wall, where he slid to the floor.
“Witch, you're about to—!”
The remaining guard took up his rifle, wrenched open the door, and ran into a wall of armor and muscle. Muto picked him up by the face, slammed his head into the rock wall, then let him fall.
Twitchums was low the ground, wearing his own pair of custom goggles. Flecks of energy came off him, fresh from manipulating the earth. Miyu walked over and eagerly petted him. “Good boy...!” He eagerly twitched his tails, then sneezed, sending out sparks.
Within moments, the sandstorm was gone, revealing Enzo in the midst of it. He brought up the grimoire, blew off the remaining sand, then clapped it shut. “That's always a fun spell...!”
He opened a pouch, allowing Eos to fly out and perch on his shoulder. Muto, meanwhile, raised up the goggles and lowered his scarf, then looked to the body at his feet. “Muto hit harder than meant to....”
“They're bad guys,” Miyu said, doing her best to empty out all the sand that had collected in her robes. “It's okay.”
“Should Muto kill?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” said Enzo disinterestedly.
“No!” Miyu shot him a glare, then looked up to Muto. “Only kill if you have to.”
Enzo sighed, looking up. “You know they're gonna wake up eventually....”
“Yeah, but we don't have to be murderers! We're better than that!”
“And what would you suggest?”
Miyu thought a moment, then snapped her fingers. Not even a minute later, thanks to Twitchums manipulating the sand, the two unconscious guards were buried up to their necks in the sand, and thanks to a magic marker, each one bore three whisker marks on their cheeks.
“Perfect!”
“Happy?”
“Very.”
Miyu handed the marker back to Enzo, who put it back in his pocket. Enzo procured an egg from his pocket, did his best to dust off the sand, then bit into it. “So inside, there'll likely be a small leftover contingent of guards, but they're not on active duty, so we hit them hard...and after that'll just be the scientists. We should be able to deal with them.”
“'Deal' how?” asked Miyu, squinting at Enzo.
“Just trust me.”
“No killing.”
“Trust me.”
“Muto trust!” offered Muto.
“Muto trusts me,” repeated Enzo.
“Mmmmm....” Miyu stayed squinting for a long moment, pointed to her eyes, then pointed to Enzo.
“Oh, stop that,” he said, carelessly waving her away and stepping past. “I'm not a monster.”
“Muto is not monster either!” He seemed eager to share that bit of information. “Am beast. Is like monster, but with better manners.”
Going inside the wrecked watch box, Enzo found a keypad. He unrolled the communique, then tapped in the code.
“Anything complicated?” asked Miyu.
“Just an alphanumeric code,” shrugged Enzo. “It's literally 'G1234.'”
Hitting the final key, there was a heavy “ch-chunk” from the outside wall, a hiss, then the rock face slowly slid open, revealing the way inside. The interior was a mix of rock and metal with bright lights evenly spaced along the ceiling, with occasional signs marking the way to various areas.
“You take point, Muto,” instructed Enzo.
“Huh?”
“You stay in the front and protect us,” Miyu clarified.
“Okay!”
Muto unsheathed his axe, Miyu and Enzo opened their grimoires, and slowly they started down the hall. They froze as they heard approaching footsteps.
“Nar,” came a sleepy grumble, “I swear, if you're coming in to use the can again—”
She emerged from a side door, where her eyes met Muto's.
Muto smiled.
The lady pulled her head back just in time to avoid the axe swinging down. Se turned and started to run towards a security alcove. Muto grabbed a hand axe from his belt and lobbed it at the retreating woman's head. The axe whirled end over end, before it impacted into her head...with the handle. She stumbled, which was further exacerbated by rising stones. Twitchums was at Miyu's feet, hunched down, glowing, and growling.
The guard recovered just in time to see a charging Muto bearing down on her, and the last thing she saw was a fist the size of her head flying right at her face. She was knocked back into a rack where a number of cards were hung, knocking them all to the floor, then fell to the floor herself.
There was a door next to the rack. The large squad of guards within and the three adventurers saw each other.
“Uhh....” said everyone.
The guards grabbed their rifles and Muto slammed the metal door. He pressed himself hard against it, while feeling the guards behind it hammering on and slamming into the door.
“Muto cannot hold forever!” There was the sound of gunfire and divots appearing on the door. “Muto does not want to get shot!”
Enzo's eyes went to the pile of cards on the floor. “Help him with the door!” he ordered Miyu.
“Twitchums, go!” Her command sounded in the carbuncle's mind. Twitchums turned red, a chunk of the bare rock wall came loose, then flew forward to help pin the door in place.
Sifting through the keycards, Enzo found the one he was looking for, slotted it into a nearby console, and his fingers danced across the keys.
Deet. Click-ck.
“There. You two can stop.” He looked flatly to Miyu. “And without killing.”
“Thank you,” she chirped. Twitchums went from red to a light topaz, twitching his tails gleefully.
Enzo rolled his eyes, then began sifting through the pile of cards. “You know, trying not to kill anyone is going to make going through here that much harder. We're here to finish a mission, not make friends with literal villains.” He turned his mouth. “...and how many bloody duplicate cards are there?!”
“Muto wouldn't mind making friends....” He crouched near the unconscious lady. “Should Muto take her back?” He started contemplating if it would be easy to add a new friend to the loot they would be taking back.
“Don't,” Enzo said, distractedly, “she probably has diseases. There!” He was finding card after card with A, B, and D, but only then did he find C.
There was a lot of yelling behind the locked door. Muto looked to it, then pointed his thumb to it. “Should Muto open door and quiet them?”
Enzo groaned and started off. “Come on,” coaxed Miyu, gently taking his wrist and leading him on.
~
As they walked the halls, it was rather obvious the place was unfinished. Garlemald had sent what supplies they could, but when the supply route had been disrupted, those who were left there made due with what they could. The base had seemingly been integrated into a cave system, and many walls had been left exposed to the rock surfaces beneath. A surprising number of halls ended up going to dead ends.
It helped with navigation, as construction had prioritized lighting in areas where people worked or traveled. There were occasional maps posted, though most had been minorly vandalized, both because many of the places on there had never been built, the staff did get bored, and it wasn't like any Garlean officials were there to stop them.
“We're aiming to go...here.” Enzo pointed to a large circular room. “This's where their main project should be.”
“Wait, there's a project?” Miyu guffawed.
“Well, yeah.” Enzo raised an eyebrow. “What, you thought it was just a no-name lab we were going to loot? Take some cool science equipment, take the Garlean empire down a beg?”
“You didn't specify!”
“You didn't ask.” Miyu made a strangled noise of frustration, with her tail shooting up behind her in annoyance, while Enzo went on unabated. “It's a little bit of navigating, as you can see, but that shouldn't be too bad. Thanks to my friends—” He fanned out the key cards. “—it'll be a straight shot through. Here, though...we'll be passing by the main lab. We'll likely be dealing with quite a few scientists then.”
“Muto need to deal with?” He looked between Enzo and Miyu, unsure how he should define “deal with.”
“I've got this,” Enzo said coolly before confidently walking on. Miyu squinted judgmentally from behind him while Muto looked about wide-eyed. He'd never been in a secret base before!
Eventually, there was noise ahead. Enzo looked around the corner, then sighed in frustration. There were so many more down there than he had anticipated.
“The scientists?” asked Miyu.
“The scientists,” confirmed Enzo. Miyu crossed her arms in thought, followed by Muto doing the same, imitating her.
“It would be a bad idea if we were to go in with weapons swinging,” Enzo sighed. “They could trigger an alarm or could fight back. I'm sure there's plenty of Garlean fighting tactics in their heads....”
“Muto fight them all?” offered the Hrothgar. “Muto is best at fighting!”
“No,” Enzo and Miyu said at the same time.
They stood there together in silence, thinking on how best to proceed. As they did, Enzo noted Eos floating past his vision.
“Hmmm....”
Miyu was looking down at her feet and saw Twitchums staring up inquisitively at her.
“Hmmm....”
Muto looked between his companions, confused.
“Hmmm?”
~
It was an average day for the Garlean scientists. They had several crystals hooked up to various electrodes, screens with graphs, and nearly incalculable amounts of data pouring through their system. It was entirely normal. Almost boring.
“WHY IS THAT IN HERE?!”
And then there was a fairy riding a carbuncle through the lab.
Twitchums burst through the door, running as hard as he could, while Eos did her best to steer him. They specifically darted between and near people's legs, leaving a trail of chaos. Under chairs, over tables, through carefully calibrated equipment. One scientist went to bar their way, but Twitchums jumped on his face, then springboarded over a handful of others behind him.
Twitchums was having the time of his life.
Eos looked bored.
While the scientists had been going about their business in labs and walking in the halls, they were now clustering together, trying to capture this wild animal. People were crowding into the lab, aiming to block the doors or to help catch the carbuncle.
Eos piloted Twitchums for the door, and with a kick of her heels, urged him to ride as hard as he could.
“Ready?” someone asked. They had a labcoat spread out, ready to use as a makeshift net. Twitchums and Eos drew closer, and they weren't stopping.
“Now!”
There was a fierce roar behind them. They stumbled and turned back to see a Hrothgar towering over them, fangs bared, eyes fierce, and axe in hand. Twitchums jumped over the startled scientists onto Muto's shoulder. Looking to the crowd of people, he twitched his tails in satisfaction.
Deet.
The fire shutters slammed down across all windows and doors, trapping all the scientists within the lab.
Enzo shoved the keycard in his pocket, withdrew another hardboiled egg, then popped it entirely in his mouth. “Tha' wash ee-ee....”
“Twitchums, you were so good!” Miyu cooed, walking over to him perched atop Muto's shoulder. Eos took flight, dutifully resuming her place by Enzo's side. Twitchums hopped down from Muto's shoulder to Miyu's awaiting arms, then eagerly licked her face. Enzo, meanwhile, nodded to Eos and she nodded back.
After that, it was no problem continuing through the facility. Behind the fire shutters, the trio could hear the trapped scientists banging and shouting. Twitchums walked alongside Miyu with a proud step, satisfied with the chaos he had caused, while Eos hovered along stoically. Muto followed along, though occasionally stopping and pressing his ear against one of the shutters.
At one point, he pulled back his fist, about to bang back, but Miyu caught his arm and lead him on. “Leave them alone for now,” she gently goaded.
Cables and general wiring grew more and more condensed as they continued along the hall. Enzo's pace picked up as they grew closer.
“You never told us about what we're specifically trying to find....”
“It's condensed aether,” Enzo casually said. “Pooled and experimented on. Basically, a certain crystal. All I want from here is that, and literally everything else here can be yours.”
“Ohhhhh...!” Muto's eyes were wide. “Muto get secret base...!”
“Probably...not,” Miyu corrected. “Ul'dah is more than likely to come down hard on this place. This is in their jurisdiction and is a matter of national security, so they'll likely have their army take it over and conduct a thorough investigation.” She quirked a smile. “However, before they get here, there's nothing saying that if it's not nailed down, you can't take it...!”
“It's mostly rivets here anyways...” Enzo observed.
“Muto get so much stuff...!”
The hallway wound around, until they arrived at a heavy industrial door with a console to the side. Above the door in large, block letters was “INCUBATION CHAMBER.”
“In...in...innnnkoooo....”
“What...form is your aether?” Miyu asked hesitantly.
Enzo slid the D card through the console, his fingers danced across the keys, and the door hissed open, followed by two more doors.
The chamber within was enormous. It was a large concrete dome. The floor of the chamber was almost entirely sand, with raised platforms going around the perimeter and a walkway leading straight into the middle.
“There we are....” Enzo said, smiling to himself, confidently walking in and starting down the central walkway.
“Enzo, what's going on?” Miyu demanded.
“Just here for the aether is all.”
At the end of the walkway in the center of the chamber was something organic. As they drew closer, they found it was...a creature. It was short, fat, large, and fleshy. It was reminiscent of a large brown toad, in that it's head seemed to take up most of its body. In fact, the party wasn't sure where its arms and legs were. It had brown skin, four deformed horns that wound about in random directions, and large bulbous eyes that stared in different directions. It looked incredibly dumb.
“Hack!” it noised.
“What...is that?”
“Hack!”
“A massive repository of experimental aether,” Enzo said matter-of-factly. “Drawing upon the streams deep within the planet, they twisted and gave the energy form, and it's what you see here.”
“They created a creature?” Miyu leaned over, trying not to step on the sand.
“In a sense.”
“Hack!”
Twitchums leaned in and sniffed eagerly at the thing, nose to nose. One eye briefly looked to the carbuncle, then back to staring at nothing in particular.
“Wait....” Miyu squinted at him. “You want us to take this thing with us? It's huge! And, y'know, alive!”
“Oh, that won't be a problem.” Enzo motioned to the creature. “Muto, please kill it.”
“Okay!” Muto eagerly agreed.
“What?!” Miyu protested. “No, don't!”
“Okay!” Muto eagerly agreed.
Enzo sighed, then turned to Miyu. “I can tell you for a fact it's in pain. It's not sentient, it's not a person, it's a thing that would be best for everyone if we were to end it here.”
“How do you know—?”
“You'll do no such thing!” came a voice over the speaker system.
The three immediately readied their weapons and looked around.
“Up here...up here...!”
“Oh!” Muto eagerly pointed to an observation room high up with large windows. Inside was a tall Roegadyn lady in a lab coat speaking into a wall-mounted microphone. Muto happily waved to her.
“What you're doing here is wrong,” Enzo shouted at her.
“Who are you to decide what is right and wrong?” the lady snarled. “We gave PP0 life only technically speaking. It has no idea what it is, nor does it care. It knows nothing, feels nothing, except what we tell it to. Sentient thought is beyond us to create anyways...which works out well for you bleeding heart types, doesn't it.”
“PP0?” Miyu asked Enzo.
“Oh...wait, you don't even know what it is?!”
“Not...exactly,” Miyu responded.
“Well!” The scientist paused, then hit a few keys on the nearby console. The multiple doors at the entrance slammed shut. “In that case, I need to tell you! It's really exciting! We haven't had visitors in years, so this is actually pretty nice to get to see somebody new for once!”
Enzo glared flatly at the Roegadyn, then sighed to himself. He gestured for Miyu and Muto to come with him, then hopped off walkway to the sand and started towards a door at the opposite end of the room, presumably which led up to the Roegadyn.
“See, we were kinda stuck here, since Garlemald kinda got cut off from us, and we're all, 'What do we do?' But then we found that with our set-up, we could hypothetically infuse aether energy from our reactor into something! Wasn't tough at all! So at that point, it's like, 'What can't we do, y'know?' Well...I mean, not much, we're all stuck here, but then, then we get this super cool idea, right? And we sent out a secret communique back to the empire asking for this one thing, and we didn't think they were going to, but they did!”
They got to the walkway in front of the door, then Enzo swiped a cardkey through the console. He blinked when the display came up with the error “INCORRECT CLEARANCE.” Confused, he tried again. That was supposed to be the maximum clearance card.
“Things...okay?” Miyu asked.
Enzo just furrowed his brow and tried another card. INCORRECT CLEARANCE.
“I mean, it took awhile, but they delivered it, and we were super excited! A scale from Bahamut! Like, who'd have thought, right? But, I mean, doing genetic stuff with Bahamut isn't anything new, but now we get to!”
Miyu's eyes went wide. “Wait...Bahamut?!”
While Muto didn't entirely understand everything going on, he understood at least that. “Uh oh....”
INCORRECT CLEARANCE.
“So we have some cloning technology, which was kinda-sorta based off the Allagan process, and, c'mon, that stuff is ancient, and we only kinda-sorta understand it, but we were able to modify it and use the modified aether to infuse into Personal Project 0 – or PP0 – and that's where its nickname came from – and I know it's not the best acronym, but Garlemald isn't exactly here watching over our shoulders for the best naming conventions – but I guess he also has those giant peepers – but anyways—”
A small pile was forming at Enzo's feet. There were a few suspiciously large money pouches, three full-sized books, a collapsible staff, a surprising number of keys, a melon, three cartons of boiled eggs, a light back-up robe, a few squirming malboro hatchlings, several keycards, a unicolt figurine, a wind-up soldier, and a few flowers with attached tags labeled “Corpse.”
“WHERE'S THE BLOODY KEY?!” he snarled.
~
The guards continued banging on the door of their barracks, hollering for help, shouting threats, and making noises of utter frustration.
In front of the door was the pile of keycards. Towards the bottom was a key labeled “E.”
~
“—but anyways, it was nice to have visitors, but it's kiiiiiinda our policy that intruders aren't allowed to leave, or at least leave alive, and PP0 has never had proper combat testing, so this is probably where you're going to die. I'm sorry, but not really, but also am.”
She tapped a few keys and the entire room began to hum. Moments later, the sand began to bubble. Large amounts of air were getting pumped in beneath the sand, causing it to go from being a settled, solid mass to a liquid. Muto had been standing in the stand, quickly began sinking, then jumped up to the walkway.
His axe was immediately readied. “No worries!” he said with an eager swish of his tail. “Miyu and Enzo are safe! Muto protect you all!”
What they thought had been a whole creature ended up being only its head. It began to raise, attached to a long neck. Massive claws burst through the sand, struggling to raise up its large body in full. The tips of the wings were visible next, with one wing much smaller than the other. Thick cables emerged from the sand as well, plugged into the creature's arms and back. The dragon's proportions were all wrong, with some muscles incredibly large, while others were noticeably underdeveloped. Once it had climbed to the top and its body was fully visible, the sand stopped bubbling. The artificial dragon stood nearly as tall as the dome.
The three stood there wide-eyed, ears lowered, and with bushed tails jetting out from behind them. Twitchums had gone from growling and being a deep red to whimpering and turning white.
“Muto...maybe not able to protect...from that.”
Without the body moving, the head spun around on its neck to look down at the adventurers. Its body then slowly lumbered around to face them. Energy flowed through the cables and its bulbous eyes went red.
“Behold!” the scientist bellowed into her microphone. “PEEPO!!”
“HAAAAAAAHCK!!!” it roared, then blinked an eye.
“Mew...!” mewed Miyu.
“This could get messy, so if you'll excuse me.” A fire shutter slammed in front of the large window. A few cameras positioned around the room blinked to life. “Make sure to have good deaths. This is all getting recorded for our records! PEEPO, KILL!”
“MOVE!!”
Peepo's neck glowed before letting forth a jet of flame. The group scattered, feeling the white-hot heat on their backs. The wall where the flames had hit had partially melted the metal and crystallized the scattered sand.
“I can't believe we're about to get killed by something so stupid-looking!” Miyu yelled in aggravation.
“If you had just let Muto kill it, we wouldn't be here!” Enzo snapped.
“Whatever Muto did, Muto sorryyyyyy!” Muto wailed.
They were running across the sand for the exit door. The exit may have been blocked by several locked doors, but with Enzo's keycards, they could at least escape.
Muto gasped. “DOWN, NOW!!” He palmed the backs of Miyu and Enzo's heads, then fell forward, making them faceplant into the sand. Peepo's tail whooshed just over them, then impacted heavily into the wall. Enzo rubbed the sand out of his eyes, then his ears went limp. The console in the wall near the door had been destroyed.
“It's him or us right now,” Miyu sighed defeatedly. She looked back up to Peepo and whined to herself. She always hated fighting dragons. Twitchums pressed himself up against Miyu's side, both for comfort and seeking instruction.
“Muto choose us!”
Muto got to his feet, axe in hand, then charged Peepo.
“Muto, wait!” Miyu looked agog to the Hrothgar, then to Enzo. “Does he seriously think he can beat that thing?!”
“Maybe....” Enzo took in the room. “...but more importantly, he's keeping its attention off us.”
“HRAAAAAAA!!”
Muto rolled out of the way as Peepo went to smash down with its claws. Muto swung down, his axe biting in deeply in the back of Peepo's hand. In return, the artificial dragon's neck glowed again, then spewed down fire at Muto. The Hrothgar knew the creature had limited mobility when using its breath weapon and darted for Peepo's legs. The stream of fire followed him, until it started to cook Peepo's feet. Being right by the artifical dragon's backside, Muto swung back and took a couple hacks at Peepo's tail. In response, the dragon went to heavily sit down, aiming to crush Muto.
Sand was tossed up and hung in the air briefly. Silence had descended upon the cavern...until a fierce battle cry pierced the din and Peepo bucked. Muto had climbed several cables and was hacking at its back.
Enzo stood with Miyu, Twitchums, and Eos against the wall watching the fight ensue.
“Kinda impressive...” he mused.
“That's what you're thinking during all this?!” Miyu snapped.
Peepo flapped its mismatched wings desperately, trying to dislodge the attacker. It craned its neck to see and possibly bite Muto, but couldn't quite reach. It finally settled with launching itself back and slamming its back into the wall of the dome. The room shook violently, with dust falling from the ceiling.
“Muto!” Enzo called. “Are you alive still?”
Peepo did not seem in distress anymore, and was repositioning itself to try and get a better view of what happened to Muto.
“Enzo, Muto hurt!” the Hrothgar called. “Muto...really hurt!”
“Go.” Eos flew.
The Hrothgar was lying in the sand, with his leg badly damaged. His axe was just out of reach and he looked terrified. Peepo, meanwhile, was waiting for the dust and sand in the air to settle, trying to spy Muto.
Eos found Muto, then flew in front of his face.
“Mmm?”
Eos slapped Muto across the face. It was a tiny fairy, but she hit hard.
“Ow!” He rubbed his face. “Was mean!”
“Are you still hurt bad?” called Enzo.
“Huh?” He looked down. Any blood and damage to his leg was now gone. Eos had channeled her healing energy when she had made contact. “Ohhhh....”
“Keep fighting him!” Enzo called.
“Okay!”
“And don't die!” Miyu added.
“Okay!”
He grabbed his axe and rolled out of the way as another jet of flame scorched the sands.
“Its aethereal energy is too complex to hold steady on its own,” Enzo said, rubbing his chin. “So the cables—”
“Attack the cables?” Miyu interrupted.
“Go for the connection ports.”
As Muto and Peepo battled, they could see that when it had rammed itself against the wall, several ports had been damaged and cables had fallen away. They briefly spewed aethereal mist before the emergency shut-offs initiated. While the cables had been heavily insulated to keep in the aether, the ends were less so to allow for flexibility and movement.
“Get 'im, Twitchums!”
The carbuncle, while still scared, was bolstered by Miyu's command. It gave a fearsome squeak before launching itself forward. Sand began to gather in the air, hovering next to him, and coalescing into crude spears.
Muto was flung across the room and hit the wall hard enough to leave a crater in the concrete before falling to the sand. He lied there groaning, bones shattered, life leaving him.
Eos flew over and kicked him.
Healed, Muto grabbed up his axe and charged again at Peepo.
Twitchums drew upon Peepo. It was so, so much bigger than expected. Miyu's voice directing him in his mind steeled his courage and pushed him on. With the artificial dragon's attention on Muto, Twitchums had a clear shot along Peepo's arm. The sand spears launched forward. Several missed, impaling into Peepo's arm, but a few hit home. Cables came lose, briefly spewing aethereal mist, before stopping.
Peepo's head swiveled to look to Twitchums before a thrown hand axe hit it in the face.
“NO!” Muto scolded. “Fight Muto!”
“HAAAAAAAHCK!!”
“Stop! STOP!!” pleaded the voice over the speaker system. “You don't know what you're doing!”
“We're winning,” Enzo observed with a smirk.
“No, you don't understand!” The Roegadyn was in a panic. “This is years' worth of research and experimentation! You'll destroy everything! And if you—”
Muto was airborne and Peepo plunged its hand at him. The Hrothgar just barely missed it. The artificial dragon's sword-like claws thrusted deeply into the concrete dome. Unsure if it had grabbed him, Peepo squeezed, then yanked back, ripping out a huge boulder of concrete and wiring. The room's speakers went immediately silent, all camera lights dimmed, and the lights about the room began to flicker.
“Hit it faster!” Enzo instructed. “Burn it down!”
Twitchum heard Miyu's command in its mind, and gave a mighty squeak. Sandstone spears materialized and flew in violent waves at Peepo's back. The creature's attention was divided between what was happening behind it and the very loud and angry Hrothgar. Peepo's actions were also becoming more and more sluggish, as less aether was pumped into it.
A jet of flame followed Muto as he charged directly for Peepo. He was barely staying ahead of it.
“Muto also have flame!” Muto roared. “Flame is inside!”
Cable after cable was severed from Peepo's back.
“Flame is Muto!”
He jumped.
“Flame is friends!”
The final cable was severed.
“Flame is hotter than dragon's!”
His axe went straight into Peepo's chest. The artificial dragon stood there stunned and wobbling as the last of its aether had dissipated. Muto's axe was lodged deeply in Peepo and refused to come out. Muto took the opportunity to push his feet off the creature's chest, pivot off his axe handle, and launch himself upwards. He reared back his fist and uppercutted Peepo in the chin.
The artificial dragon dissipated into aethereal mist. A moment later, Muto's axe hit the sand, followed by Muto, landing in a crouch. He stood to his full height, thumped his chest, then gave a bestial roar of victory.
“MUTO!!” he announced. “WIN!!”
As the echo died down, Enzo muttered, “It was technically Twitchums who killed the thing....”
“Shhh,” Miyu whispered back. “Let him have this....”
Enzo's attention went to the aethereal mist. He squinted, waiting for it to start...and there it was. It all began to come together to form a crystal.
...and then the lights went out.
“Ehh?” Miyu looked around. “Twitchums! Light!”
The carbuncle's forehead gem lit up. It was in the middle of the room, looking around confusedly.
“Everyone okay?”
“Muto is fine!” announced Muto, somewhere in the darkness. “Muto and friends have great victory! Oh!! So many stars!! Muto and friends level up for sure!”
The dome lit up in red.
Enzo was crouched in the middle, holding a crystal. Miyu was against the back wall. Muto was on his hands and knees, looking in the sand for a trophy from the fight.
“That...can't be good,” muttered Enzo before shoving the crystal into his pocket. Miyu found herself wondering exactly how he had so much space in that pocket.
“AETHEREAL OVERLOAD,” came an announcement outside the room. “UNABLE TO CONTAIN. 200 SECONDS UNTIL MELTDOWN.”
Something that many of the base's workers had feared was that many basic safety features had never been implemented into the base's hasty construction. For example, there was the matter of being unable to access overrides for locked doors and fire shutters from within the affected rooms. Another big issue was that of the base's power. Since the aether was not being pumped into the PP0 project anymore, it was instead getting pumped in massive quantities back into the reactor. It couldn't handle it...and there was no way to either stop the flow of aether or shut down the reactor.
“Uhhhhhh....”
The exit doors made a noise, then despite being damaged, partially opened. It was big enough for all of them to get through, if barely. At least it had been built in the emergency systems that in the event of a catastrophic failure, everything would be automatically opened.
“GO GO GO GO!!” shrieked Enzo, making a mad dash for the exit.
All of them ran across the sand, kicking up clouds behind them. Enzo, Miyu, Eos, and Twitchums had no problem getting through the gap. Muto threw his axe through first, then went to squeeze past...and became stuck. He struggled, but barely budged. Instead of fear, he looked confused.
“Is Muto getting fat?”
Enzo had been running ahead, but stopped to run back. He and Miyu grabbed Muto's wrist, and pulling together, got him dislodged.
“120...119...118,” counted the speakers.
Down the halls they ran, with Miyu glaring at Enzo. “You have so much explaining to do,” she demanded.
“I didn't know this would happen!” Enzo insisted. “In case you haven't noticed, I'm also fleeing for my life!”
“You're paying us double!” Miyu snapped. “If I die, it'll be triple!”
“Oh!!” Muto had a revelation. “Loot!!”
“Please, Muto, now is not the time for—”
He skidded to a halt in front of a computer console.
“No, leave it alo—!”
He grabbed the sides, groaned, and pulled. Nothing happened...then with a terrible shriek of protest, the metal ripped from the wall. He held the console over his head and started running again. “Okay, Muto good!”
“70...69...68....”
Down the halls they ran. Emergency lights pointed the proper directions to the exit. They passed the labs, which were now empty, as the shutters had retracted and the scientists had escaped. A few tried to remain behind to rescue their data, but others had pulled them along, telling them their lives were worth more.
The halls wound round, until they could see daylight ahead, blocked partially by the last remnants of fleeing scientists. “There! There!” Miyu eagerly pointed forward. “We're gonna make it!”
“15...14...13....”
“It's them!!”
Some scientists stopped, considering trying to fight them off in revenge for ruining all their research. However, the prospect of remaining in an exploding base urged them to quickly leave.
Catching up with the scientists, the crowd fanned out into the Thanalan desert.
“4.”
People were running as hard as they could.
“3.”
They couldn't put enough space between themselves and the base.
“2.”
There was no shelter.
“1.”
Sand dunes were the best they could find.
“MELTDOWN COMMENCING.”
There were screams. Some dove for the ground and covered their heads. This would be huge.
...
And then nothing happened.
What was to be anxiety and fear for their lives turned into confusion, then frustration. There wasn't going to be an explosion. The countdown system had been implemented, but must have been faulty. There was no danger. And it was a bit too perfect for there to have been a countdown with a round number like 200 seconds. Everyone was safe.
And then all attention drew focused on the small party of adventurers in the middle of all of them. Muto was still holding the ripped-out computer console above his head. Then there came the noise of several rifles cocking.
Miyu nervously laughed, “Eh heh...!” then raised her hands.
Enzo, meanwhile, squinted at everyone. A dark expression came over his features.
Miyu elbowed him, then hissed, “Do you wanna die today? Put them up...!”
“No....”
“Muto's hands are up!” declared Muto cheerfully, still not putting down the console.
“Do you have any idea...” said a guard approaching them, gun pointed at them, “...what you have done?” His cheeks still had the drawn-on whiskers.
“To be fair,” Miyu squeaked, “we were kinda hired to? I-it was nothing personal?”
“Ready!”
Rifles were raised, safeties were removed.
SHOOM!!
A mushroom of fire erupted from the base, shooting debris and sand into the day sky, blocking out the sun. A visible shockwave went out, kicking up sand and knocking a number of people over. There was a climbing roar, which was then followed by an explosion of blue flame that erupted from the base's entrance.
Chaos had taken control of the crowd once again, before everyone had calmed once again.
“Wait...where—?”
“Buh-bye!” Muto was up on his chocobo, alongside the others on theirs. The console had been awkwardly shoved into the chocobo's pouch.
Enzo looked over the group and gave a smirk. Not saying another word, he put on his goggles, pulled the reins, and headed off into the desert.
“You can fake your own deaths here if you want!” Miyu said with a wave. “Start new lives!”
“Wait!!”
They didn't stop. The chocobos were running. Moments later, Enzo began the spell to again create a sandstorm. Their tracks would be covered and hopefully, they would never see anyone from the base ever again.
Silence descended over the base's staff.
“I forgot my Triple Triad deck in there...” lamented a guard.
~
Standing in Ul'dah at the airship station, they gathered around their pilfered crystal. The sky was darkening, as the sun was just disappearing behind the horizon.
“So in the end...it wasn't anything special,” lamented Enzo.
“It's just a normal fire crystal?!” groaned Miyu.
“Ehhhhh...yee-eahhhhhhh....”
“Anything special about it?” she demanded.
“I mean...it might have a bit more of aethereal concentration?” shrugged Enzo. He passed over his scope. “But if you look at the aethereal mapping on it, there's literally nothing out of the ordinary. You could find this in anything.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said,” he grumbled in aggravation, “but despite them altering the aether they were pumping into...that thing...it ended up having absolutely no effect on the crystal it left behind.” He wiped his face frustratedly, then pushed the crystal away. “Honestly, you two can keep it and turn it into the grand company, have more 'proof' of this whole misadventure. Put it right beside that console Muto grabbed.”
“Thank you, Enzo,” Miyu said quietly. “But you really don't have to.”
“I'm going to,” he insisted, “and I'm going to pay you too. Just as agreed.” He rolled his eyes. “Though...that might take a bit. All my money was kinda left in the base....”
“Take whatever time you need, all right?” Miyu gave a consoling smile. “I'm sorry this all happened like it did, but we...made some kind of difference, right? And this should get us some advancement, at least! I mean, once we document it all. Right, Muto?”
They both looked up to the Hrothgar, who was standing with the biggest smile on his face.
“Why're you so happy?” asked Enzo.
“Muto go on adventure with bestest friends!” declared Muto, barely able to contain his glee. “Muto and friends fight bad guys! Muto and friends defeat dragon! Muto and friends—” He made an enthusiastic explosion noise. “—blow up secret base! Muto and friends real adventurers! Real heroes!”
Enzo, despite his disappointment, smiled. “Well...I'm glad you guys had such a great time. Sorry you missed out on your other mission.”
“Is okay!” Muto said with a bright smile. “Muto helped Au Ra! Muto help community! Oh!” He remembered something incredibly important. “Muto now can have egg!” The hard-boiled egg Enzo gave him hours ago had been sitting in his pocket the entire adventure...and was likely destroyed, but that didn't stop Muto's enthusiasm. He reached in, then looked confused. Grabbing a hold, he pulled out a wadded piece of paper.
~
While Enzo explained the job, Muto looked down at the two-star adventure. If they were doing something else, then it would be a waste to hold onto it. He saw a frustrated Au Ra wandering away from the building. It was the telltale sign of a poor adventure...and Muto had the solution. He wandered away, while Enzo continued his explanation.
“Are okay?” asked Muto.
“Ehhhh....” She shrugged. “My fifth week in a row with a zero-star.”
“What is rank?”
“I'm almost to my first level,” she shrugged, “which kinda is awful, because I was doing adventuring for years before. Just...it never got documented and there's such a backlog with level appeals.”
“Oh!” Muto held out the paper with the two-star adventure. “Muto have solution! Au Ra friend can have adventure! Is two-star!”
She blinked, taken aback. “Wait...really?”
“Uh huh!”
“You're sure?”
“Uh huh!”
“Because I know how hard it can be to get these kinds of missions if you're not leveled up...a-and if you don't want to, you really don't have to, it's okay! I mean, of course I want the mission, but it's fine if you'd rather not—”
“Muto!” called Miyu. “We're leaving!”
“Oh!! Coming!!” He absently shoved the mission in his pocket, then ran after the others, leaving a confused Au Ra behind.
“Umm....”
~
“Muto...have mission.”
“I'm sorry?” asked Miyu.
“Muto still have mission.”
“You what?”
“Muto still have two-star mission.”
“You what?”
“Muto not mean to!” He held out the paper, crumpled up, covered in smashed hard-boiled egg and eggshell shards. “Was accident!”
“That's—!”
“Muto screw up again?!” He looked absolutely terrified.
“No, no!” soothed Miyu. “It's okay! Just—”
“Where is the mission again?” asked Enzo.
“Ummmm!!” He opened the paper and did his best to read. “Um...um—”
“Gridania!” cut in Miyu.
“Do you have everything you need?”
“I think so?”
“Are you sure?”
“Um, yeah, sure! Wh—?”
He shoved the fire crystal towards Miyu, who took it confusedly. Enzo's grimoire was thrown open. He channeled his magic, then uttered the words, “Oovoo javer!”
Space folded around Miyu and Muto, and not even a moment later, Enzo was there on his own at the table.
They were only a little late. Not even twenty minutes later, the two adventurers were on the merchant's carriage with Muto blowing a melody into a bone flute, serenading his companions and the darkening sky. The mission was only beginning.
~
It was utterly still and dark. There wasn't a single noise in the house. It wasn't because it was abandoned, but because he chose for his footsteps to be silent.
A light source was approaching, illuminating the neighboring room. Instead of trying to hide from it, Enzo waited and crossed his arms confidently.
A young dark-skinned lady entered the room holding a lit lantern. She saw Enzo, then deeply frowned.
“Thanks for letting me know you're home...” grumbled Emory. “Where were you?”
“Oh, out,” Enzo shrugged. “Nothing big.”
Emory scowled at him. “I know that look. What did you do?” She sighed with frustration. “Who did you kill?”
He put up his hands, palms out. “Nobody this time!”
“Don't you lie to me! How many was it?”
“Seriously, Em, it's not actually not a lie!” He gave a wide grin. His teeth were pointier than they had been earlier. “You should tell your brother what a good boy he's been!”
“Oh, shove it...” she grumbled. “What did you do?”
“Wanna see something amazing?”
She just raised an eyebrow.
He reached into his pocket, where he had a small portal to the Void, and withdrew a crystal, then set it on the nearby table. It glowed a dull red and was lined with veins. Emory looked at it, and moments later, recoiled. The shadows cast behind her from the lantern twisted for a moment before resuming that of a normal lady.
“What did you do, Enzo?” she snapped. “What is this?!”
“Aether!” His grin widened. “Can't you tell?”
“You know exactly what I'm talking about!” she snarled.
“Oh, come on, Em!” He nudged the crystal, making it spin in place. “Just a little crystallized aether!”
He noted the shadows behind her were growing and darkening. Spiky protrusions were twisting and forming in the dark.
“Fine, fine,” he lamented. He flicked the crystal to spin it the opposite way. “So I have to say the people of this plane can be absolutely brilliant and incredibly stupid. They had no idea what they had. They were taking aether from the planet and corrupting it. Corrupted aether is nothing new, sure, but the way they were doing it was...certainly unique. They absolutely ruined it, depriving it of being aspected, while maintaining the energy and refusing to adapt to any other aspect. And then they channeled it through a remnant of Bahamut, who was able to amplify it so much more than I thought possible. Even with just one of his scales.”
“How'd you get it?”
“Ohhhh, you know....” His tail flicked playfully.
“Do not make me ask again.” Emory glared. “Or I will make you tell me.”
“My friends just helped me get into a Garlean base is all!”
“We don't have 'friends,'” she stated flatly.
“I like to think Miyu and Muto are.” He received a withering glare from Emory. “Oh, come on, I don't consider them as equals! They're just useful! Entertaining too.”
He picked up the crystal and turned it about, so that both he and Emory could get a better look at it.
“Anyways, I don't entirely understand everything those mortals did to the crystal, but long story short, they basically created something that is outside the six elements. And I'm not even talking about unaspected aether. I'm talking about technically a seventh element....” His smirk grew wider. “...which should provide for some interesting possibilities.”
“Do whatever you want with it,” grumbled Emory. “Just keep that thing away from me.”
“Oh, this thing?” He held it out just a hair more.
Emory glowered at him, then turned and left in a huff, leaving the room. It was pitch-black in the room once again...save for a glowing pair of red eyes.
~
Thanalan Desert.
“I have a suspicion...” murmured the gentleman to himself.
“What kind of suspicion?” asked an eager Miqo'te.
“I believe....” Hildibrand suddenly gave a wide sweep with his arm. “...that there was an explosion.”
The two of them were standing at the bottom of a crater, surrounded by debris.
“And where there are explosions, there are crimes.”
“What about Bahamut?”
A finger was thrust into the sky. “He is the greatest criminal of them all!”
Some of the debris moved. The finger was lowered and pointed to it.
“A clue!” both of them said together.
A hand eventually came forth from under the rubble, followed by a ragged sleeve.
“Nashu!”
“Yes, sir!”
“We must assist!”
They crouched next to the hand and pulled away concrete, stones, and all manner of debris. A Roegadyn lady in a torn white lab coat lied underneath.
“Who...?” she croaked. “What...?”
“My lady, you have stumbled into the authorities!”
“We have authority?” asked Nashu.
“Absolutely! All of Eorzea is ours to patrol and to bring justice to! And you, my lady!” He dramatically pointed down to the scientist.
She just stared blankly at him.
He knelt next to her, then reached for her hand. “...are most obviously the victim of a terrible, terrible crime. Pray, tell me...who did this to you?”
The Roegadyn looked at him blankly as her thoughts started to come together. What were the names the Hrothgar said?
“Muto,” she finally managed. “Muto, Miyu, and Enzo.”
Click!
#final fantasy 14#miqo'te#hrothgar#squaresoft#square enix#squeenix#miyu#enzo#muto#fanfiction#funny#adventure#ryukoprompts#miyu pokett#enzo anwir#e'zraka tia#muto khaghh#hildibrand manderville#nashu mhakaracca#story#long#long post
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Grimsby pt. 2
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"Canny mint spot, innit. Just by our door."
Declan expertly squeezed the Corsa into an empty spot next to the pavement on one of the narrow streets lined with like a million identical buildings of dirt-yellow brick townhouses. The building next to us looked run down, with a heap of rubbish lining the stairs to the front door. But that was the same for pretty much every house on this street. As we walked to the door I could see some grafitti wannabe artist had tagged the door with a thuggish looking "BROWN" in felt pen. Declan unlocked and motioned me to get in.
Having seen the outside, the inside didn't pose any surprises. Run down and filled with rubbish. It wasn't just dumped there though, but it looked like someone had lived there for quite a while. Empty beer cans, pizza boxes and dirty laundry all around the place.
"How long have you been staying here?"
"Came yesterday. Drove when Butcher told me to."
"But whose is all this?"
"Chayse Brown. Ghosted a week ago. Now you're him."
I felt a chill up my spine. I wonder if the real Chayse was still alive or if he had just ran away from whatever Butcher Jones threatened him with. In any event it looked like I was set up with a spacious home and all the fag stubs a man could need. There were ash trays everywhere. Well, fewer insects I guess, which balanced the enormous amount of empty take away boxes that also littered the
place.
”This is a lot... Do you think any of the clothes fit?”
"You're already wearing it, mate."
Declan gave me a quick tour. There were two bedrooms upstairs, one with a real bed and clothes everywhere. It looked like a lost and found bin at a gym. A small bathroom with a shower, and a second bedroom with a rickety spare bed and an attempt at a home gym. Downstairs were a large living room with a big sofa, a decent TV and, to my joy, an Xbox. Next to the living room, under a ton of rubbish, I presumed you would find a kitchen if you dug deep enough. The path to the fridge was open at least, and Declan fetched me a can of Stella.
"You fancy a curry, lad?"
Did I ever? I hadn't eaten or drunk anything the entire day, which probably was why I was drunk already at my second Stella when the food arrived half an hour later. We spent the rest of the evening in front of the TV watching footie, drinking Stella and Dec showing me how to smoke properly. I barely registered Declan telling me we needed to be somewhere before 10 the next day, and I have no idea when we did decide to go to bed.
I did see that the time was 7:22 in the fucking morning when he woke me up. At least when I had regained enough focus to find the mobile. Apparently I had managed to plug the USB charger by the bed into the phone, and luckily it was the right kind of charger. My mouth tasted of death, my head hurt and my ears hurt. I surprised myself finding a stud in the fresh ear piercing, and manage to make it really hurt by accidentally tugging it. That brought the past day back. Fuck. Not even 24 hours ago I was sleeping in my own bed. Now I was wearing someone else's clothes, sleeping on top of someone else's messy bed. It hadn't even crossed my mind yesterday that I probably should wash things up, but then I hadn't been sober enough to consider undressing either. Looking out over the mess of a room I absentmindedly stroked my buzz and felt the morning wood stir a bit. Fuck no! Don't go there!
"Have a wash. Hafta go soon."
I did as Declan told and had a shower, hoping that would make things better. At least water would make the hangover some good. The only option was a big bottle of 3-in-1 adidas shower whatever, generically labeled "after sport". Since I already had his house, name, clothes and smelled like the guy, I decided to use his toothbrush as well.
"Y'alreet?"
"Let's go."
“Hey, Dec. You said you came the day before yesterday, but I only agreed to come yesterday."
“Fate, innit”
How long had Butcher Jones been planning this? Or perhaps Chayse Brown was a role people rotated into three month each. Take guys of the same size, shave them, chav them and put them in a social grade E area and no one would look close enough to care. Makes you wonder what is going on here that he need this kind of operation for.
“You been here before?”
“Grimsby? Fuck no.”
And go we did. Apparently Declan wanted to save on petrol money and decided we should walk to the dock. Everything looked pretty much the same, street after street, just different rubbish. All around us everything was quite green and colorful, so it wasn’t ugly depressing in a communist state sense of the word, but everything was worn and clearly not everyone was interested in upkeep. While we had a walking breakfast of Richmond Blue king size cigarettes and a shared Stella, Declan explained that Butcher Jones had me set up with someone at the fish market. He didn’t know more than that. It took us almost two hours to get there, and Dec had me ask for direction twice. By the time we got there my hangover was almost gone.
The fish market was busy with shoppers browsing, talking to merchants and sitting down for a bite. Everything looked newly renovated, with a modern look, slates, stainless steel, LED lighting everywhere. It all looked quite fancy. Declan stopped the first person he could find that looked like he worked there.
“Oi, you Jamie?”
“No. Jamie who?”
“Jamie Naylor”
“Eehh... He’s probably in packaging. Go through that door over there.”
As we passed through the door he had pointed it was almost like going from the audience seats back stage. Harsh light and wet concrete. Not that many people.
“Oi, you Jamie?”
“Aye. What can I do for you, lads?”
“My mate Chayse Brown, Butch...” Jamie cut him off.
“Good day Chayse. Mr. Jones put in a word for you. We lack some hands after the first rush, so he suggested someone could come pick up some slack. Is that you?”
“Yeah”, I answered.
“Need someone to move boxes, ice and stuff between 7 and 2. £60 cash after each shift, none the wiser. Sounds good to you?”
“Aye.”
“You can come in tomorrow?”
“He will”, Declan answered for me.
We shook on it and left.
“Hey, I’m starving. Can we have chippie?”
“You’ll hate them soon enuf. Let’s have burger”
We found a Burger King some 15 minutes away, and Declan bought two whoppers, no menu, using some 2-for-1 coupon. As I sipped the cold water from the paper cup and looked out at the fish market in the distance I was feeling tired again. Starting 7, I thought, and probably 1 and a half hour walk, I would have to rise at 5. I wondered if lifting boxes with iced fish would get you cold or sweaty. Perhaps a bit of both. Good thing there is a lot of shitty athletic wear laying around at home I can use.
I almost didn’t realize it. “Home”. How quickly you accept things. Declan was back with the whoppers.
“There’s your scran. Plenty of time for next appointment.”
“There are more?”
“Need to ink you to fit propa. I figure you haven’t any?”
“Never.”
“What you want? Nike or adidas?”
“I... don’t understand.”
“Swoosh thing or weed logo?”
“Both are kind of tacky.”
“I’ll pick then.”
We spent probably two hours just talking at the Burger King table. I wasn't wearing my watch anymore, so I didn't track it as well as I would otherwise. Other than some indifferent girl offering to clear our table, no one seemed to give a shit that we sat there. Dec spent a lot of time trying to get me to retell as much as possible of last evenings matches. It was hard. For one thing I was drunk, but more importantly I didn't really care. Also I had this low level of unease about the whole tattoo thing.
I was going back and forth between feeling violated for having this sprung on me, to be permanently marked with some shitty tat. On the other hand who doesn't have a tattoo? And a lot of them aren't that great anyway. This is after all part of getting me into some sort of disguise as quickly as possible. I didn't make the barbers appointment either. Perhaps the lacks of giving a shit was contagious from the burger staff, but once we walked into the tattoo studio I was pretty indifferent to it.
"Hafta wax it."
"What? Why?"
"If it’s shaved, people can tell. Can't look fresh."
That's how I had molten wax poured on me for the first time ever. People do this during sex? I guess that part was nothing compared to the pain when hair was ripped out of their follicles. And of course it wasn't enough to just get the area for the tattoo smooth. Tom, the heavily tattooed and pierced guy that appeared to be constantly flirting with both me and Declan, made my entire front almost completely smooth, leaving just some wisps of hair around the nipples and part of the treasure trail, before moving on to the tattooing part.
Declan selected some ink that would look a bit faded right away and asked Tom to make the edges a bit soft. I watched as he slowly filled in the outline of an old school adidas logo, making it look like I wore a permanent track top. You could laser it away I suppose, but I knew that wouldn't happen. It takes like a year, hurts like hell, and I'm completely broke. I don't even own the underwear I’m sitting in.
Once Tom was done with the inking and asked me to check myself in the mirror, I got a shock. It wasn't the tattoo. I'd been looking at it all while it was injected into my skin. No, it was the rest of me. For a brief moment I didn't recognize anything in the mirror except for the tattoo. It had somehow slipped my mind that I looked nothing like I did 30 hours ago.
Declan nodded approvingly, and handed over a new nicotine patch.
“Looking mint”
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family ties.
Malachy. The O’Connells have to face the worst moments of their lives.
(...)
So, the day was July 22nd 2016 and it was, I dunno, the later part of the evening. Mal was working late and it happened on his way home. His car got hit by a truck on the drivers’ side. The truck driver didn’t pay attention, he was tired after a long week and fell asleep momentarily. It’s not a real consolation but Mal didn’t suffer, in fact he didn’t even realise what was happening. He just saw the huge lights, so close to him, and then nothing.
Chloe was at home, tidying up the house a bit and getting slightly mad at her hubby for not coming home at the time he promised. He wanted to bring their dinner after all. She checked her watch, only to check it again five minutes later and she had been doing that the entire evening. Sam was staying at a friend’s house and Rory wasn’t feeling well so he already went to sleep.
“Screw you, O’Connell. You could at least give me a damn call?!” she murmured to herself. “Instead you’re making me starve, I can’t believe it. You’re so not gonna get laid tonight.” She stopped and scratched her head. “Who am I even talking to? My god, I’m going insane.” Chloe scoffed at herself, and she grabbed her book and was just about to make herself comfy on her couch when her phone buzzed.
“There you go.” she sighed, reaching for her phone. It wasn’t Malachy, though. It was Sarah who didn’t even bother to wait for Chloe to say anything.
“This is it, Chloe. Ye can tell yer dear husband that I’ve had it with him.”
“Sarah.” Chloe answered reluctantly and she frowned. “What’s goin’ on?”
“He didn’t even call, he just didn’t show up. He promised to stop by at seven and now it’s almost ten. Not that he didn’t even bother to call us, he won’t pick up his phone either. Tell him to get lost, that’s not how ye treat your ma and pa?!”
“Sarah-”
“Look, it’s not that I don’t get that people at a certain age rather spend time with their significant other,” - she emphasised those last few words and Chloe smiled to herself at the mocking tone of it -, “than their parents but dammit, I gave birth to this little fucker! Twenty-one hours of labor and I’m not even worth a call?!”
Despite Sarah’s rage that she, being a mother herself, could very well understand, Chloe had to chuckle. “I’m sorry. He’s a despicable human being and I’m gonna tell him.”
“Tell him he’s an ungrateful little shit, too.”
“Of course. Will do once he gets home, I promise.”
“Wait, what? He isn’t even home yet?”
“Nah, I was just about-”
The doorbell rang. Still holding the cell phone to her ear, Chloe hurried to the entrance hall. Peeking through the door’s window, she saw two men clad in dark blue uniforms. “Sarah, I’m sorry, I’m gonna call you back, okay?” she mumbled into the phone, startled at the sight of the two Gardai on her front porch. Chloe put her phone in her pocket and then she opened the door.
To this day, she can’t really recall that particular evening. Looking back, it felt like she left her body in that moment and watched the events of the evening through someone else’s eyes and with a certain distance. There was a lot of “We’re sorry.” and “Do you need us to do anything else, Mrs O’Connell?” and she remembers this really insane moment when her only thought was that Malachy was supposed to get them dinner and that she was still starving.
She felt a bit like what she supposed a robot to feel like - she merely functioned and did what had to be done. She woke up Rory and called the parents of the friend Sam was staying at, giving them a quick update on what happened and that she’d appreciate it if they could help Sam to get ready so she can pick him up in about twenty minutes.
She also called Sarah back, asking her to tell Declan and Orla and she called Kieran on his cell phone before she made her way to the hospital to see her husband for what she feared would be the last time.
***************
Sarah just stood there, frozen on the spot, not quite believing what her daughter in law had just told her. She dropped her phone on the couch, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
This could not be true. It was impossible.
“Sarah. Darling, what is it?” Sean asked again, sounding alarmed and squeezing his wife’s upper arm a little, to make her snap back to reality.
“Malachy. There was-” Sarah took another breath. “There was - he had an accident.”
Sean felt his guts turn to ice. “An accident. Dear lord. But he’s… he’s alright, isn’t he?” He could feel his voice shaking.
“We have to get going, Sean, and we have to get a hold of Orla and Declan. I mean, where are these two, anyway?” Sarah hissed and hastily looked for her phone, remembering that she had just dropped it on the couch a minute ago. “Chloe was about to call Kieran just now and-”
“Sarah.” Sean insisted and grabbed his wife by her shoulders. “Sarah, darling, talk to me. Is Malachy alright?”
Sarah looked her husband in the eyes and that was when Sean knew. He just knew by seeing his wife’s expression. He nodded and swallowed.
“Where did they take him?” he merely asked.
“University hospital.”
Sean nodded again and he was about to go and get his things when Sarah held him back.
“Sean? Our boy is there. In some dark and cold room. All alone.” she said sternly, but her voice cracked. Sean could tell she was fighting hard to hold it all back.
He couldn’t help but admire her.
“Not for very much longer.” Sean assured his wife. “We’ll be there in less than ten minutes. You call the twins, I’ll get everything ready and I’ll wait outside in the car for you.”
Sarah nodded, touching Sean’s cheek.
“Hurry.”
***************
Kieran sat at his desk in the bureau and he had been battling a few stacks of paper for a while. It has been an unusually quiet day at the bureau and he had spent all day here, catching up on a few things and doing some dreaded paperwork.
“Fuckin’ Friday night and I got nothin’ better to do than this. That’s it, I’m officially pathetic.” he murmured, highlighting another line in that report in front of him.
“I’m impressed by your work ethic. It’s not like you have to do this? Everyone else went home already. Not you though?” his new colleague, Evelyn, responded cheerfully.
Kieran looked up from his paper and gave her a dry laugh. “Yeah, rub it in. I like that.”
“Nah I didn’t mean it in a weird way?”
“This isn’t about work ethic, it’s really just about me having nothin’ else to do today.” Kieran replied wearily.
“Aw, come on, I can’t believe that a guy like you doesn’t have someone waitin’ for him somewhere.”
“You’re not makin’ this any better, Ev.” Highlighting another line at the bottom of his paper, Kieran now lazily turned the page. He frowned. “This is bullshit, I don’t even know what I’m reading here.” he mumbled and tossed the paper a few inches away from him.
“Wow, you’re crabby today. It sounds like there is someone after all, though?”
“No, that’s not what I said? There isn’t.” Kieran sighed. “I mean, not… not really.”
Evelyn put her pen away and leaned back in her chair. “Do tell. And don’t even try to change the subject… I’ve studied human behaviour long enough to be able to tell that somethin’s been weighing on your mind for a while and I’ve been in love long enough to link that particular circumstance to what you just said.” she concluded with a firm nod.
Kieran raised an eyebrow. “You… only talk so you can listen to yourself talkin’, right?”
“Sometimes, yeah. Not this time, though. Come on, tell me about it. Who is she? Or he?”
Kieran gave her another sigh but the prospect of just talking to someone unrelated about it actually was strangely tempting.
“It’s not like it matters anyway. She’s… in Boston, y’know. And I’m here. Doin’ fuckin’ paperwork on a Friday night.”
“Boston, huh? How would you end up with a girl in Boston anyway?”
“We didn’t end up - I just, I dunno, I go there a few times a year. Great city. Met her years ago already and, well-”
Kieran’s phone started buzzing. Startled by the sound of it, he looked at the caller’s ID.
“Chloe?” he muttered, confused.
“So her name’s Chloe?” Evelyn asked.
Kieran made a little gesture with his hand to shut Evelyn off and he picked up his phone. He didn’t really know where the feeling came from but having his sister in law call him at eleven in the night was highly unusual and he felt his stomach turn.
“Chloe? Yeah, of course it’s me… what is it?”
Evelyn watched Kieran’s expression turning to stone. “Uh-oh.” she thought.
“How… when?” Kieran let out a heavy breath. “I’m at work. I’ll be there - no I’ll be there, okay? I’ll be there in a few hours. Chloe, listen - I’ll be there. I’ll get into my car in five seconds and I’ll be there. There’s no way I’m stayin’ here, alright? Gimme a few hours. Okay. Okay! We’re wasting time… yeah, okay. Do what you gotta do, tell the others that I’m on my way, okay? Yeah. I will. Bye.”
“Oh my god, what was that?” Evelyn asked carefully.
“I gotta go. I can’t explain. I, I - I gotta go, Ev. I’m sorry.” Kieran stammered, grabbing together his belongings and without any further word, he left the office.
“Of course…” she nodded. “Go! Wherever you go, drive carefully?” she called after him.
“Oh, the irony.” Kieran thought to himself while he was rushing out of the building. He felt his heart racing while he ran to the bureau’s parking lot and when he eventually got to his car, he flung its door open, threw his jacket on the passengers’ seat and got into the car, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Fag. Now.” he thought and frantically searched the pockets of his jacket for the little package, as well as the glovebox. He couldn’t find anything.
“Oh fuckin’ HELL, it was there earlier?!” Kieran cursed to himself and he felt devastation, anger and helplessness rising up inside him. He slumped back into the driver’s seat in frustration and realised only now that he was shaking like a leaf. He gripped the steering wheel with both of his hands. “Focus, O’Connell. Calm down. You can’t go anywhere like this.” he thought to himself. Taking a few firm breaths, he calmed down enough to remember that he had put his cigarettes into the pocket of his jeans. He shifted a bit on the seat and pulled them out, opening the car’s door again.
Kieran lit the cigarette up and took a first pull, inhaling deeply. His breath was still shaky. Leaning back into the seat again, he closed his eyes and swallowed down a sob. He was in no way ready for this. He wasn’t ready to start the engine, to leave Dublin, to enter a world that Malachy O’Connell was no longer a part of. If he just stayed here, in his car, in the parking lot, he could just pretend for another little while that it wasn’t true. It was a childish thought, he knew it. Childish but very, very tempting.
A few minutes later Kieran had gathered himself together enough to take the dreaded way home. He left his best friend Rachel a text message, “Won’t be home for a few days. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” and left the parking lot, driving off into the unknown.
***************
“Alright, lads and ladies - last call for today!” Rosamund called. The pub was already empty, except for a few older guys sitting in the corner at the window and her young (and secret favourite) guests who had occupied the seats at the bar around her.
“Nah, way too soon!” Mick exclaimed indignantly. “Discussion ain’t over yet, no one goes anywhere until we settled this.”
“What did he say?” Rosamund hissed, turning to Orla and Jessie. “I swear, any time this kid opens his mouth I only hear gibberish!”
“Don’t look at me.” Jessie held up her hands in defense, “I don’t speak O’Loughlin. She does, though.” She pointed to Orla.
Orla nodded enthusiastically. “I do and I don’t quite believe I’m sayin’ this but he has a point.”
“I love how y’all talkin’ about me as if I wasn’t there.” Declan now chimed in. “I’ll have another half pint, Rose. Please.”
“How polite.” Rosamund chuckled. “Samantha likes ‘em polite.”
“Not you, too. Gosh! Stop talking about me already?”
“As if you don’t like being talked about?” Jessie scoffed.
“When I’m not there, sure?! You guys are discussing my love life-”
“Lack thereof.” Mick interrupted.
“- or the lack thereof while I am here, though.” Declan now turned to his best friend, crossing his arms. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, which side are you on after all?”
“On yours! Always was, always will be. I say - ask her out. I mean, where’s the harm in tryin’ after all? She likes ya.”
“I can’t ask a woman out who’s ten years older. Besides, I don’t even like her… y’know, that way but for some reason no one believes me anyway. Thanks.” he added when Rosamund handed him his half pint. “Also, she has a kid.”
“So do you.” Orla frowned.
“That’s different.”
“How’s that different?”
Rolling his eyes, Declan groaned, as if Orla was just dense for missing his point. “It just is.”
“Aw man, we all just want you to be happy, Dipso.” Jessie laughed and she reached out to pat Declan’s cheek but he was having none of it and briskly pushed her hand away.
“Now ya made him mad, Jess.” Mick said, just lighting himself another cigarette, when all of a sudden his phone in front of him started buzzing. “What the fuck. Not now.” he murmured and picked the phone up. Turning away from the group a bit, he looked at the caller’s ID, frowned a little and answered the call.
“I’m not mad, I’m not frustrated and I am not in love, alright?” Declan went on. “It’s about time you guys get that into your heads. Can’t we just make fun of someone else now? Look, Mick’s talking to someone on the phone. Let’s tease him. I hope it’s the concert lady from two weeks ago, that would have teasing potential.”
“Actually…it’s for you.” Mick had just turned around on his seat again, looking clearly confused. “Any of you two.” He looked at Declan, then at Orla, holding his phone out to them. “It’s Sarah and she sounds upset.”
Not quite understanding the situation, Declan made a face. “What? Sarah? Our mother Sarah?”
“Aye.” Mick gave a little nod, looking at the phone and up again, indicating that Declan should take it.
“What the-”
“Take it already.” Orla urged him.
“Okay, okay.” Declan took the phone and held it up to his ear. “Ma, what’s up? Don’t have my phone with me today, sorry. So, you wanna take part in the discussion about my poor love life? You’re gonna love it, it’s- what? Come again? … oh my god.” He looked up at Orla, waving her over to him.
“What’s going on?” Orla whispered impatiently but Declan only pulled her closer to his side, gripping her upper arm tightly. “Ow, Dec, what-”
“No, we’re on our way. Yeah. No, we’ll get a cab or somethin’, ya’ll stay where you are. Yeah, see you in a bit.” He hung up and gave Mick his phone back. He then turned to his sister, reaching up and holding her face in both of his hands. “We gotta go. Now.”
“Declan, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?” Orla inquired, already feeling slightly nauseous.
“Mal had an accident… earlier this evening.” Declan’s voice broke and breathed out. “He - he didn’t make it.” It almost sounded like a question.
“What?” Orla muttered, her voice soft, and she looked at her brother, utterly confused, her blue eyes huge and Declan’s heart broke a little further at the sight of her expression.
“Cab me arse, I’ll drive.” Mick took a last pull of his cigarette and flicked it away. “C’mon!” he called, already making his way outside the pub.
“You want me to- I don’t know what to say, I-” Jessie stammered, looking like she got hit by a freight train and she was at a clear loss at what to do now. “I should probably pay our tab, though, I mean, we can’t just-”
“You kids leave. Screw the tab.” Rosamund interrupted her. “Just go! I’m closing NOW.” she called into the direction where the older guys were still sitting. “The three of you get out already! I mean it, forget the tab!”
“Let’s go. C’mon.” Declan nudged Orla, who just kept wiping her silent tears away, and took Jessie’s hand and they all followed Mick outside.
He drove them to the hospital, and no one said a single word. Declan and Orla had taken the backseat, holding on to each other and Jessie had taken the passengers’ seat, reaching out her hand (in a rather uncomfortable way but she didn’t care) to Declan and Orla behind her who both had taken it. She looked over to Mick who just seemed to concentrate on the traffic but she knew he was shaken. She would take care of him once they dropped the twins off at the hospital.
When they did, Orla turned around one last time, sniffing slightly. “Thank you. I’ll call you guys once I- once I can.”
“Go!” Jessie hushed her and her and Mick watched the two hurrying into the building.
********************************************
So, that’s how everyone got notified and the hospital got filled with O’Connells and they all were in this really weird state in which you can’t really wrap your head around what had just happened. They all knew it was huge but none of them could even begin to think of the impact the incident would have on their lives.
Everyone was tired and worn out and just there, trying to keep going, supporting each other, not really knowing where else to go and not really knowing what they were waiting for either since there was nothing that could be done for Malachy. None of them really wanted to leave him there all alone just yet, though, and if that meant that they had to stay in that hospital corridor until someone would finally tell them to go, they would do it. The nurses on the floor were really nice and understanding, though, providing them a free room with a few beds so at least Chloe, Sam and Rory could get a bit of rest.
Declan didn’t say a single word the entire night, he just responded by nodding or shaking his head but apart from that, his mind was somewhere else, far from everyone else. Orla couldn’t stop crying, the sleeves of her shirt were soaked and she made sure to get a hug every ten or so minutes. Kieran was busy functioning, just like Chloe. He was the one who talked to the nurses and who even joked with them, not really knowing how to channel his emotions. He even felt strangely alright and he didn’t know at this point that it would hit him a few days later, without mercy and with full force, at work in the restroom.
They all experienced for the first time what it feels like when there’s absolutely nothing left to say. It’s what all of them had in common that night, each of them dealing with it in their very own way.
At some point they all decided that it was time to leave, though. Sarah and Sean accompanied Chloe and the boys home and stayed with them and Kieran took the twins to his parents’ house.
“I don’t wanna sleep in my old room. I don’t wanna sleep at all. Not yet.”
It was the first thing Declan had said ever since he got the news. He kicked off his shoes in the hallway and went straight to the living room, starting to take the cushions off the furniture, throwing them right in front of the fireplace.
“What are you doing?” Orla asked, confused, once again sniffing a little. She felt a bit better but the tears just kept coming back and she no longer cared about hiding them.
Kieran had picked up Declan’s thoughts, though, and he smiled. “Come on.” He gently took Orla’s arm and took her with him. He went over to the large cupboard and pulled a few drawers open. He took out a blanket and tossed it at her. “Catch!”
“Have you two lost your mind?” she asked, barely catching the blanket she now saw flying into her direction. “HEY!”
“Maybe we have lost our minds.” Declan began and gave his sister a surprise hug from behind. “This is a bit of a tough situation though and I know you know what those call for.”
“A contemplation castle!” Orla gasped, finally getting what her brothers were up to.
“That was the idea.”
They had done that as kids in the past every so often. Whenever something happened that needed a bit of thinking or whenever they had to come up with a plan for whatever the issue was or whenever they were just sad or moody, Orla and Declan had built themselves a pillow fort. Teenage Kieran had often lovingly mocked their forts, “Don’t bother looking for Orla and Declan, they’re stuck in contemplation castle.”, but he had found himself sitting with the two sometimes, bringing them sweets and, as their older, more experienced brother, trying to give some insight on the situation they were facing.
His troubled seventeen year old self even sat in one of their forts all alone for a little while, after the twins had already left it. He didn’t really believe it but he hoped that the fort would have a reassuring effect on him as well and to this day he feels that it somehow did.
So the three grown up O’Connell siblings built themselves what would probably be their last fort and they crawled into it, laying down next to each other, Orla in the middle. She took her brothers’ hands and they would just lay there and talk nonsense and share silly anecdotes, even laughing heartily at things every so often.
“You know what? We’re all gonna have terrible back aches when we wake up tomorrow.” Orla said eventually. “Ugh, I already feel it.”
“I know. I don’t mind.” Kieran replied.
“Me neither.” Declan agreed.
None of them dared to speak on what they all had in their minds in this very moment, though: that this was probably their last cheerful moment together for a long while and that their backaches would be nothing compared to their heartaches.
When Sarah and Sean came home the next morning and found their three grown up kids peacefully sleeping next to each other on the living room’s floor, Sarah burst out crying. She was incredibly touched to see what the three had done and she was proud to be their mom and at the same time it had just hit her that it would never ever be like this again. Their lives had just been shaken to the core and they all would get pulled back into reality really soon. Sean held his sobbing wife close to him but she recovered pretty quickly.
“I don’t know how, darling, but we’ll make this.” Sean whispered into her ear, standing behind her and gently rubbing her upper arms.
“Sean O’Connell, the cheerful optimist.” Sarah smiled wearily, not knowing at this point whether she really believed him.
“Cheerful? Not so much, I’m afraid.”
They stood there for a moment, silently, letting their words sink in.
“I want everyone here today, Sean.” Sarah now suggested, reaching for the coffee can.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m gonna make coffee and then we wake up the kids. We can all rest a bit but I want everyone to come over to our house today. Chloe and the boys - oh, we should probably call Father Moore - “
“Sarah, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Sean interrupted her and shook his head. “This hardly calls for a party after all-”
“Oh don’t gimme that crap now, O’Connell.” Sarah snapped. “Ya think I don’t know what just happened? This ain’t gonna be a party? Ya think I’m gonna shout it from the rooftops? Ya think I’m gonna invite old widow Clarke and her fucking little shit of a barking mutt?”
“You… better not?”
“I want Chloe and the boys here. Father Moore, if he can make it. Jessica and Michael. Lauren and Ash. They all deserve to be here, Sean. I don’t wanna pretend to have a jolly good time, I want the whole family around. I am not ready to deal with this on my own yet.” Sarah could feel her voice shaking again.
“You won’t have to?”
“Ye know what I mean.” Sarah pouted and crossed her arms.
If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Sean would have laughed at his wife’s reaction. It wasn’t funny at all, though, and he chose his next words carefully. “I’m not saying we can’t do this, I just don’t want to watch you denying-”
“One last day. That’s all I ask for.”
“One last day?”
“I mean, Kieran has to go back to Dublin anyway, he can’t just stay here for weeks, to support his ma and pa. I want one last day before the lights go off, Sean.”
Knowing too well what his wife was referring to, Sean nodded eventually. “Go and make coffee. I’ll wake the mob.”
***
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Dress (episode 14)
The sound of my phone ringing woke me from dream at 745am, I knew it would be Tess even before I looked at the screen.
"Why can't you just sleep past 9 like all normal teenagers?" I answer the phone
"I'll sleep when I'm dead Zoey" She tells me in her perky tone and I groan, "Anyway, you're awake now. Cassie, Declan and I will arrive in the city around 10, the snow will be cleared by then, where do you want to meet? We can do breakfast somewhere and then go look at dresses and the boys can go watch their stupid soccer game" She's in full plan making mode and I'm still half asleep.
"Meet here at Angus' and we will go from here" I suggest
"Alright I'll see you in a few hours" She says and hangs up on me and now I'm wide awake and just realising I am, once again alone in the giant bed.
I hate morning people, at least Angus doesn't wake me up to talk. I climb out of bed and start my search for Angus, most mornings I find him in the garden, drinking tea and reading but there's still snow on the ground and the air is freezing. I walk into the lounge room and see that the fire has been lit and is roaring, evidence that he's here. I reach the top of the stairs and am about to walk down them when I hear Angus, on the phone and he sounds pretty angry with whoever is on the other end.
"You gave her my fucking number, You told me for 2 years you didn't want to be in the middle, you didn't want to pick sides, you love us both and now she keeps calling me" He yells into the phone, then pauses to listen to other end but goes back to being angry
"I've moved on, she knows it because obviously you told her and that's the only reason she wants to talk and I love how it's always on her terms too, she doesn't give a shit what I've got going on right now. Do you realise I had 6 missed calls last night? Fucking 6, all from her!"
pauses to listen
"I know it's not your fault Annabelle, I know how she manipulates information out of people, I just wish you had warned me. I've got to go, Zoey will wake up soon. I'll call you Sunday, hope you're feeling better"
He ends the call and I can hear him making his way to the stairs. OK Zoey you can sit at the top of the stairs and admit you listened in to what seemed like a very private car or you can run back to the bedroom...Yeah, I ran. I made it to the bed before he was halfway up the stairs and was pretending to play on my phone when he came to lie beside me.
"Did I wake you" He asks, panicked look on his face
"No, Tess did, she called and wants to do breakfast at 10 before dress shopping" I wasn't lying either, "Is it OK that everyone meets here first" I ask
"Of course baby" He says kissing my cheek
"Are you ok?" I ask him concerned
"Yeah, I was talking to Annabelle, she's still not well" He tells me, leaving out the part about Steph calling him 6 times last night. I don't know if I should worry that he's hiding things or if he thinks he needs to protect me but I can't say anything because I shouldn't have been listening in.
"So we've got 2 hours before Hurricane Teresa hits, what do you want to do" He asks and I turn to face him, hoping he can read my mind, that he's not going to make me say it. "Use your words Zoey, if you want it you have to say it" He laughs, he knows this is torture to me too.
"You want it too though" I plead
"Of course i want to have sex with you, look at you, lying in my bed in your cute little PJs" He's loving this way too much
"Well you can" I tell him
"I can what Zoey?" he asks, laughing
"You can have...that, with me" I beg him
"that would be exactly?" He teases
"Angus can we have...sex" I whisper the word
"Now was that really so hard Princess?" He says as he reaches over me to grab protection out of the drawer
"I hate you" I tell him, laughing
"You love me" He says, confidently and I kiss him deeply. We made love for 45 minutes, slow, tender and passionate, afterwards we showered and waited for the others to arrive.
"Angus I have to tell you something and I don't want it to upset you or for you to take it personally" I say tentatively
"Zo, what's up? You can tell me anything" a worried look crosses his face
"I haven't told Tess that we are having...that we are...um" I'm beginning to panic and I can't say the word
"Zoey, I promise, I'm not going to force you to say the word right now, I'm not hurt that you're keeping it from Tess, I'm more concerned about why you feel you would have to" He says as he pulls me in for a hug
"I'm scared she's going to judge me. It's killing me not telling her because we tell each other everything, she told me when She and Declan started doing it " I explain
"Zoey you know we've done nothing wrong right?" He asks me
"I know and I'm probably being irrational and over thinking it, as per usual but I'm still scared to tell her. I told Cassie though and she was really supportive" I'm working myself up, I can feel it
"I'm glad Cassie was supportive and that you've got someone to talk to. I know I don't Tess as well as you but I've had many conversations with her, you always come up each time, she's your biggest fan, she adores you and I'd like to think she wouldn't make you feel bad or ashamed about this. You tell Tess when you're ready and if she does have a problem then she can deal with me" He reassures me and I do feel better
"You and Tess had conversation?" I'm now more curious about this
"Shit, ah, yeah, I didn't want to tell you this. The night after you first came to the gym, I called Tess, I wanted to know more about you and I knew if I called you I would just get awkward silence." He says, looking like he's been caught out
"I would have talked to you had you called" I protest
"Oh baby, who are you fooling here, you couldn't even tell me your own name" He says and we both laugh
"Well tell me what you talked about with Tess?" Im curious
"I asked her if you were seeing anyone, she told me that found it hard to talk to people you didn't know, she just had all these positive things to say about you, that you're the top 3 students in your year, that you would rather read books than go to parties, that you get bullied and she tries to stop it but they wait until she's not around. She loves you Zoey" He explains
"How did I not know this happened, I get why you didn't tell me but Tess can't keep a secret to save her life, she even tells me what she's got me for Christmas" I'm shocked
"I'm surprised she didn't tell you but she helped me a lot in the beginning, she told me to talk to you even when you go silent" He tells me
"I owe her so much" I say, kissing him on the cheek
"I owe her too" He says
Tess, Declan and Cassie knocked on the front door just after 10, Angus let them in and I ran up to Tess and hugged her tightly
"I love you Teresa Gertrude Green" I announce
"I love you too Zoey but don't ever call me that again" she replies, laughing, "Angus I need to ask you for a huge favour" She breaks free of our hug and bounces up to him, big perky smile plastered across her face
"Ask away" he tells her
"We have to do a weeks worth of work experience after our final exams and I was wondering if you take on work experience students?" She requests
"Let me guess, you've left it to the last minute to organise and now you're desperate for someone to just sign the paperwork and rush it through for you?" He asks her
"Pretty much" She says, smiling
"Can you type?" He asks
"Yes and I'm a fast learner too" She says and she's not lying either, Tess learns skills faster than anyone I know
"Well you're in luck, Annabelle is going on holidays in November and I could use a receptionist" He informs her
"Thank you Angus, you saved me, I've been so busy organising the formal that I totally forgot to organise work experience too" She explains as she hugs him
"It comes with conditions though" He tells her
"Which are?" she asks, worried look crossing her face, Tess is not good with conditions
"You arrive at work at 7am every morning and don't leave until 5pm, you take an hour for lunch and I get to call you Gertrude for the whole week" He says seriously
"I agree to your conditions" Tess says and we all look at each other surprised, "I'm desperate, they will fail me for the whole year if I don't find somewhere" She explains
"Tess, I'm fucking with you, I'll find something for you to do" Angus laughs at her
"Ugh, I hate you Angus" she says, laughing
"Well you're not the first Green sister to tell me you hate me this morning" He informs her and Tess' eyes go wide, she loves drama and he's just fed her a heaped spoonful in one sentence
"Why does Zoey hate you, what did you do?" She asks, skipping away away from him and over to my side
"I made her say a word she didn't want to say" He tells the group, laughing
"You made her say sex didn't you?" Tess says, getting worked up, "Angus she's not ready for it" Tess exclaims, which just spurs him on more
"She's not ready to say it or to have it?" He asks Tess
"Both" Tess yells at him, Cassie and I exchange looks, "If she can't say the word then she can't be having it" Tess explains to Angus
"Funnily enough that's what I said too" He says, laughing to himself, I can feel a fire burning inside of me and I know I'm going to erupt if this continues
"Good, so we are on the same page, she's not ready, don't bring it up with her again" Tess is fuming but she's not the only one, I've had enough.
"Stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room" I yell at both of them, Tess is used to seeing me go off, as rare as it is but I can see Angus is taken back by it, he's looking at me with caution but I'm not done yet. "Teresa he is clearly baiting you to get a rise out of you and you're just playing into his trap" I explain to her and then turn to Angus and point "And you, you're at 22 year old man, almost 23, grow up!" I yell at him, "I am not speaking to either one of you for the next 20 minutes, I am so disappointed in both of you", I set the timer on my phone and storm out to the elevator, leaving the room to clear itself.
Tess and I use the 20 minute embargo trick whenever we fight because we both know that it by 20 minutes we will be over whatever made either of us angry, after 20 minutes we hug it out and leave it in the past. Tess knows to steer clear though in those 20 minutes, that thats our detoxing time, even Cassie and Declan know the rules of the 20 minute space time, they've witnessed it often enough, they know they can talk to either one of us but not force us to talk to each other, Angus on the other hand doesn't know the rules and chases after me
"I'm sorry baby, I went too far, I'm so sorry" He pleads with me as I stare at the wall, ignoring him and fuming We all step in to the elevator and ride it down to the lobby, I break away from the group and walk alone to a cafe but I'm very aware that Angus is just a few steps behind me, as we round the corner he attempts to take a hold of my hand but I brush him away and pick up my pace. Behind me I hear Cassie run up to Angus and pull him back.
"Wait it out" I hear her tell Angus
"This is ridiculous" He yells but he also slows his pace and falls back with the rest of the group.
"It's what they do Angus, it's so they don't say something in the heat of the moment just to hurt the other person, it's just a detox period and she will be over it once the 20 minutes is up" Cassie explains to Angus.
The walk to the cafe takes 15 minutes, 2 minutes of waiting for the hostess to come greet us so that leaves me with 3 minutes of detox time, honestly I'm over what happened by the time we sit down, so I pull my phone out and stop the timer.
"I want bacon and eggs and a double shot coffee, Tess woke me up way too early this morning" I announce to the group
"You had to wake up early anyway Zoey, we have a important decisions to make today, like what colour dress are you thinking, I want to wear blue so you can't wear blue, we are not doing that twin match match thing that Mum force upon us when we were kids, you can wear any colour but blue" Tess raves on, this is what happens when you silence her for 20 minutes, she starts storing up conversations to have once we are good. Angus is still sitting in silence and I can't read his face, he's just sitting next to me, staring at the table. I reach over and take his hand, giving it a squeeze to let him know it's safe now, he looks at me and gives me a little smile.
"What colour do you think I should wear?" I try coaxing him out
"Red, you look stunning in red." He says softly, I lean over and kiss him
"I love you" I whisper to him
"I'm an arsehole" He whispers back and I can see the pain on his face
"It's all forgotten" I promise him, "We move forward now" I squeeze his hand again
"I love you baby, I don't ever want to hurt you, you know that right?" He is not letting it go.
"Angus, it was a fight but I'm over it, I know you wouldn't hurt me, I know you were just playing around but I just don't like when you two talk about me as if I'm not there. It's like Ive lost my own free will and you're both making decisions for me" I explain
"I'm sorry, I should know better" He says sadly, "do you wanna stay again tonight?" He asks cautiously
"Yes Please" I reply and he smiles, we are through the woods and clear.
Our breakfast arrives and we are all chatting away
"So is Gerti here the only one in need of placement for work experience?" Angus asks the group, while loving that he can stir Tess again
"I'm going to my uncle's mechanics, I help him out every summer so it just seemed like the logical choice" Declan tells us
"Ugh, I have to be a receptionist at Daddy's company, He wants me to get a leg up for when I take over the company" Cassie groans
"Still not accepting that you want to study fashion?" I ask her
"My father doesn't believe in fashions unless it's suits styles" She explains and we laugh
"What about you Zoey?" Angus ask, I think he secretly is hoping I'm in need of a placement too but I organised mine the moment it was announced to us weeks ago
"I'm going to be doing mine at the vets near us in Brindleton Bay" I tell him and he smiles at me
"You will be perfect there, they will be lucky to have you" he says, kissing my hand.
We finish our breakfast and make our way to the fashion district where we find the ultimate formal wear store, CAS formal. Tess, Cassie and myself make a beeline to the long dresses and Declan to the suits, Angus waits at the counter and start chatting to the cashier, an older woman, she dresses fancy and I can hear her upper class voice but he's chasing her and she's loving it, I'm glad he has someone to talk to, that he's not just standing there bored. The girls and I pick a few styles of dresses from the racks, Tess picks all blue dresses of course but Cassie and I have a selection of colours, we make our way to the change rooms, we try on a dress, come out of the change room and show it off to Angus and Posh Lady and they give us both positive and negative responses to each dress. I walk out in a floor length, satin, yellow dress. Posh lady loves the dress on me, I'm not so convinced by the colour, having pale skin the yellow is just washing me out but I love the style.
"Does it come in another colour?" Angus ask her, reading my face
"I have it in red too" She tells us, finding it in my size on the rack and handing it over, I make my way back into the change room and slip into the dress, I look in the mirror and I just feel that this is the dress for me. I unzip it and place it back on the hanger, change back into my casual clothes and take the dress to the counter where I see the others have also made their choices too.
"No good?" Asks Angus
"I pick this one, it looks amazing on" I tell him
"You're not going to show it off to me?" He sounds disappointed
"It's bad luck to see the dress before the formal" I'm being cheeky, I know but I want to see his first reaction to me in it on the night and I'm hoping he understands that.
"All good baby, I can wait" He reassures me.
Posh Lady, boxes up our dresses and Declan's suit and thanks us for shopping there.
"But we haven't paid" I remind her
"It's all been taken care of, enjoy your formal kids" She farewells us.
Out on the street I turn to Angus and ask him "Did you just pay for my dress?", he smiles that beautiful cheeky smile and says "Not just yours"
"Angus you can not do this, you will go broke" I exclaim
"I don't think that's likely Zoey" He tells me
"Well thank you, I appreciate it" I kiss him
"Thanks from us too Angus" Tess says to him, speaking for the group, "I'm not going to kiss you though" She lets him know and we all laugh
"You're welcome" He tells them all
We go back to the apartment and the boys get ready to go to their soccer match, I follow Angus into his bedroom where he changes into his Llama's jersey, he looks so cute as a fan. Zoey, stop thinking about him naked while your sister, her boyfriend and your best friend are sitting in the next room, I need a new train of thought
"Do you wanna leave you dress here Princess?" he asks me, breaking me out of my dirty thoughts
"Yeah, that would make sense coz I'll probably get my hair and make up done in the city and the formal is at Myshuno Meadows so it would be easier to get to from here" I say, climbing into his lap while he's trying to put his shoes on, I start kissing his neck and running my hands under his jersey.
"Zoey, as much as I'd love to do this right now, your sister is sitting just out there in the lounge room and I don't want to cause any more drama for the day." I can hear the panic in his voice, he doesn't want a repeat of this morning and neither do I, I climb off him and go join the others on the lounge. Angus retreats from his room moments later and announces that it's time for him and Declan to go to the game, he leans down and kisses me goodbye.
"I love you Princess" He whispers to me
"I love you too" I whisper back
I see Declan saying his goodbyes to Tess and I can't help but feel a bit sad for Cassie, she deserves someone special too.
The boys make their way down the stairs but stop halfway, "Order dinner baby and anything else you want, tell them to charge it to me" Angus shouts up the stairwell
"Ok" I shout back and then we hear the front door open and they're gone
"Zoey, dish" Cassie says as soon as we hear the elevator doors open
"About?" I ask her, pretending I don't know what she's asking
"About Angus" Tess joins in
"What do you want to know?" I ask them
"What he's like?" Cassie pushes
"He's very intelligent, he did a lot of the same advanced classes I do for year 12" I tell them
"But he didn't go to university?" Tess asks
"No, I did him why but we got distracted and he never answered me" I tell her, thinking about last night
"What distracted him" Tess asks, suspicious
"The storm, we were watching it get heavier and how it covered the buildings" I lie to her, no, it doesn't make me feel good but it's easier than a lecture
"Maybe he didn't want to go to uni" Cassie speaks up, saving me, "Maybe it just didn't interest him or maybe he found something else he loved doing, he owns the gym so I'd say he's pretty happy without a degree"
We pass the time while the boys are away talking and watching random old TV shows. I order pizza for dinner and Tess runs to the mini mart for alcohol. The boys come charging in around 4pm, cheering because the Llamas won today.
"I got pizza and Tess got you guys beer and vodka for us girls" I tell him as he picks me up and spins me around in the air. "I'm guessing the Llamas lost then" I joke
"We creamed them" He shouts, acting as if he too was out on the field, "Tonight we celebrate" he says placing me back on the ground and grabs two beers from the fridge, handing one to Declan.
"They celebrate a ball being kick around a field" Tess groans as she grabs 3 glasses and pours a rough shot in each, I fill the glasses with pineapple juice and we 3 girls each take one, getting wrapped up in a win that isn't ours to celebrate.
"Do you all want to stay over?" Angus offers after dinner and a few drinks in, "Ive got heaps of room, Imogen's bed is free and the lounge is pretty comfy"
Tess and Declan take up his offer but Cassie informs us that she's flying out early in the morning for Del Sol Valley, she calls her driver and gets picked up. Now it's down to the four of us, like a double date getting drunker as the night goes on.
"Angus?" Tess slurs his name
"Yes Gerti?" He asks, holding himself together better than the rest of us
"Why didn't you go to university? Zoey says you're really intelligent" She throws me under the bus just to get answers, I shoot her a look but she's too drunk to care
"I got expelled" He tells us, shameful look on his face, Declan, Tess and I sit there staring at him stunned by his admission.
"What did you do?" Declan eventually asks, almost in awe
"I was a bad kid and I would do a lot of stupid stuff, most of which I got caught for and eventually Mr Landgaarb had had enough and kicked me out right before the exams" He puts his head down in shame but I don't want him to feel embarrassed at all
"You're not that kid anymore Angus, you've grown up a lot, you run your own business now" I tell him, trying to comfort him.
"I know baby" He says, kissing me on the cheek, "I'm just not too proud of it"
"When we were 10 Zoey told me on Christmas Eve that Santa wasn't real, completely destroyed Christmas that year" Tess offers up as a comparison and I nod to confirm it, Angus and Declan burst out laughing
"That's pretty brutal" Angus says to me
"She broke my doll house so she had it coming" I inform him, "The point that we are making though is these things happened in the past, they don't define us, you can always change your future. If you want to ever go to uni then theres other ways than having to go back to school and if you don't want to go then that's ok too, be proud of your achievements Angus. I'm proud of you" I tell him and he smiles brightly at me
"Thank You Zoey, you build me every day" He says kissing me softly
The night gets late and we all head to bed, Tess and Declan go down stairs in Imogen's room. I climb into bed with Angus and he snuggles into me, I place my cold feet on his legs and he doesn't say a word, we fall asleep like this
#sims#sims 4#sims 4 gameplay#simblr#sims 4 cas#sims 4 cats and dogs#sims 4 get famous#sims 4 get to work#sims4Get together#sims 4 screenshots#sims4 Dine out#taylor swift
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Text
Patrick didn't know what to do that morning. It wasn't like any other morning, where he would get up and make breakfast for the family; Joelle clamped on one side of his body and Declan hanging off the other while he attempted to make (sugar free) chocolate chip pancakes, the twins playing in highchairs or laying upstairs with the love of his life as they waited on a pampered breakfast in bed. That morning was different, and he knew that it would be before he even got out of bed. Patrick knew it would be different because halfway through the night, he could feel the change. He woke up and could just sense it. Had he not been a demigod, maybe he wouldn't have.
Maybe instead he would have simply thought that Joe was just very cold - a side effect of the cancer, right? It had been before. Patrick convinced himself that that's all it was, then pulled the covers up on the both of them and did some mental gymnastics in order to talk himself into going back to sleep. It wasn't easy.
It was less easy to get out of bed in the morning then, knowing what he knew. But he had to. He knew that he had kids to take care of...or rather, get rid of. At least for the day. He knew all of these things that he had to do, but after climbing out of bed over Joe he was running on autopilot. He quickly got the kids up and rushed out of the room, pretending that daddy was too tired to get up and needed his rest. He got them dressed and fed, all the while texting G to come pick them up because, well, he couldn't leave a dead body in the house by itself. He didn't tell her that, though.
After the kids were gone, Patrick climbed the stairs to their bedroom again. He locked the door behind him - from what, he didn't know - and hopped back onto the bed, carefully sliding up to Joe and pulling the covers down. He looked so calm and peaceful that he could be mistaken for sleeping. "Not you too," Patrick whispered hoarsely to himself, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He had seen enough dead bodies to know the signs, specifically the paleness and the cold of his skin. It didn't stop Patrick from leaning down and kissing him and begging him to wake up, just wake up, just please wake up. He couldn't lose his husband too. He'd just lost his babies, now this? The last kiss was salty from the tears that had finally fallen, and as he sat up he noticed the note lying on the bedside table. Reaching over Joe, he looked it over and read it probably five times.
How could that be true? How could Joe go and do that without telling him? How could he?
Though the gesture was beautiful and kind, and very fitting of the man that Patrick always knew Joe was, it pissed him off. It pissed him off that he would go and do that, and it pissed him off that his dad didn't care enough to tell him what was going on. It was the last one that really got him, and Patrick went into the hallway and waved his hands in front of him very specifically. He had been doing it the same way for years and, magically, in front of him, a stairwell appeared. It didn't go down to the main floor of the house though. Instead, it lead him into the underworld.
The underworld wasn't a place that Patrick went to often these days. He did like to go, and he had enjoyed taking Declan a few times, but he was so busy being a musician and a father and a husband now that he just didn't have as much time to go galavanting around down there. He'd seen everything twenty times or more anyway. Besides, if he needed to talk to his dad he could just call him. Or pray.
By the time Patrick made it into his father's throne room, the tears had stopped flowing. Now it was mostly anger that resided within him, though his face resembled that of a sad raccoon.
"How could you not tell me?!" Patrick started. "How could you not tell me what Joe was going to do?"
"Patrick-"
"How could you even let him offer you such a thingl? And how could you take it?! You're not supposed to be taking deals for souls, you're not Satan, dad."
"Son, listen for a mome-"
"And even if you were down here collecting souls which is not something you even do, then why did you have to take that one? That one was mine! I mean...well. Not his soul, but you know damn well what I mean! I was so happy with him. Haven't the fates dealt me a bad enough hand without you suddenly deciding to play your own version of Let's Make A Deal down here?!"
"Hush!"
Hades' booming voice rang out around them; The guards at the door, Seph sitting beside him, Patrick at his feet. It was the same voice he'd used when Patrick was a kid to get him to stop throwing a tantrum, which Patrick was very good at doing. It was quiet and loud all at the same time. Scary but reassuring. Threatening but warm. It enveloped everything.
Only then did Patrick notice that his father was in his godly toga, a laurel crowing his head. "You...went to Olympus?"
Hades nodded. "I did. I cannot tell you why as it was for official business." His black hair always reminded Patrick of the 50s, with the way it was parted. It looked like he belonged on Mad Men, which Patrick had told him once. His father had simply asked what Mad Men was.
Patrick caught the movement of Persephone's hand as she rested it on her husband's knee. Contrary to popular belief, she was not unhappy in the underworld. Mythical legends exaggerated and embellished the real events far more often than regular people knew. She gave Hades a soft look, and the god relaxed enough to let the tension visibly drain from his shoulders.
"I can't tell you everything, but your husband is fine. I promise. I saw to it myself. Now go on, mikros. Return."
Patrick didn't have a moment to argue. He could feel himself being pushed forward in time. It felt like he had been going for both minutes and days simultaneously, pressing through space and time like when he shadow traveled. But he knew his dad was doing something far more powerful than that.
The next thing he knew, he was sitting on the beach. It was dark and the moon was out, and he didn't know what day it was but it clearly wasn't the same one. He rested comfortably against a rock, listening to the waves and wondering what his dad had done to take care of it as he'd said. He could only wait to see what he meant by it.
#p: self para.#planting trees.#the ether.#eternal sunshine.#you look like him you know.#flower girl.
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