Impossible Fantasy
By Dyaoka

Scroll Five: The Blind Seer of Bevelle

Ryoma knew that he was floating on the edge of consciousness, so very close to being awake. But he didn’t want to wake up. He was warm and comfortable…a soothing presence was near him. It felt familiar, as if this presence had embraced him before. No, of course Ryoma didn’t want to wake up. He liked this presence and in fear that it was only a dream, he didn’t dare wake up. No, he didn’t want to. Nevertheless, he was pulled from his slumber and into the world of which dreams are only figments of imaginations; harsh reality. Needless to say, what Ryoma was witnessing was just mind boggling. Yup, harsh reality indeed.

A currently very, very, very awake Ryoma had just awoken up moments ago to find himself snuggled up against Fuji ’s chest. The light haired genius had yet to wake up…and had yet to remove his arm that was slung around Ryoma’s waist, securing the boy exactly where he was. Needless to say, Ryoma was currently in a state of panic. Although the golden eyed boy could easily twist out of Fuji ’s grip on him, it would also mean waking the light haired genius up. And that was something Ryoma didn’t need at the moment—more teasing.

“ Fuji !” came a voice from beyond the door to their room. It sounded like Eiji. There was banging on the door and the voice called again. “ Fuji ! Ryoma! Are you in there, nya? If you are, answer!”

“Eiji! Please stop shouting!” Oishi hissed at the red head that was banging on the door. “This is nighttime and there are people here that need their rest!”

‘Nighttime?’ Ryoma wondered. It was then that he realized that the room was rather dark and it wasn’t because the shades were closed.

“Yeah, but we haven’t seen Fuji and the kid since this afternoon when we arrived…” Eiji said. “Oh well! Guess they’ll miss out on dinner, nya!”

Having heard that, Ryoma’s stomach gave a small growl. Yes, he was hungry. Deciding to move Fuji ’s arm from around him very carefully as to not wake the light haired genius up, he got up and quickly changed into a set of clean clothes. When he turned back to look at Fuji , he could have sworn the saw twinkling blue eyes peeking out under those bangs. However, Ryoma dismissed it as a figment of his imagination and turned to where he’s last seen Karupin. Karupin was not there. Neither was he in any of the corners of the room and he wasn’t under the beds. In fact, unbeknownst to Ryoma at the moment, Karupin wasn’t in the inn at all.

“Oi, Fuji ” Ryoma spoke, finally daring to wake the light haired genius after giving up his search for Karupin. No, he didn’t need Fuji to know that he was actually snuggled up to him. No, that was a fact that Fuji didn’t absolutely need to know. “ Fuji , wake up.” Ryoma shook Fuji awake. Bleary blue eyes pierced the darkness of the room as the light haired genius (still in his bathrobe!) looked up at the golden-eyed boy. “I-I’m going to go get something to eat” Ryoma said, immediately diverting his gaze. He was glad for the darkness of the room for Fuji had no need to see the other blush.

“Ah…” Fuji said before rolling out of bed sleepily, his usual smile already in place. “Wait a bit and I’ll go with you.” There was a pause. “Why don’t you turn on the lights? It’s so dark I can’t see where I’m going.”

“Yeah…” Ryoma agreed and fumbled for the lamp. It turned on and illuminated the dark room with a soft flickering glow. The two companions said nothing—there was nothing to be said, after all. Fuji dressed quickly and the two left soon after for some dinner. As usual, Fuji had donned his dark cloak.

They exited the inn and searched about for a place to eat. Ryoma pointed out a particular restaurant that he seemed to like and so they decided to go there. The restaurant itself wasn’t very flashy, its décor a bit on the lacking side, but the food was spectacular. Since Ryoma was rather reticent that evening, the majority of the time they spent eating and little conversation had occurred. That was basically how it was the whole night.

~*~

“Nya! Let’s go there!” Eiji exclaimed, pointing to one restaurant.

“Eiji” Oishi said with a sigh. “We can’t go to a restaurant that flashy…we have to conserve the remains of our funds too.” Eiji gave a pout but then cheered up again when he saw something that caught his eye. The red head had turned to look at the sky. “Look! Look! What’s that?” Their small group all turned up to see a star streaking across the sky.

“It’s a comet!” Momo exclaimed.

“No, it’s a shooting star” Inui corrected while he corrected his glasses.

“Hey! Look!” someone from the streets called out. The person pointed to the stars. “It’s a meteor shower!”

Sure enough, suddenly hundreds of stars were suddenly flying and shooting across the dark velvet sky like tiny diamonds being thrown by an unseen force. Eiji watched in ecstatic enthrallment as the meteor shower took place. The people in the streets had all turned their attention to the falling stars as well. In their awe, no one spoke a word. Meanwhile, Oishi risked a little peek over to Eiji, whose eyes were twinkling just as bright as the stars in the sky. Wrapping an arm tentatively around the other’s waist, Oishi gently pulled the other over closer to him as they watched the meteor shower together.

In another part of the city of Bevelle , a dark set of eyes stared up at the heavens. These sets of eyes were unfocused, not really staring and not really looking, but they stared in one particular direction. They didn’t see the beautiful scene of the stars falling, no…they couldn’t see. The youth could not see for he was blind. He probably didn’t even know that a meter shower was going on. All the youth did was pet the cat that was in his lap as he ‘looked’ up to the sky with his unseeing eyes.

~*~

Momo yawned for about the fifth time that morning. Ryoma had woken them all up before dawn, saying that he wanted them all to meet someone. For about the millionth time, Momo asked to himself; ‘who would wake up this early in the morning to greet them?’ Of course, Ryoma hadn’t bothered to answer the young ex-captain when he was questioned. They were currently walking down a very dark street with no street lamps at all. That was no problem to Ryoma though, who seemed to know the way even without the light. Several turns, here and there, brought them to a line of houses that was next to each other; each of these houses was decorated in very peculiar fashions. However, Ryoma led them to the house at the very end of the block, the smallest house of them all—and the most plain too. It lacked color and along with that, life. To say this simply, the house seemed dead.

“Now who would live there?” Momo wondered out loud as Ryoma went up the front steps to knock on the door. However, before his hand could land upon the door, it swung open.

“Come in” said a voice. They all recognized it to be the missing member of the bunch; Karupin.

“I had a hunch you were here” Ryoma said as he stepped into the house. Wordlessly, Ryoma motioned for them to enter as well. When they entered the house, they all felt a chill go up their spines. No, it had nothing to do with the temperature, although it was rather cool. The shiver was from…the emptiness. The walls, just like its exterior, were plain. There seemed to be little furniture scattered about, leaving such a small house seem big and spacey. However, there was a metal bar that came up to about the waist that ran along the side of the walls that seemed to also be noticeably…mysterious. Considering it was also before dawn, needless to say, the house also seemed rather…dark and ominous.

Ryoma led them to room with a balcony. Partially hidden behind the half-closed curtains on the balcony, was a dark haired youth sitting on a chair. He tilted his head towards them when Ryoma cleared his throat, grasping the other’s attention. “Ryoma” the dark haired youth greeted with a curt nod of his head. From his lap sprung a cat; Karupin—clean and fed. He rubbed against his owner’s leg before dashing off to somewhere into the house. “You all can take a seat. Taka will be finished preparing the breakfast soon.”

Without needing another invitation, Eiji collapsed onto the nearest beanbag, pulling his legs up to his chest as he fell asleep. Fuji and Momo both did the same; falling asleep. Momo, sprawled out behind the sofa and Fuji sitting on the sofa with his head drooping onto his chest. Inui was scrutinizing every little detail in the room they were in while Oishi had taken the other beanbag and was staring over at the stranger curiously. Although he was half hidden behind the curtains, he could tell that the other youth had shoulder length hair—about the same length as Fuji ’s. His skin was pale, almost ashen, in comparison to Eiji or Momo’s tanner complexion.

“Do you know what’s going on in Neibelheim?” Ryoma asked his question ringing loudly in the silent house.

“Apparently there was smuggling going on there. That’s probably why you encountered those soldiers. Really, if it was me, I wouldn’t have gone there in the first place. You should pay more attention to the rumors flying around…honestly…” the youth started to mutter some other things, but his voice started to fade away as he started to talk more to himself than to them.

Inui wondered briefly how the other knew about that. It could have been likely that Ryoma had contacted the youth yesterday; their arrival date. However, it was not possible, Inui concluded, when Fuji had proclaimed that morning that he and Ryoma had spent the entire time together (Ryoma had a sputtering fit after that statement). Considering that Fuji didn’t seem to have the slight semblance of knowing where they were heading to and who it was that Ryoma wanted them to meet, the bespectacled youth concluded that the other must also be a seer. However, he was forced from his thinking by a shout.

“So THIS is the reason you told me to prepare an extra, extra, extra large breakfast!”

All non-asleep heads turned to the person standing there in the doorway. Wearing a bemused expression, the newcomer introduced himself as Kawamura Takashi (“Just call me Taka instead!”), the cook and caretaker for the dark haired youth that sat on the balcony. There was some hearty conversation that happened at the appearance of the timid youth. However, silence fell when the youth on the balcony spoke. “Is the sun rising?” the person on the balcony asked. Sure enough, peeking out behind the tall buildings of Bevelle, was the sun. It painted the dark sky a pinkish and blue hue with a touch of orange. It was a great sight to behold, actually. Oishi was half tempted to wake the sleepers up to see the sight, but decided against it; seeing that they needed their rest. Who knew when they’d be taking off again.

“The sun is rising” Ryoma said while trying to smother a yawn. It didn’t work. It was evident that he is tired as well.

“Taka, we’ll be eating breakfast here.”

“Ok! Sure!” Taka nodded as he went to fetch the food and utensils from the kitchen. When he did, he placed them on a table that had seemed to materialize out of thin air and to the center of the room. “Should we wake your friends…?”

“Wake them” the dark haired youth with the golden eyes had all but ordered. Taka shrugged and then proceeded to wake those that were asleep. They all cracked open one eye groggily and peered around the room (except for Momo who had immediately spotted the food). Eiji blinked twice, grabbed the hem of Oishi’s shirt and fell asleep again, this time landing on top of the other instead of the beanbag. Fuji ’s reaction was to blink and smiled before inquiring about the new faces.

“I’m Kawamura Takashi. Most people call me Taka though” Taka introduced himself with a smile to Fuji .

“Just call me Shinji” was all the dark haired youth on the balcony said.

They all ate breakfast, once having woken Eiji up. It was rather silent, until Ryoma started to ask questions to the silent and brooding Shinji.

“I heard you’re going to move soon. Where to?” Ryoma asked.

“Somewhere to the north; the Earl Mizuki ordered it. I don’t know why…but he should just keep himself out of other people’s business…like you. Except he’s tons more nosy and manipulative…Honestly, he thinks he’s being so discreet and all, the fool! Going about in everyone’s affairs and forcing disables to move…” that quiet mumbling (rant) continued on for a few moments until Ryoma had cleared his throat, trying to get Shinji’s attention.

“You are far from disabled” Ryoma commented rather loudly. Taka nearly choked on his food at that comment and a snicker was heard. That was none other than Karupin who had been listening discreetly in on their ‘conversation.’

“So rude…” Shinji muttered. He then changed the subject; “Are you participating this year? Well…I am. It’s before I’m suppose to leave anyways so of course I’ll take part. I hear that the prizes this year are atypical…one of them being the Wishbringer, a diamond that grants its owner any wish it desires…I know exactly what I’d wish for…What I would do to see light…” Shinji started to ramble again. After a while, he stopped and awaited Ryoma’s answer. But Ryoma was not the one to speak.

“You can’t see?” Momo asked hesitantly, curiosity getting a hold of him.

“What makes you think I can?” Shinji countered. He lifted his head to the direction where Momo was, as if looking at him. But he saw that those eyes were not of one who could see. They were blank and unfocused. Those dark eyes of his seemed to bore into the skull of one young ex-captain although they couldn’t see. Momo turned away from the unwavering stare. Shinji said nothing, but rose to from his seat. Taka was immediately shot up; ready to assist the other should he needs any help. “So I am blind” Shinji said bitterly. “I don’t see things that you see everyday. I live in a world of darkness. Really, you should consider yourself lucky…” With that, Shinji just walked out of the room.

“He’ll be back” Ryoma said after swallowing a mouthful of food. “He’s always been like that—personality wise. He may not be able to see like us, but he’s no ordinary blind dummy. He sees more than the average person. More please?” Taka took Ryoma’s bowl and refilled it.

“What did you mean by that?” Inui asked.

“Good at seeing things that we cannot” Taka said when Ryoma seemed lost for words.

“He’s not the only one like that here” Fuji commented, eyeing Ryoma out of the corner of his eye. Of course, this action was lost on the golden eyed boy, but was picked up by a certain red head and a bespectacled youth. They both decided to store that away in their minds for future use; one information wise and the other for merciless teasing/blackmail.

“Hoi! What takes place at the competitions?” Eiji asked, setting his empty bowl down next to his chopsticks.

“Rice is all over your face” Ryoma said bluntly instead of answering the other’s question. Obviously he was not going to tell.

“From what I gathered, it’s supposed to be a contest to see who is the strongest. But I think only those who know the Arts can enter, right?” Oishi speculated. “It’s one of the most anticipated things during the year…”

“That’s true” Taka said. “But it’s really dangerous…”

“You live here, nya! You must have seen it before, the competition!” Eiji exclaimed, looking over to the timid Taka.

“Of course I have! I participated when I was fifteen, but I was taken out by him” Taka said timorously as he looked over to Ryoma, who had just finished his drink, not at all paying attention to the conversation going around him. “Well, overall it’s looked forward to because every year, the events that happen are different. The year I was there, they had a gigantic maze made of magic that all the contestants had to go through. In the center was the thing you had to bring back to the judges. Of course, they had lots of traps and things…if you didn’t know magic; you wouldn’t have stood a chance during that year. Last year they let all the competitors out into a forest which held monsters and beasts that are only affected by magic. It sounds easy, but then they released a really strong Cerberus into the forest and it decimated almost half the contestants. All the competitors had to take out as many monsters they could to gain points and Ryoma defeated Cerberus, which jumped his score way above everyone else’s” Taka said, reminiscing.

“A Cerberus?” Inui questioned, as if not believing a word Taka had said. He turned to Ryoma who was now zoned out while unconsciously scratching Karupin behind the ear. “Really…that’s impressive. But it depends on where the Cerberus was captured, you know. I heard that there was a Cerberus that resides in the remains of a castle in the far east that is stronger than any others” Inui said. “But it is only a rumor, nothing more.”

“Sometimes rumors hold truth to them” Shinji said, reappearing at the doorway. He didn’t step into the room though; he just leaned casually against the doorframe. “Stay here for half a month; the competition would start in two weeks and maybe the answers you seek will come as a prize…”

Eiji glared at the blind youth despite the fact that he could not see. “What do you mean stay here for half a month?” he asked, his voice raised a pitch higher than normal.

“To stay here for half a month means to settle here for—” Shinji was cut off by a vehement Eiji.

“I know what it means! But I…I can’t stay here for half a month!” Eiji exclaimed. “It’s…impossible! I can’t stay here that long!”

“Why not?” Shinji asked. “Your identities are in no danger of being discovered. Use a fake name and enter the competition to learn what it is that you want. After all, it wasn’t the reason of this being the magical city did Ryoma want to bring you here. This is an old city, filled with many things—even a Rumor Mill for the underground if you searched hard enough. I am not the only one to know that the Wishbringer will be a prize of this competition. You might want to consider this, you know…it’s a good chance. You never know if the assassin might show up again…”

The last sentence that Shinji said piqued Fuji . “Are you saying that you might know who our quarry is?” Fuji asked, a hint of a cold azure beneath his bangs.

“No, I’m only suggesting that since you’ve seen who it was that killed the king, they would come after you…as a job unfinished” Shinji said.

“And how would you know such information if you are not our quarry or an accomplice?” Fuji continued to question.

“I have my ways” was the only answer Fuji got. It seemed that Fuji was pleased with the answer as he turned to Ryoma and said; “You’ve an interesting friend.” Ryoma refrained from commenting.

~*~

“No! We can’t stay!” Eiji complained to Oishi back at their room at the inn.

“Eiji, we’ve been over this already…” Oishi said rather exasperated, his patience now starting to wear thin.

“We…we can’t! Oishi! Something bad is going to happen! I know it! I know I’m sounding really weird, but something’s going to go wrong!” Eiji exclaimed.

“Listen to me, Eiji” Oishi said steely as he placed to hands on a hyperactive red head’s shoulders. “Nothing has happened yet. You don’t know if there will be anything happening either! So calm down!”

“But I can’t! Everyone’s staying! And Fuji ‘n Inui are even entering the stupid competition!”

“See? They’re not paranoid like you are at the moment. What Shinji said earlier makes sense—if we use a fake name for a while, no one will notice. And if we manage to get the Wishbringer from the competition, we’ll be able to finally clear ourselves and then…” Oishi looked over to his red headed companion who was looking crestfallen.

“Oishi…did you ever think?” Eiji asked softly, breaking from Oishi’s hold and looking over to the side. “Before…before us had ever happened, I was a thief. I was a petty thief on the streets. I have nothing to gain and I have nothing to loose even if I clear my name of the King’s death; I have done bad things before and I already have a bounty on my head for that. There is nothing for me at the end of this road but a cell in prison, Oishi! I have no home to go back to, unlike you ‘n Fuji ‘n Inui…Even Momo ‘n Ryoma have someone to go back home to. I have nothing, Oishi, nothing.”

“Eiji…” Oishi whispered softly. At the moment, all Oishi wanted was to be by the red head’s side—to hug him, comfort him, whatever. The Eiji that was in front of him now seems sad and vulnerable. But Oishi wasn’t going to give into that impulse; he had already spoiled the red head beyond comprehension. “I know” Oishi said, the only words coming to his mind. “But you have me, right?”

Eiji gave a soft smile and nodded. “And I don’t wanna loose you…”

“You’re not going to give up that argument, are you?” Oishi gave a smile. Eiji smile turned into a evil smirk.

“No.” Oishi sighed and mentally slapped himself. This might go on for a long time…

~*~

A darkly clad figure walked nimbly through the crowds of Bevelle all the while being very discreet. Only the few that bumped into him actually realized that they walked into someone. Otherwise, they didn’t even see him. The person walked at a brisk pace, having the destination already set in his mind. At the outskirts of Bevelle, the famed city of magic, there was a place where it was all green. Yes, it was a small field, but now has become a little larger with help from some of the magicians of the city. Stepping down into the alley that lead down into the near-slums of the city, the person swerved around a corner, bringing him to a dead end. However, that did not stop him. If anyone saw, they would have said that he flew over the wall. Well, considering this to be the city of magic, it would be rather believable. Although that still didn’t mean that it would have been possible. The most one can do with magic that deals with flying are perhaps float a foot or two off the ground. After several minutes, of walking and taking many turns in the process, he had arrived at the place. Tranquility was woven around the place like a net that he could not help but sigh at the sight of the place. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been back…’ the figure thought to himself. He nearly contemplated on taking off his rather thick coat that just wasn’t suited for the weather and sit down on the grass and look up at the sky contentedly. However, he thought twice about that and snorted. ‘I must be going senile to be thinking such thoughts…’

Readjusting his spectacles, he walked onwards, towards the figure that was on the grass  enjoying the sun. Dressed in a rather body hugging sleeveless shirt and rather worn out shorts that just reached the top of his knees, one Ibu Shinji was enjoying the rare chance of being outside to the fullest to be bathing in the sun’s light rays.

“Ibu” the figure said in greeting. The youth that was pretending to sleep under the sun growled in reply.

“Stop calling me that. I am in no relation to the Ibu family anymore” he hissed irritably at the newcomer.

“But you cannot deny it—it will forever remain in your blood and always be there” the newcomer said, his tone as monotonous as ever.

“You really seem to like to enjoy making my splendid afternoons turn sour. You’ve only ever been slightly off your rocker, you know…And knowing you, you want something from me. Ah…that’s right. Every other time you’ve come to seek me out you’ve wanted something from me. It’s always been like that…and I should stop helping you out—it’s probably only encouraging you…”

He sighed. Whenever Shinji was irritated or when he was just amused, he would always end up mumbling or rambling to himself. This was one thing that infuriated him to no end, but he would have to wait for the dark haired youth to finish whatever he wanted to say because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to ask the favor of the other.

“Are you quite done?” he asked when Shinji had fallen silent again.

“What do you want?”

“Enter me into the competition this year” the dark clad stranger requested. “I cannot show my face to those here.”

“Fine. Your shoulder” Shinji held out his right hand as he sat up. The other took the hand and placed it on his left shoulder. “Ah. Now I know where you are.”

And suddenly, without warning, Shinji struck a blow at the other’s head.

“What was that for?!” the other scowled as he searched blindly for his glasses that fell.

“It’s to your left” Shinji said absentmindedly. “Look, you’re not wearing anything over your face. So you’re already issuing to everyone that you’re here—returned after several years.”

“But they can’t see me if I won’t let myself be known” the other said with a growl as he found his glasses. Gingerly, he picked them up and released a sigh when he found no cracks on them. Not that they could break or shatter anyways…but it’s always OK to be safe rather than sorry, right?

“All right. I’ll enter you into the competition” Shinji said. “This is four favors you owe me now, you know? You’ve never been a good at repaying people…but you seriously need to repay me the favor.”

“If I win the competition, I’ll use the Wishbringer to give you sight.”

“Very well. But you’re going to have to be there—at the competition” Shinji said after several moments of contemplation. “No chickening out.”

“Of course” he reassured Shinji. “I have every intention of being there…”

“For your master’s sake or Ryoma’s?” Shinji nearly sneered. The bespectacled stranger gave no reply as he walked silently away from the blind seer.

~*~

One Inui Sadaharu was looking around the city of Bevelle with thinly veiled interest. He was constantly distracted by the many different sights he was seeing and was making many mental notes to himself to write it all down later. Believe it or not, he had kept a journal with him the entire time. He wrote in it as often as he could, jotting down memories and such. The bespectacled youth thought it of great importance, to preserve such things, no matter how trivial it was. After all, memories, through time, do disappear.

“Inui! Don’t be left behind!” Fuji called out to his companion—again. Giving a sigh, Fuji continued after the brisk pace that Ryoma had set. He knew that all these sights fascinated Inui. After all, it seemed that he’d never seen such things, but then again, neither had he. Fuji was raised to be a noble, to be one of the courts. His older sister had turned out to be a fine woman and had earned many praises from those of court—and even the eye of the late king. ‘Maybe that was why they thought that I would have killed him…’ Fuji thought silently to himself grimly. He never liked reminiscing, but the memories just seemed to be flooding back into his mind. “Inui!” Fuji called out, trying to dismiss his thoughts. His friend had been lagging behind again.

“Yes, yes…” Inui muttered, only giving half his attention to Fuji as he spotted something. It was a model aircraft, about the length of one of his arms. It was made of wood, as anyone could see, but it was a splendid little thing. The details weren’t that well defined, but it was something that the bespectacled youth would never see back at his hometown. With a sigh of reluctance, he left the model and followed after the rapidly disappearing Fuji and Ryoma. Eiji and Oishi had decided to go back to the inn and Momo had disappeared, saying something about exploring the city. Bevelle was quite unlike other cities that Inui had ever been in.

Back in his country, there too, were many things to see. However, the majority were natural things, like springs and caves. The greater cities were such like Wutai, for the crafts in weapons and the only city that made rice, and Conde Petie, a city that was made of stone. There weren’t such things like the technology on this continent, like Rocket Town , the town dedicated to the stars and space. Nor was there anything as grand as Bevelle, the city of magic. Part of Inui was glad that he was exiled from his home; otherwise he would have never been able to see such sights. ‘Back there,’ Inui thought. ‘Back there…I would only be stuck in a lab doing nothing but boring experiments…’ The Inui clan had always—and probably would always be—the private alchemists of the King. They supported him in whatever he did with no questions and was able to do things that many others cannot. The only ones with the privilege of getting into the King’s own private library, the youngest of the clan had already finished reading the King’s private library and the court’s library. They saw that he had the most potential as the successor of the clan, the one that would become the right hand man of the King. Like Fuji, he was also raised like a noble at court with the politeness and courtesy of one as well. Ironically, the King died just several weeks after he did become the right hand man of the King.

“Inui! You’re lagging again!” Fuji said. In such a large city, it was easy to get lost.

“Sorry” Inui said, snapping himself from his reverie. “I was thinking…”

“You’re always thinking” Fuji laughed. “If it isn’t about one thing, it’s another. Does your mind never stop to just enjoy the peace while you have it?”

“Perhaps” was the answer the light haired genius received.

The two were following Ryoma, who had decided to go and register them for the competition. However, at the pace they were going, they were going to loose sight of the dark haired boy that was leading them. Ryoma walked with prided steps; long strides and with his face lifted as if to challenge the world. There were also times, Inui mused, when Ryoma would walk with his head down towards the ground as if slouching. That was when the boy wanted to be left alone. Inui and Fuji had to walk quickly to catch up to the brisk pace that Ryoma was walking at. The golden eyed boy seemed to know exactly where he was going despite the fact that Shinji had told him that the place of the registration had changed. With an unwavering confidence in his step, the boy turned a corner and walked into a dark and nearly deserted alley way. There few shops there, each sporting a different sort of aura, Inui noticed. However, they all gave off a mysterious and dark aura.

“Ah…here we are” Ryoma talked to himself. He pushed a side the raggedy cloth that acted as a door to one of the shop and entered it. Fuji looked skeptically at the shop, but entered it anyways. Inui followed after his friends.

“How may I help you?” asked a voice with a rather heavy accent.

“Entrees for the competition this year” Ryoma answered nonchalantly.

“Oh! Come here, come here! You must sign the registration sheet first. Of course, you must adhere to the rules! Anyone can enter, even children, however it is not recommended to actually let children to enter the competition, but if you think they’re able to compete, then of course they’re allowed to enter! Oh! Yes, you must be aware that death is also possible in this competition, as well as very serious injuries to just light scratches. Because of that, the committee is not responsible for anything that should happen during the competition. Of course, that is why this competition is mostly for magic users only, but if you think you can do so without the use of magic, then please, do sign up! If you agree to ALL the conditions, sign the sheet and become a contestant! If not, good day!” the man behind the counter said with an unnatural cheer. He took out a piece of parchment and a quill and set them onto the counter. “Entrance fee is fifty gil per person!”

Wordlessly, Ryoma dropped the entrance fee for the three of them onto the counter for the man and he signed his name on the parchment. He handed the quill over to Fuji to sign when he finished and then, being the last of them, Inui signed it. Of course, Inui and Fuji both put down false names.

“Thank you! Is there anything else that I could help you with?”

Inui was still looking over the list of participants when he spoke up. “Can you tell us anything about the participants?” The man behind the counter laughed heartily at the question.

“You’re not the only one to ask that! Well, I’ll tell you, but you’d probably get more information at the Rumor Mills. They’re quite loaded with information these days” the man said. “Anyways, this is so far by the largest amount of participants ever! With three hundred (and counting!) participants this year, about half of them are all newcomers. The rest are all returning participants—I think they’re all participating this year is because of the rumor of the Wishbringer being one of the prizes, aside from the current champion of course. Personally, I’ve only seen the champion once, when he first won the competition…he was brat to my eyes though…”  the man said, veering off subject for just a bit. “I don’t really remember what he looks like, but my younger sister keeps talking about how cute he looks…” He immediately returned to the topic when Ryoma cleared his throat (while giving the man an evil glare), thus gaining the man’s attention.

“Ah yes, back to the subject now. Well, I’ll have to say that the one you all have to watch out most for is a returning participant from several years back—Shinji. The only reason that he failed to make it into the final round that year was because he’s blind. There’s also Kawamura Takashi, also from several years back. They say that he’s a little crazy…and I wouldn’t doubt it from what I saw of him. All quiet one moment and screaming the next…jeez, talk about a loony. Beware of the Dark Mages, a cult that signed up just yesterday. I heard that each of them have different abilities in the Dark Arts and are really powerful. The rest doesn’t seem all that good, but then like they say—don’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Interesting…” Inui muttered under his breath as he scanned through the list for any names he recognized. Several others, aside from the ones that the man had already mentioned, he recognized. They were previous rivals of his and would probably recognize him should he show up in the competition without a cover. Giving a shrug, Inui placed the list back onto the counter. He made a mental note to tell Fuji later that his younger brother, Yuuta, seemed to be participating in this competition. “Thank you” he said to the man who gave a smile in return.

“Let’s go” Ryoma said as he walked out the exit.

~*~

Momo was impressed. Very impressed. This city seemed to have everything. It was even grander than Alexandria ! This city was filled with wonders, many things that he’d never seen before. Weapons, armors and various objects made by the merchants that just seemed to be everywhere. The violet eyed youth was so absorbed into his nearly childish admiration that he didn’t notice where he was going.

“Woops! Sorry” Momo apologized when he bumped into a smaller red headed male, nearly pushing him over. Although his hair was red, it wasn’t as vibrant as Eiji’s, Momo mused.

“What the hell was that for?!” the other youth exclaimed, glaring heatedly over at Momo.

“An accident, an accident” Momo explained. “Sorry.”

“Yeah! I’m sure! Pushing me to the ground like it’s an accident!” the other youth yelled. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?!”

“Hey, I apologized!” Momo retorted, violet eyes flashing with anger. “It’s not my fault that you’re weak and fell!”

“Weak?!” the red head nearly shrieked. “I’ll show you weak!” He lunged at Momo who expertly ducked and tripped the other youth to the ground. With a savage growl, the red head took hold of Momo’s leg and tugged—hard, sending the larger youth to eat dust.

“Why you—!”

Unbeknownst to the two that were fighting, a group of people had surrounded them. Some were booing, some were cheering—but they were all there gathered to watch the fight. Momo, who obviously had the upper hand against his opponent was deftly deflecting the other’s attacks and pulling some of his own attacks at the same time. However, the red head was quick and swift, seeming to attack from the front, but suddenly appearing behind the ex-captain of the King’s private guards, aiming for vital points of the delicate human body. Nevertheless, Momo deflected those attacks with the ease of many years of experience.

“Stop it!” yelled a voice. “Stop fighting!”

Momo was just about to deliver a blow to the smaller youth’s head when a girl jumped in front of him, shielding him from Momo’s attack. Momo barely stopped himself on time to avoid hitting the girl. The crowd groaned when they saw that the fight had stopped; they started to disperse.

“Now why did you do that?” Momo asked, glaring down at the girl.

“Because fighting is wrong!” she snapped. “And Kamio! I leave your side for one minute and you get into a fight! Apologize!”

“But—”

“No buts!”

The angry youth glared over at Momo and stood up. He was still glaring at the violet-eyed Momo when he apologized. “Sorry” he muttered. However, his tone sounded anything but sorry.

“Apology accepted” Momo said, his tone also enraged.

“Great!” the girl exclaimed with a smile, but her eyes still glaring daggers at the two males in front of her. “I’m Tachibana Ann and this is Kamio Akira. But you can just call me Ann” she introduced with a grin. “To apologize for my friend’s behavior, let us treat you to a drink, ok?”

“Ann! No! Why?” Kamio, the uni-banged red head nearly yelled loud enough for the whole city to hear.

“Well…if it’s with such a cute girl, then I’ll be obliged! Let’s go!” Momo said, all fury disappearing and offered his arm to Ann who turned pink at the cheeks but took his arm anyway. Kamio seethed silently at the spiky haired youth.

~*~

That same night, when the group got together again in Fuji and Ryoma’s shared room, they inquired Momo and what did he do that afternoon. Apparently, from what Inui had overheard from the streets, was that he got into a fight.

“B-but it wasn’t really a fight!” Momo had sputtered when Ryoma had glared daggers at him.

“So much for keeping a low profile” Ryoma said with a sigh. Eiji snickered and placed Momo into a strangle hold.

“Hoi! If I win, you treat us to dinner tonight!” Eiji exclaimed as Momo struggled to get out of the position.

“What if you lose?”

“Name whatever you want!”

“Ok!” Momo exclaimed as he somehow immediately reversed their positions, now Eiji being put into the strangle hold. “Ha!”

“Not over yet!” Eiji exclaimed as he elbowed Momo in the ribs. When the stronger youth’s grip loosened, Eiji took that chance to slip out and did a flip over him, landing behind Momo. “Looks like you loose!” Eiji exclaimed happily while he tackled the violet eyed youth to the ground.

“Argh! Not fair!”

“For God’s sake! Shut up!” Ryoma exclaimed, glaring heatedly at the two. A headache was pounding at his head and the two wrestling on the floor was no help at all. “You two—act your age!” Fuji chuckled at that statement.

“Heed your own advice, young one” Fuji said with amusement. Ryoma turned his glare to him.

“Eiji, you should listen to Ryoma. You too, Momo. You’re behaving like children!” Oishi scolded, looking at the two in disappointment. “Really now!” Eiji just made a face.

“You should thank me! I just got us free food!” Eiji exclaimed, turning to Momo who was backing away muttering about crazy money-spenders.

“There’s no need for that,” Inui said, straightening his glasses. “Despite the fact that I was quite busy this afternoon, I still took the time to get food for us.”

“Oh, really? Thank you” Fuji said politely, ignoring the ranting Eiji and the laughing Momo. However, Fuji was really wondering what sort of food did Inui get. Well, both Inui and him had ‘iron stomachs’ as Eiji likes to put it, and knowing Inui’s excitement about this city, he’s bound to get some strange stuff…Fuji wondered how the food would taste. When Inui appeared again with the food in several bags, it proved that Fuji was correct in his thinking. Inui, indeed, did get some very…bizarre…sort of food—in taste and in appearance. Eiji and Momo were poking at what looked like a bun and wondered if it was edible. When they did try it out, they found it delicious and when they asked Ryoma what it was he just looked at them strangely and didn’t answer. ‘How Ryoma-like…’ Fuji thought with a genuine smile. When the food had diminished (to Inui’s dismay), they all went to bed, looking ready for the coming day.

When the group left, it was up to Ryoma and Fuji to clean up after their friends. Ryoma wasn’t too happy about it, but obliged to do it anyway. In the end, Ryoma had fell on the bed and stared up at the ceiling after he had cleaned himself up. Fuji was still taking a bath and Ryoma was starting to drift off to sleep when a voice snapped him back to reality.

“Ryoma” came a soft tenor voice. Cracking an eye open, Ryoma turned to stare at one light haired prodigy, Fuji. He was currently toweling off his damp hair and donned a white bathrobe that was tied loosely at the waist, exposing a bit more skin than he probably wanted to. Even in his state of being in a half stupor, Ryoma was aware of heat rising in his cheeks. The golden eyed boy immediately turned the other way, adverting his eyes from the other youth.

Fuji chuckled a bit when he saw the blush rise in his younger companion’s cheeks and when he snapped his eyes away from him, Fuji’s smile broadened. ‘Interesting…’ Fuji thought to himself as he walked over to Ryoma’s bed and sat down on it, almost instantly having Ryoma’s attention back on him again.

“What do you want?” Ryoma’s sharp voice cut through the air. Fuji made a ‘tsk, tsk’ noise before ruffling the other’s hair and tossed the damp towel over a chair.

“Don’t be so unpleasant” Fuji said, amusement laced through his voice. “Why don’t you scoot over so I can lie down?” Sharp golden eyes met piercing blue ones.

“You have a bed” said Ryoma as he pointed to the other bed on the other side of the room. “Lie down over there.”

“Now why would I do that? It’s cold over there. It’s much…warmer here.”

“Ch. Whatever” Ryoma said as he scooted over on the bed. With his usual smile upon his face, Fuji got under the warm blankets happily. He was distinctly aware that Ryoma was muttering under his breath about why was he doing something like that. It was rather comical, as the boy was actually turning scarlet at the cheeks. Deciding to give the boy a break, Fuji turned off the lights, pretending that he didn’t see Ryoma blush.

After moments of silence, Ryoma was about to fall asleep again when Fuji spoke up and taken him back to reality …again. “Ryoma.”

“What?” Ryoma nearly snapped out of irritation.

“I didn’t have a chance to tell you this, but I think you should hear me out anyways. About the fact that you have the Aeons, I’m glad that you told us” Fuji said. “You may think it’s stupid, but I’m glad. It proves that you’re able to trust us humans after all.”

Ryoma looked over at Fuji questioningly. “Are you saying that I’m not human?”

“No, not at all” Fuji answered with a smile. “I was only saying the only one you seemed to be able to trust is Karupin. Speaking of which, where is he now?”

“He’s with Shinji” came the short reply.

“Ah. It seems that Karupin is quite attached to Shinji” Fuji mused aloud. Ryoma snorted.

“The only reason for that is because Shinji spoils him rotten with attention” Ryoma said. “Ah…whatever. I’m tired; I’m going to sleep. Good night.” Fuji chuckled in amusement and returned the ‘good night.’

Of course, when Ryoma was just about to drift off again, he was aware of Fuji placing an arm around his waist. He was about to protest, but a soft voice told him to sleep. And sleep he did.

~*~

It had been a week since they first arrived in Bevelle and ended up being chased out of the inn they were staying at—courtesy of the many people that wished to find and challenge/meet the young champion. When they had caught wind of where he was staying at anyways. To Ryoma, it was a miracle that they had managed to stay that long there and yet managed not to get noticed. In the end, Taka, the kindhearted caretaker for Shinji, had offered them a place to stay. He offered the to stay at his home, a place which was hardly ever used anymore after his father had disappeared, the benevolent youth had said with some remorse. There, they had lived in secret. For the meanwhile, mobs of people would show up everyday at the inn they had previously stayed at, thinking that the owner of the inn had an idea at where the young golden eyed champion was staying at.

Taka seemed to be overjoyed, though, with the fact that he’d have company over despite the fact that half the time he’d be sleeping under the same roof as Shinji, seeing that the blind youth needed lots of attending to. The kindhearted caretaker seemed to get along fine with Fuji, the two finding conversations of the most unlikely subjects. However, unlike Inui, Fuji didn’t ask to use the kitchen for…experiments, as he had so kindly elaborated. No one really wanted to know what experiments he wanted to try out and Eiji had vehemently begged Taka to ban him from the kitchen. Of course, Taka, being who he was, let Inui use his kitchen. That would be the first and last time Taka would ever let Inui use his kitchen though.

“Sorry! I’ll go and get some repair items for your kitchen” Inui said as he calmly stepped out of the house. About two steps away, he heard screaming and gave a sigh and lowered the hood of his cloak some more. It would be safer to be outside for a while. Inui walked on towards the nearest shopping district, ignoring the screams that demanded “get your behind back here and fix this kitchen! Inui!” ‘That should be Oishi though…not Taka’ Inui thought as he sped up the pace of his walking. 

When Inui finally got all the repair parts that he needed, the sun had already set and a waning moon had risen to the sky. ‘Jeez…this late already…’ Inui thought to himself as he started his trek back to Taka’s home and face his chastisement from Oishi. Well, he was making good progress until someone stopped him. 

“Why are you here in our city?” someone asked. Inui turned around to face a lanky man in about his mid-twenties.

“What are you talking about?” Inui questioned.

“You’re one of those scums that killed the King of the Burmecian kingdom!” the stranger snarled. “I’ve been watching you for a while…and you’ve quite the bounty upon you. Not as much as that red head, but enough to sustain me for a lifetime supply of food!” Before Inui had a chance to react, the stranger attacked, forcing him into a nearby alley. “Once I turn you in to the authorities, I’ll get your friends too.”

“What makes you think I’ll be easy prey?” Inui said, taking off the hood as that it was disrupting his sight.

“Oh no…of course not” the stranger said. “That’s why I’ve got friends.” And from nowhere, people started to appear. Inui mentally counted a total of eight people there. “We’ll take your head—and your life.”

“You can try.”

Without another warning, the fight commenced. However, none of them noticed a red headed figure watching them from above as they fought. At the end of the fight, Inui stood and grabbed his package, which was thrown carelessly to the ground and left. Behind him, eight people were down. With a ‘tsk,’ the red head dropped to the ground to determine the damage done. The men were still alive and very much breathing. But by the time the person had left, there was none that was drawing even one breath.

~*~

A week after the incident in the alleyway, another significant thing happened. This event had Oishi scrambling to all corners of the city and Fuji worried night and day. It left everyone on their toes and there was no one who could help. Eiji had just simply disappeared! They had gone to Shinji for help, but the blind seer had only told them they wouldn’t need to look for their friend—he was safe. Of course, this didn’t help calm Oishi’s nerves one bit, especially with the conversations and arguments the two had had over the past several weeks. He was afraid that Eiji was caught—like what happened with Inui. However, it was not likely as that Eiji had certain street smarts that the others did not. By the end of that week, Oishi’s nerves had gone frazzled and nothing really calmed him down until Fuji had a conversation with him. It only managed to calm his nerves somewhat.

At least they made it to the competition date without other casualties.

~*~

“Come on!” one Tachibana Ann called out to her friend, Kamio, who was stumbling behind because of the sheer size of the crowd. The two had reserved seats—they are among the best seats for non-committee members. All committee members and sponsors had front row seats, having to give the scores and opinions. “Kamio! Hurry up! I want to get to the stadium before it ends, you know!”

“Alright, alright!” the red head exclaimed, trying to keep up with the short haired girl that was somehow running through the substantial crowd of people.

The two had just managed to get to their seats when a loud ‘ding!’ was heard. It was a bell; and it was the signal of the start of the competition. Among the crowd of people that were already seated, there were still more trying to get in. When the bell was rung a second time, silence fell upon the stands.

“Hello, everyone!” a girl said, running to the center of the stadium. Her voice was loud, amplified many times through a spell so everyone can hear her. “Welcome to this annual competition!” A cheer ran through the crowd. “I am your host, announcer, whatever! Call me Tomoka! And now, everyone! Please welcome our contestants this year!” A cheer even louder than before erupted as the contestants came out into the stadium. They were lined up, each in their own right looking confident and such. Shinji, the only blind youth there, was being helped out by Tomoka. When they had all filed in, the girl gave a shrill whistle to get everyone’s attention. “Now, for our National Hymn!”

In waves, the people in the stands stood. Some saluted; some placed a hand over their hearts. Others did the Prayer while some bowed. Tomoka took a deep breath and begun.

The song wasn’t long—quite short to Ann’s opinion. She always did love hearing their National Hymn, a song that went straight to the heart and only qualified Songstresses could sing them. The girl that was singing at center stage did a wonderful job. Her voice was spectacular and breathtakingly amazing—it left Ann quite an impression. The National Hymn was rumored to have come from the time Elder Fae, thousands and thousands of years ago. It was said that if the singer sung the song from the bottom of their hearts, it would give the listeners strength and courage. It was recorded once, in history, that a famous Songstress sung it during the battle between Alexandria and Lindbulm, allowing Lindbulm to defeat the Alexandrian soldiers. ‘Enough of that!’ Ann thought to herself. ‘The competition is about to start, no time to be wondering about stuff like that!’

Ann joined the cheering crowd as Tomoka finished the Hymn, leaving her almost breathless. However, she didn’t let that ruin her job. “Now, a word from our current champion!” There was thunderous applause as Tomoka (literally) dragged Ryoma to her side. Muttering a spell to amplify his voice, Ryoma made his speech short and to the point.

“I wish all contestants good luck and hope that you won’t be too scared when you’ve come down to facing me” Ryoma said with a smirk. There were some outbursts in the crowds of contestants and in the stands as Ryoma said this. Canceling the voice magnifying spell, the golden eyed youth returned to where he was—next to the side of a disguised Fuji and Inui who were both eyeing him as if he had gone slightly insane.

“You should have chosen your words more…carefully” Fuji said. Ryoma shrugged nonchalantly.

“Uh…calm down, calm down…” Tomoka was saying, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Now, I’m sure that Ryoma was just trying to get you all riled up! Haha…don’t be to hasty now” Tomoka shot Ryoma a glare that he promptly ignored. “Without ado, I introduce our sponsor, committee and special guests of this year! Here is our main committee!” Cheers and applause as the committee members stood. “Our secondary committee!” Some more cheers and applause. “And our SPONSORS!” Loud cheers and applause. “We should all thank the young Earl Mizuki who helped us with his own generous donations this year!”

A young man with messy black hair stood and waved to the crowd. There was a group of girls that swooned and cheered and screamed when he looked their way. Not surprisingly, Tomoka introduced many people of great importance that were also there besides one Mizuki Hajime, the young Earl. There was also Wakato Hiroshi, the famous son of the Duke of Lindbulm (apparently, the Earl and him got into a fight…). Of course the famous mercenary Oshitari Yuushi was there among the many spectators as well.

“Alright, now it’s my turn to talk!” Sengoku Kiyosumi (the vice-president of the committee and the youngest member as well) spoke cheerfully as the contestants filed out of the center of the stadium. “They call me Lucky Sengoku, but Sengoku will do. I will also be your host along with little Tomoka over there.” He gave a wink to the fuming girl before continuing. “This year for the competition…will be a demonstration of your magic skills! And how well can you fuse it with combat! Surprising, yeah?” The orange haired youth chuckled. “Well, the committee only has several words to say this time, since I know you all want to watch the competition! Expect the unexpected! Thank you! Now, I hand it to Tomoka, who will get this show on the road!” 

The cheerful girl grinned and indeed got the competition going. An illusion formed in the clear sky, a larger picture of Tomoka so everyone in the stadium could see. It was what Inui had later on dubbed it to be the ‘television screen’ in his journal.

“Considering that we have so many contestants this year, we will be joining them into groups!” Tomoka announced. Many protests suddenly risen out among the contestants that were listening. No one told them about this! “In the wings, the contestants are being placed into groups at the moment. And when Sengoku rings the bell, it will be the start of the first…battle!”

Cheers ran through the entire stadium.

--To Be Continued…