Melanie slowly opened her eyes with a pained groan. Her neck and back felt a little sore from having slept on her stomach all night. The heat was already starting to build up in the room which was filled with the spicy fragrances of Ul'dah's markets. Slowly she pushed herself up onto her knees and blinked several times and looked down at herself. She was back in her mi'qote body again and wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the night before.
Melanie began to think about the dream she had, or was it a dream? It seemed far too real to have been a dream. "I have to overcome my fears...hmm..." Melanie muttered to herself. "And just how am I supposed to do that?!" Melanie winced and raised her hand to her head as a headache spiked in her temples. Grimacing she pushed the base of her palm against her temples until the pain started to subside. "This...wasn't a dream" she said to herself as she recognised the signs of having just received a vision via the echo. She started to laugh a little and then tears began to well up in her eyes. "I have tried for years to overcome my fears. I don't know if I can... there are so many, more than I can count. But knowing you're being held against your will and that you cannot be freed until I have learned how to overcome them means I must try harder. I will try, whatever it takes I will try. I promise. I will free you and our friends on the First."
Melanie clambered off the bed and began to collect her belongings from the floor where she dropped them that night. Standing in front of a dresser she adjusted her hair and her clothes and left her room.
Just moments later she was at the top of the stairway leading down to The Quicksand. This time Reubemont hadn't been waiting outside her room to help guide her down the stairs. "I guess I made him feel uncomfortable last time." Melanie let out a sigh. Slowly she took a step forward followed by another. Her knees started to tremble and her heart palpitate. She pressed herself up against the side of the stairs and placed both hands against the wall to steady herself. "Come on, one step at a time" she thought with determination. She took in a few quick breaths and lowered her feet down to another step. It was slow progress but with each step she noticed it was getting easier.
She was already halfway down when Reubemont saw her from one of the tables below. "Brovola! I forgot..." he gasped running towards the stairs. Melanie quickly held an arm out in front of her in protest and he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched. Taking a couple more quick breaths Melanie steadied herself against the wall again and proceeded to make her way down the remaining steps. Reubemont smiled proudly to see her make it down by herself. He held an arm out to her as she reached the final step and Melanie grabbed hold of it. "I did it!" she exclaimed giddily.
"You did it!" Reubemont said with a smile. "And by yourself!"
"I did..." Melanie said catching her breath and holding herself steady next to Reubemont. Once she finally relaxed she then began to laugh. Reubemont was glad to see her looking so happy especially after the events the day before. "Full glad am I to see you smiling again" he said to her with a gentle smile.
Together they walked over to the table Reubemont had been sitting at. The rest of the team hadn't yet arrived so it was just the 2 of them for now. "Did you sleep ok?" Reubemont asked her.
"A bit rough" Melanie replied. She was about to describe her dream when she remembered she wasn't to speak of her true identity. "I slept a little odd and it's given me a bit of neck ache" she said.
"Oh?" Reubemont looked over to the back of her shoulders. He could see they looked a little swollen and started to reach over to them. "May I?" he asked holding his hands back. Melanie gave it momentary thought and then nodded her head, after all it was only a massage he was offering. "What's the worst he could do, throttle me?" Melanie started to moan a little as she felt Reubemonts fingers gently dig into her neck and shoulder muscles in slow circular movements. It still hurt yet was also soothing at the same time.
"You call that a massage?" a loud voice spoke out from the other side of the room. Melanie and Reubemont glanced over to see who was speaking out to them. He was a tall and muscular hyur with short white hair and a very well trimmed beard and moustache. On the middle of his forehead were 6 small gems arranged in 2 vertical lines. His attire was very minimalistic down to a pair of white underpants, sandals and red tinted spectacles. Despite his disturbing appearance there was something gentlemanly about him.
The loud and boisterous hyur suddenly appeared behind Melanie, he had moved so fast that she barely even saw his shadow move. "Stand aside young boy, let a gentleman show you how to do a proper massage!" he said with a slight smile behind his bushy moustache. Flamboyantly he whipped out a vial from goodness knows where although Melanie really didn't want to think too much about where he pulled it out from, and poured the contents of what looked like an oily substance onto his hands which carried a potent and floral scent unlike anything Melanie had come across before. Rapidly rubbing his hands together he then clapped his hands onto Melanie's back and began to rub the oil over her neck and shoulders.
"Oh...ahh...ooh!" Melanie gasped loudly as she felt his fingers rapidly dance around her neck and shoulders and rubbing the massage oil deep into her tissue. The pain was so intense and his hands seemed to be moving faster and faster. A warmth began to burn into her shoulders and radiated down all the way down her back and arms. "Woah...!" Melanie cried out as the gentleman relentlessly rubbed his hands deep into her skin that she could feel her eyes roll into the back of her head. Despite how intense the massage was it felt extremely satisfying and within moments he had finished and her neck and shoulders felt like they had been renewed.
"Oh my goodness, that was amazing and the pain is gone!" she gasped. She turned to face the gentleman with an amazed look on her face. "Thank you so much..."
"Godbert's the name, and you needn't thank me my dear" he interrupted her. "It is my pleasure to help a young woman like yourself in distress, however next time I will require a fee for the service."
"Of course" Melanie said with a nod.
"I best be on my way now. Do take care of yourselves and when you have some free time feel free to pay a visit to the Gold Saucer. The first game is on the house to all new visitors. Maybe you'll be lucky and walk away with your pockets loaded with MGP."
"Thank you, Godbert. We accept your invitation and will be certain to pay a visit" Reubemont said to him. Godbert responsed by tapping the middle of his glasses with a finger and then proceeded to do a pose which accentuated his already bulging muscles through his coatee and grinned. A sparkle of light was seen from behind his moustache and both Melanie and Reubemont could only stare agape in surprise. As quickly as he had arrived Godbert had vanished from sight.
"What a strange man" Reubemont said in a bemused tone.
"Yes...a Manderville man" Melanie added.
"A what now?" Reubemont asked confused.
"Oh, never mind" Melanie waved a hand in front of her face shaking her head. She then caught sight of their friends entering The Quicksand and waved over to them. Reubemont turned around to see who she was waving to and welcomed his friends over.
"Wow, what is that fragrance?" Suyaya gasped as she breathed in the scent from the oil on Melanie's shoulders.
Johna and Holskwyb breathed in the air and gasped in amazement themselves. "Oh wow, that smells incredible!" Johna exclaimed.
"Err, we had a gentleman by the name of Godbert offer Brovola a free massage" Reubemont replied.
"Oh, how very nice!" Suyaya said in a percussive voice. She looked up at Melanie with a smile happy to see that her friend was no longer looking as sad as she did the night before.
"So, do we have any plans for today?" Holskwyb asked as she sat herself down at the table.
"I was thinking due to how we managed to handle Bockman that we should press on to more stronger prey, perhaps ones located over at Camp Drybone in Eastern Thanalan. I believe this is now the season for culling the overpopulation of wild aldgoats which are both a source of food and leather to the locals. We would be doing them both a favour in providing them with supplies and there would be a reward involved also."
"Hmm, training with benefits, I like the sound of that" Holskwyb said with a grin.
"That was my thought too" Reubemont smiled. "Let us order breakfast and then we can be on our way."
The group continued to talk over breakfast discussing various other things. Melanie was in deep thought over her encounter during the night and barely noticed she was being addressed. All she could think about was how she was going to be able to overcome her fears. Conquering the stairs to The Hourglass was one thing, but what about bridges, tall mountains, crevasses, flying airships and chocobos, spiders, monsters that would be twice her size and more? In a video game where she was still safely in her chair it was one thing, but to be doing these in person was an entirely different ball game.
"Brovola?" Reubemont said looking at her. Melanie suddenly snapped back to reality and look at him.
"Uh, yes?" she asked.
"Are you all right? You seemed yalms away for a moment there" he said slightly concerned.
"Oh, yes I'm fine. It's just..." Melanie tried to find an answer but nothing came to mind. "I'm sorry, my mind wandered" she finally said.
Reubemont sighed with relief and smiled at her. "I was just worried about you, that was all" he said.
Johna placed his knife and fork down on his now empty plate and pushed it from him and patted his belly. "Nothing like a good hearty breakfast before going on an adventure."
"I take it we are all ready then?" Reubemont asked as he looked around the table of empty plates and cups. Everyone nodded at him. "Then let us be on our way. To the chocobokeep, we can get there much sooner and start before any competition arrives."
"Oh, must it be chocobos? All that bouncing around is going to make me throw up breakfast" Suyaya groaned.
"Would you rather walk?" Reubemont said looking down at her. Suyaya let out a deep and long sigh. "I guess not" she said dejectedly.
The chocobokeep was strategically located just opposite The Quicksand so that adventurers who stayed over at The Hourglass could immediately get about with their day right away. Outside The Quicksand the group descended a small set of stone stairs and crossed the street where loud cooing noises could be heard. A chocobo handler wearing a long yellow apron and a chocobo mask was sweeping away some of the hay that was scattered in the ground with a long broom. On seeing the group approach he put aside his broom and greeted them. "All of you here for a ride?" he asked cheerfully. Reubemont nodded to him. "Where are you all heading?"
"Camp Drybone, Eastern Thanalan" Reubemont stated.
"All right, help yourselves to a ride. Remember one bird per person. They haven't been flight trained yet but they should still get you to your destination just as swift."
Melanie breathed a sigh of relief at hearing they hadn't been flight trained yet. The thoughts of riding on the back of one of these was scary enough. They were the size of horses with thick muscular legs that looked like they could cause severe damage if they were to kick out. Melanie approached one of the birds and gently stroked its neck. Its feathers were soft and silky and the chocobo cooed gently at her touch. "Is this your first time riding a chocobo?" the handler asked her. Melanie nodded. "Well sweetie there's not much to it. With the new saddle design this should make it more easier to climb up. All you do is put your left foot into the stirrup and place your hands onto the pommel here then pull yourself up and swing your other leg around."
"Like this?" Melanie grabbed onto the top of the leather saddle and began to hop herself onto it.
"That's right, just push yourself off the ground with your left foot and pull up using the pommel."
Melanie used all her strength to push herself off the ground and held tightly onto the saddle. After a couple of attempts she pushed herself upwards and slumped over the back of the chocobo. "Okay now, just hold on tight and swing the other leg around" the handler stood ready to catch her in case she fell back down again. "Hnngh!" Melanie pulled her body across the saddle and tried to drag her other leg across the chocobo's back to the other side. This was way less easy than she thought it would be. "Gyaah!!!" Melanie dragged her right leg across to the other side of the saddle and was now able to sit herself upright. It felt strange sitting on top of a giant bird and being high up made her feel very jumpy and nervous.
"You will get used to it eventually" Reubemont said to her as his chocobo gently trotted towards her. "Be sure to hold onto the reigns and never let go of them." The handler stepped back satisfied that Melanie was now safely in place. All the other team members were mounted up and ready to move on. "Kweh!" the chocobo cooed and started moving forward.
"Woah!" Melanie gulped and started to shake as she felt the chocobo moving. Its powerful claws made a loud thumping noise as it walked across onto the cobbled street and turned around to one of the city's main entrances. "Remember all you got to do is just dismount when you are finished with your journey and the chocobo will find its way back to us" the handler called out to them.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The noise became louder as the chocobo exited the city onto the dirt path outside and started to pick up pace.
"Oh my god...woah!!!" Melanie leaned forward and held more tightly than ever onto both the reigns and the saddle as the chocobo began to swiftly accellerate. She started to feel the wind against her face blowing her hair back from her shoulders. The chocobo still continued to move faster. Melanie could feel her breakfast being tossed around in her stomach that she thought she was going to throw up. She wanted to scream out in fear but also in excitement and then she began to laugh "I can't believe I'm riding this thing! This is fun!" Melanie thought to herself. She gazed at how fast the world was moving past her as the chocobo pounded its way across the dry landscape at high velocity.
"Ha ha ha, woo!!!" Melanie shouted as the chocobo turned down a slope into a small shallow lake area and passing several large toads that were the size of cars. Ahead in the far distance Melanie could see another landscape cluttered with large orange crystaline formations that curled unnaturally high into the sky as if they had burst from the land itself. Chunks of land were caught in its structure with trees still growing on them. It was another reminder of just how different this world was to her own.
The trail started to twist and turn towards a small outpost and the chocobo began to slow down. The outpost was built into a wide crevasse near some rocky cliffs. A tall aetheryte stood in the heart of the outpost barely visible from the ground. Just above the outpost was a church-like building and a large graveyard. Melanie could sense the smell of death, insence and embalming oils coming from the church. A small number of hyur dressed in long white hooded robes slowly walked around the premises with their heads held low in respect and speaking out prayers for the dead.
Below in the crevasse more white hooded men and women walked among the few citizens that remained preaching their ways and offering aid to them. One particularly loud roegadyn whose robes were heavily soiled and hidden behind a dark brown cowl was trying his hardest at convincing those who would listen that the calamity was divine judgment but nobody seemed to pay attention to him.
The chocobos came to a halt at a stable just outside of the outpost. A handler wearing the same yellow attire and chocobo mask helped steady the chocobos as Melanie and her comrades climbed down from them and offered each chocobo a krakka root as a reward for their job before they turned around and sped back towards Ul'dah.
"I'll go check in with the locals and find out if they need any supplies" Reubemont said to his team before descending down the crevasse. Melanie heard a noise behind her and turned around to see a caravan of roughened up adventurers solemnly carrying the body of a fallen comrade on a makeshift stretcher towards the graveyard. The corpse had severe burns spread across the body and several holes had been burned through the armor. "I told him to not to stare into its eyes" one of the adventurers who was following the caravan said outloud in a distressed voice.
Johna looked up at the caravan as they carried the body into the nearby church. "No doubts fallen to Maahes" he said in a low voice.
"Of course! They were the people we saw fighting from above" Melanie recalled. "Is there nothing we can do to help?" she asked.
Johna shook his head. "Nah, he's been long dead. Any chance of reviving him was long gone and doesn't look like they had a healer with them."
Melanie looked down sadly. She knew if this was still the game she could've taken down Maahes and nobody else would've died. Perhaps if it wasn't for the training band suppressing her magic she could've taken down Maahes herself. She looked down at the ring on her finger and gently ran a finger over its setting. Her skill in magic mastery had improved since she was first made to wear it. She began to wonder just how strong her magic would be now without the ring and then recalled the explosion that took place in the Thaumaturge's Guild. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't take this ring off just yet."
Reubemont emerged from the crevasse. "The locals aren't for want of any supplies, however they did mention that the Golden Bazaar further up north have been in need but they just haven't had the muscle to be able to set up any trade arrangements yet" he said to his comrades. "I would say this is a good opportunity to cash in ourselves while we can." He looked over beyond the crevasse to the rocky plains where several young aldgoats were roaming around. "No other competition has arrived. This is our lucky day! Shall we begin?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and followed Reubemont around the crevasse to where the aldgoats were grazing on what little grass remained on the plains. Seeing the small crowd approaching the aldgoats started to move around unsettled. Melanie let out a gulp as she sized up the aldgoats. She had forgotten how big they were. They were as tall as horses and their overall size made her feel a little uncomfortable. Reubemont drew out his sword and shield and lobbed his shield towards one of the aldgoats which bounced back to him like a boomerang. Upon seeing one of the young being injured an older aldgoat roared and both began to charge towards Reubemont. "That's right, come to pappa" Reubemont said under his breath posed ready to assault. Melanie was already mid-casting a sleep spell on the older aldgoat and within seconds it had stopped in its tracks and closed its eyes into a deep slumber. With the older aldgoat sleeping it made the battle so much easier.
Melanie was now getting used to using magic to strike down foes, however deep down she still couldn't help but feel that slowly burning and freezing a creature to its death was a barbaric way to do it. By all logic a single deep slice with a sharp blade should result in a fatal cut without unnecessary prolonged suffering, but having been bruised a number of times herself she started to understand that life on Eorzea was far more tenacious than life on Earth and that aether was most likely the reason behind it all. Unlike soldiers on Earth who were trained to endure all kinds of conditions to survive, aether played a vital role in how much a person could withstand before succumbing to mortal blows. As well as providing life and being able to be manipulated into powerful magics, aether acted both as a shield and an amplifer towards a persons' magical and physical strength and the more that person trained in combat the more potent it was. This also explained the discrepency between adventurers and normal citizens who could easily fall to a simple knife wound. It also explained why life on Eorzea was so very different to Earth and why every city needed to be enclosed by protective walls to keep out the wildlife to protect its citizens, much like early civilization on Earth using castle walls to protect its citizens. If every encounter was like a slow battle to the death then this would make culling the wildlife to a more manageable population most difficult even for trained martialists, and thus was left to adventurers to provide the necessary extra muscle when it became too densely populated.
The day went by with very little fuss. No other adventurers had come into the region so they were able to cull as many aldgoats with no interruptions. Reubemont began tallying the amount of meat and undamaged hides and horns they had gathered. "This looks plenty enough to feed and clothe an entire village for several days" he said with a satisfied smile. "We should haul this back over to Camp Drybone."
As Reubemont began bagging up the spoils another group of adventurers were heading towards them and hailed as they approached. "Well met fellow adventurers, I see you have a fine haul there" the leader of the group said as he eyed the collection of hides. "Is there any left for us to profit from?" The hyur leader wore a mixture of leathers and furs and carried a big heavy looking double-edged axe strapped to his back. His large muscular body featured a thick red moustache and beard, unevenly cut red hair that reached down his back, and a deep scar across his left cheek and also on his chest. The other members of his team comprised of what appeared to be a female lalafel arcanist with an emerald carbuncle companion, a female roegadyn pugilist, and a male elezen lancer. "Afraid not, but you might find some further up north near the Highbridge as we haven't traveled that far yet" Reubemont replied.
"Suyaya, is that you?" the lalafel arcanist said as she squinted her eyes towards her. Suyaya looked over and gasped in surprise. "Memesi, it is you!" she said excitedly running towards the arcanist with her arms open wide embracing her in a hug.
"I see you're already well acquainted" the leader said as he stared in surprise at the two lalafels.
"Of course! This is my sister Suyaya" Memesi said excitedly. It was now that Melanie could see the resemblance. Memesi had the same dark pink eyes and slightly raised ears as Suyaya, and she had long mint green hair that was braided at the back.
"I see" the leader said with a slight smile. "Ah where are my manners! Varin's the name" he said facing Reubemont and extending a hand out to him. Reubemont now finished packing raised himself to his feet and took Varin's hand with a firm shake. "Reubemont, well met" he replied. "We have just finished up here so the area is all yours. We already cleared up from here down towards Halatali and the areas far east and up north we left untouched. We haven't seen any other competition since our arrival this morning so there should be plenty left over for the taking."
"Thanks for the advice" Varin said nodding slightly, then he twisted his head over his shoulder towards his team. "You hear that? There's still fightin' here to be done and the field is all ours!" he bellowed with a grin. Memesi gave Suyaya a fond farewell as Varin led his team away northwards.
Reubemont picked up the satchel of spoils and swug it over his shoulder. "That was a nice fellow" he said with a slight smile. "Let us be on our way now though, the next group of adventurers we could bump into might not be so friendly."
As they headed towards Camp Drybone on foot Melanie ran up to Suyaya. "You didn't mention having a sister" she said to her.
"I have two sisters, and three brothers" Suyaya replied. "Only us two took to adventuring whilst my remaining siblings took to either farming or studying in Sharlayan. We don't often see each other, that is the ones who are studying. Sharlayan isn't one for opening its doors to random visitors even if they are family." Suyaya tilted her head up to look at Melanie. "What about you Brovola, I assume being a mi'qote you must have many siblings back at home." Melanie began to stammer for a moment.
"How do I answer this? In sunseeker society it's known that a single Nuhn will produce many offspring, hence I would have several siblings, but I wasn't born on Eorzea. If I answer no that would come across strang, but if I answer yes then by what number do I invent? And what happens when we one day stumble upon the D tribe themselves, then how do I explain how none of them know me? Unless..."
Melanie looked down at Suyaya. "Actually I don't know the answer. Ever since the calamity I've had memory blocks of who I was and were I originally came from. The only thing that stuck with me was my name, however none of the D tribe leaders heard of my family name and any delving into my family history turned up blank as if they never existed. It's been assumed that my parents might've been from a band of mi'qote that went rogue some many years before the calamity and established their own tribe deep into hiding. It's possible that I might even be the last surviving member."
"Oh, that's sad" Suyaya said as her face curled into a sad frown. "So you don't remember anything since before the calamity?" Melanie nodded in response.
Suyaya shook her head in despair. "It's so sad. Many other Eorzeans also have memory blocks of the calamity, mostly to do with the Warriors of Light who were said to be around at the time. None can remember their faces or even recall their names, yet they remember their shadows and their presence. Some believe that the present Warrior of Light may have once walked among them although she never declared herself as one." She then looked up eyes wide as if realising something important then gazed up at Melanie. "Perhaps you too once walked among them! That could explain why you have no memories about your past, and how you already have the gift of the echo."
Melanie looked at her startled and started to panic a little. "Uh oh, that was a bad choice coming up with that excuse...although maybe I could work with this." She smiled awkwardly and shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps" she said.
The group finally arrived at the dirt trail that led down to Camp Drybone and followed Reubemont towards the market stalls that were housed on the perimeter of the camp. He approached a large tent where a lalafel in traders' clothing was stood behind a small wooden table and surrounded by barrels containing hand-woven rugs. Reubemont slid the satchel from his shoulders and opened it up revealing all the spoils they had gathered that day. The trader eagerly hopped from behind the table to get a closer look. "Let's see here...these are some fine hides and horns you have, and those meats look to be of good quality too. I'm sure the people of the Golden Bazaar will be quite happy to accept those rather than yet more red and green lentils" he said as he shifted his eyes towards the roegadyn trader next to him who was sitting behind a stall with several bags and bowls full to the brim of lentils.
"Hey! It's the only decent thing that grows here!" the roegadyn shouted back.
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the girl at front with an entire garden salad on display?" the lalafel motioned towards a stall just around the corner that was twice the size as the roe's and hosted a fine display of varying fruits and vegetables.
"Bah, she got lucky!" the roe said folding his arms and sulking.
"It's not luck you dodo head! She's far more skilled in negotiating with foreign traders to supply her with more than just local produce rather than spending her entire day staring at a crop field expecting miracles to happen. You'd do well to learn from her if you want more than just lentils on your plate!"
The lalafel then coughed gently and turned his attention back to Reubemont. "I can't offer you nearly as much for this as a city market would, you are aware of this right?"
Reubemont nodded his head. "As I understand the people here need wares to trade, without such wares the camp won't be able to survive. We were mostly here just to train but we are willing to part with the spoils at a lower profit if it will help the camp to stay afloat."
The lalafel nodded and glanced once more at the spoils. "I can only offer 500 gil for the entire lot. It's all that's left in my coffers. I know you can get thrice the amount of gil for half the spoils but I'm really are on a very tight budget." The lalafel looked at Reubemont's face which expressed a slight disappointment and let out a sigh. "Tell you what, how about I take half the product and give you 300 gil for it? You can market the rest at the city. It would still be more than enough we need to establish trades over at the Golden Bazaar with."
Reubemont shook his head as he refilled the satchel and placed it into the lalafel's hands. "It is fine. I will accept 500 gil. If we want more we can always return to the flock once the numbers start becoming unmanageable again."
"You'ee a good gentleman" the lalafel said accepting the satchel and placing it behind the table. He then pulled out a small purse that was tied to his belt and started to count out the gil in his hands. "That's 500 gil" he said, then he reached below the table and pulled out a dozen hides from the satchel and placed them in front of him with the gil and pushed it towards Reubemont. "Please, I insist" he said with a smile. Reubemont nodded thankfully and carefully bagged the hides into his own personal bags then picked up the gil. "A pleasure doing business with you" he said. He then turned to his group and began counting the gil. "500, that's 100 gil each" he said as he divided the gil between his comrades.
"Hmm, not much, but I guess it's enough to buy a new pair of blades" Holskwyb said as she pocketted the gil. "Any chance this small village sells any weaponry?"
Reubemont pointed to a large building nearby. "That place next to us had a few on display although nothing that looked that much better than what we already have."
"Hmph, I'll go take a look anyways" Holskwyb said as she turned towards the building. Johna followed her inside leaving Reubemont with Suyaya and Melanie.
Suddenly a man wearing a mixture of dark and blue scale armor and a silvery plate helmet raced into the camp and on the brink of collapsing beckoned towards Reubemont. "Th...thank the gods you're here!" he gasped pulling the helmet off his head and then balancing himself on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"What is wrong? Is everything all right?" Reubemont asked with a worried look on his face.
"Halatali...is...danger..." the man's eyes started to roll around and his body began to go limp. Reubemont caught hold of him before he crashed to the ground and dragged his body over to a shaded part of the wall and propped him up against it. He looked around to the nearby traders who were looking worriedly at what was going on. "Water! Hurry! Fetch me some water!" he called out to them. The lalafel trader quickly rummaged below his table and then leaping over the table raced across to Reubemont with a bottle full of water. Reubemont held the bottle to the man's lips and poured some of the liquid into his mouth. The man coughed as he tried to swallow the water and then started to take some deep breaths as his eyes finally rolled back into place.
"Now, what was it you was saying about Halatali?" Reubemont asked gently. Johna and Holskwyb emerged from the building and rejoined their comrades looking confused at all the commotion.
"A fresh new group of adventurers barged their way into Halatali. We had established a series of new trials intended only for more seasoned adventurers, but they were stubborn demanding we gave them access and forced their way in. Not long after our own men spilled out from inside stating that several beasts that had been trapped deep inside the walls had somehow found a way through them and began a rampage. The adventurers were nowhere to be seen, presumed dead, along with some of my own men. We tried to retake the chambers but we were vastly outnumbered. I beseech you, adventurers, help find my men and bring them safely back out."
Reubemont stood up and for a few moments was in deep thought. Melanie looked down at the exhausted man and started to feel a pain in the side of her head. Reubemont also groaned outloud pressing his hand against his head. Their vision started to cloud and warp until they were stood outside of Halatali. Outside the entrance of the dungeon was the man facing a small group of adventurers who were looking very impatient. "We said we're ready! I don't care if you think we're not strong enough!" the leader of the group said swinging his weight around in front of the man.
"I already stated I cannot let you inside!" the man said. "No unlicensed adventurers can enter the building without proper authorization."
"I don't believe this...stand aside!" the burly adventurer pushed himself up against the man knocking him off balance.
"What the...hey wait, you can't go in there!" the man shouted as he tried one to wrestle with the adventurer.
"Grr!" the adventurer wrestled and pushed the man so hard that he fell and crashed against the walls outside the dungeon. "Puny soldier!" he scoffed then waved the rest of his team to follow him into the dungeon.
The scene then changed to maybe an hour later when several armor-clad men clambered their way out of the dungeon dragging wounded with them.
"It's gone crazy in there!" one of them gasped. "Monsters just poured out of the walls from nowhere! Some of our men are still trapped inside. We need help! Call for anyone who'll listen, I don't care if they're licensed or not, we must reclaim Halatali!"
The scene then faded away and both Melanie and Reubemont were back in Camp Drybone, their heads slowly recovering. Shaking his head Reubemont looked at his team who were expressing concerned looks. "We have to help them, but I don't know if we are strong enough" he said as he went back into thought. Melanie started to scour her thoughts trying to think of a solution to the situation. In the game Halatali was designed for people who were barely that much stronger than they currently were, but the more harder version was designed for much higher levels. As much as she wanted to help she couldn't help but feel this was beyond their capabilities. Reubemont turned towards her. "What do you think? Does your gift give you any insight to whether we can succeed if we were to engage whatever's in there?"
Melanie shook her head. "I don't think we're strong enough" she replied.
Reubemont looked down for a moment and sighed. "We should head back to Ul'dah and send in word, see if we can find some others who are willing and able to persue this."
The man reached up and grabbed hold Reubemont's arm startling him. "You must hurry!" he gasped. Reubemont nodded and the man let go of him.
"I'll use a teleport so I can get there faster. We can regroup at The Quicksand once everyone's arrived." Reubemont stepped aside and pulled a small glowing crystal shaped like a tiny aetheryte from his pockets and held it close to his chest and started to concentrate. A blue light started to whirl around his body causing him to levitate above the ground. His aether began to thin and within moments he disappeared from view.
"Let's head to the chocobokeep" Suyaya stated. The group hurriedly scaled the ramp leading up and out of the crevasse and towards the small chocobo stable sat above the camp. "To Ul'dah!" Suyaya said quickly as the handler passed her a smaller chocobo to ride on. Suyaya quickly handed a small handful of gil to the handler then with a gentle tap of her feet the chocobo immediately started to move and pick up pace. Melanie dropped a small handful of gil into the handler's hands then hoisted herself up onto her chocobo's back and gave a gentle tap with her feet. The chocobo responded by moving onto the dirt track and began to swiftly pick up speed. Melanie held on tightly as before and within moments the entire group were zooming across the landscape back towards Ul'dah.
