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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Edgar groaned as their group finished off another one of the abnormally large men that seemed to be all over this godsforsaken place that was supposed to be a village.  It seemed more like a place to send the damned.  They had been there for several days already as they picked their way slowly through each building.  The first day had been the worst since that was before they realized every person they encountered couldn’t tell the truth if their lives depended on it.  And they often did.

They had yet to find any trace of Terra, and even Edgar was losing hope.  He found himself wondering more often if the people in Jidoor had been lying as well just to get them out of their perfect city.  The thought nearly made him growl in frustration, but he kept it to himself and turned to try and help Celes over the pile of rubble he had just crossed.  She ignored his outstretched hand like she had every other time he offered.  By now, it was a small thing, and he shook his head before leading them toward another building they had yet to explore.

As they neared the building, Locke grabbed his arm to stop him.  The thief had good instincts, and it was proved once again.  Once they all came to a stop, they could hear a woman screaming nearby and several male voices.  Despite how pressed they were to find their missing companion, none of them could walk away from the possibility that someone might need their help.  Not even Celes.  That didn’t mean they wouldn’t be cautious.  It could just as easily be a trap.

Edgar took his auto crossbow out and let it lead around the corner.  He wanted to be prepared if necessary.  He needn't have bothered.  Although what he found made him nauseous.  He was running toward the group before any of the others realized.  The rest were not far behind.

There was a group of five men that had a single woman surrounded.  She already had several cuts and a livid bruise across one cheek.  One arm was hanging to her side and looked like it might have been broken.  Despite her condition, she was snarling at the men around her.  Edgar also noted that only two of them were unscathed, and none of them looked happy.  He had seen the look before, and it didn’t bode well for the woman.

None of them had noticed that reinforcements were already on the way.  One of the men lunged forward, and that was when Edgar realized the woman was not unarmed.  She flung herself to the side before the man reached her and managed to bring the knife in her hand around to slice his arm as he passed her.  The man turned with a sneer to redouble his attack but froze when he saw the very large and very loaded crossbow pointed at his head.

It took the rest of the group several moments to figure out why he wasn’t attacking again.  None of them looked pleased with the interruption, and their ire was instantly transferred to the interlopers.  Thankfully, they were almost evenly matched in number and far outclassed in experience.  Edgar and the others made quick work of the men.

The woman had taken the opportunity to get away from them, but she hadn’t made it far.  One of her ankles seemed to be injured as well, and she was limping.  At least she had made it to a place that would allow her to better defend herself, and Edgar admired the fire that was still in her eyes as they approached.

Given what they had walked into, Edgar felt it would be better to let Celes handle the talking for the moment.  Even if the ex-General was not as smooth, she was still a woman and thus less likely to spook the person they were trying to help.

“We were just trying to help.  I can cure your wounds as well if you would allow it.”

The woman looked between them all with evident mistrust before she finally responded.  “I don’t even know where I am, but I do know that every person I have come across has either tried to rob or rape me.  I’d rather just leave, thank you very much.”

Her voice was husky and tired, but Edgar could hear a smoothness underneath her stress.  He looked her over with a critical eye and realized that once she was healed and cleaned, she would likely be quite the beauty.  He stepped forward with his hands up in the air.  “Dear lady, I can understand why you might be wary.  We have encountered much the same since we came here.  However, we were simply looking for our friend and heard your encounter.  Please allow us to help, if only with your wounds.  We would not think of keeping you past that.”

The woman’s gaze turned confused for a moment as she looked the King up and down.  Her eyes still showed it when she answered.  “Where is this place anyway?”

Edgar felt a sliver of worry creep up his spine and noticed the rest had turned slightly to look for ambushers.  He was glad to see it.  How could she be there and not know where she was?  He still played it calm.  “We are in the village of Zozo.  If you did not know that, why did you come here?”

The woman’s eyes flashed again, and her tone was caustic.  “I didn’t come here.  Not on purpose anyway.  I think it’s been nearly two days now, but before I woke up being pawed by a creeper, I was at a party.  I must have passed out, and the dumbasses I called friends thought it would be funny to leave me.  I have no idea how I got here.”

Edgar paused.  This woman was either incredibly unlucky or a talented actress.  Despite his worries, he could not bring himself to walk away just yet.  He had never been one to not help a lady in need.  “If what you say is true, then we might be able to assist.  Please allow us to heal you at the very least.  If you can find it in yourself to trust us further, we might be able to assist you in finding your way back home once we have located our friend.”

The woman’s stomach picked that moment to make a gurgling sound that could be heard by them all, even over the rain.  She glowered down at the offending noise as Edgar’s eyes widened.  He realized it was likely she had been wandering for two days with nothing to eat on top of trying to stay alive in this hellish place.  He took another step forward and held out his hand.  “Please allow us to help.  I am sure you would like to leave, and we need to be going.”

The woman slumped against the boxes next to her.  The adrenaline she had been running on was wearing off, and her exhaustion was evident.  Finally, she nodded.  “My name is Alia by the way.”

Edgar smiled.  “A lovely name.  I am Edgar Figaro, and these are my companions.  Celes is the one helping you, and these other two are Locke and Sabin, my brother.”

Celes closed the distance and helped the woman sit down on a nearby crate as Edgar gave his introductions.  By the time he was finished, the woman was looking at them all with wide eyes.  He had a feeling that if she had more strength, she would have pushed Celes away.  She settled for glaring at them all. 

“Did I just trade one kind of crazy for another?”

They all looked around then back at the woman with confusion.  None of them got to ask what she meant as Celes had already grasped the woman’s arm and held it in place as she cast cure.  The woman screamed at the sudden action but froze as the bone knitted back together.  As soon as Celes finished her spell, the woman scrambled back across the crate so fast she fell off on the other side.

She was back on her feet instantly and was giving them all wary looks.  “What the hell was that?”

Celes looked away in shame, as she was still awkward around those not from the empire.  Edgar hated the sight of it, but he could understand the woman’s concern.  He held up both hands again.  “Please do not be frightened.  Celes can do magic, but she is no longer part of the empire.”

Alia’s eyes nearly bugged at his explanation that didn’t explain anything.  “Magic doesn’t exist.  At all.  Ever.  What the hell?!  Please tell me this is some sort of test sight for new nanotechnology that I just happened to stumble into.  That would be more believable than magic.”

Edgar did not understand most of what she said, but he did understand that she was afraid.  “I know that it is practically a legend.  Many people don’t even believe in the war of the Magi, but it happened, and it will happen again if we can’t stop the empire.”

He sighed as he realized they really didn’t have time to waste trying to convince this woman of anything.  She was healed, and her attackers were dealt with.  That would have to be enough if she was unwilling to trust them further.  He gently pulled Celes back as the woman was still looking down and tried to give the stranger a kind smile.  “I am glad we were able to help you, but we really must be going.  I apologize if we caused you more of a fright.”

He gave her moment, but when she just continued to stare, he nodded and turned to leave.  They hadn’t made it very far when the woman called out again.  She had come around the crates and was giving them all confused looks.  “Wait!  You really mean to leave me alone?”

Edgar raised a brow at her question.  “You did not seem to want to come with us, and we are in a bit of a hurry.”

Alia shook her head with a frown.  “It’s not that.”  She paused and chewed on the corner of her lip before she nodded and took another step forward.  “Look, you guys are the first people I’ve seen since I woke up that haven’t tried to use me in some way.  Forgive me for being rude, but I still don’t understand what is going on.  Would it… could I go with you for now?  I mean, I don’t really have many options, and I think I would be safer.  At least until I can get figure out how to get back home.”

She stood there nervously for a few moments.  She was still freaked out by whatever the hell that woman had done, but she had to admit she was grateful for not having to deal with a broken arm.  Even her ankle felt better, and she had been worried it would end up a permanent problem since it had happened the first day.  Not to mention the fact that she was starving and concerned that if she had to try and figure things out on her own for much longer, then she would end up dead.  Wherever this place was, it was not a good place for her to be alone.

When she looked around again, she saw the two men that hadn’t spoken yet, were giving her smiles.  The one wearing a bandana stepped forward.  “The more, the merrier, right?”

Alia wasn’t sure what to think of any of them.  They looked like cosplay actors straight out of one of her uncle’s video games.  She felt the names sounded familiar too.  Even so, they had helped her, and she still had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.  Maybe their friend was in similar circumstances.  At that last thought, she finally stepped forward. Perhaps she could repay the favor and help them too.

Edgar smirked when she joined them.  None of them had expected to find a stranger among the thieves, but he would not complain to have another pretty face with them.  The woman watched them all silently as they headed toward the building she had been attacked next to.  As they entered, the woman that was called Celes held out a small package wrapped in paper.  Alia eyed it with confusion until the woman spoke.  “You haven’t eaten in two days, right?”

Alia realized she was being offered food, and her stomach growled loudly again at the thought.  She took the package gratefully and tried not to turn red as the other three turned at the noises her stomach was making.  She took small bites and chewed slowly, despite how much louder her stomach was at the first bite.  She didn’t want to get sick from eating too fast.

As they made their way further into the building, her stomach finally subsided, and the man in the bandana slowed so he could walk closer to the two women.  He kept his voice low.  “Can you tell us where you are from?  It may take us some time, but once we find Terra, then we might see about getting you back.  It can’t be too far from here if you said you were with friends, right?”

Alia eyed the building they were in before she answered.  Part of her had already realized she was far from home.  She had never seen any place like where she woke up.  Not to mention the people in this place were all strange.  She hadn’t wanted to admit what that might mean, but seeing these people and forcing herself to really think about what she had already seen of them made her wonder if she was more right than she could have guessed.

Still, she swallowed her worry and tried to respond.  “I’m from a tiny town called Slidell.  I’ve never heard of Zozo though, so I don’t know if it’s close.  Can you tell me how to get to New Orleans at least?  That would be close enough.”

All four of the companions stopped and looked at her.  Alia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the looks they were giving her.  None of them seemed to know what she was talking about. 

Edgar finally spoke up.  “I have not heard of that place, but that doesn’t mean others haven’t.  Let’s focus on this task first, and we will figure it out.  Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with us for now.”

Alia’s worry about what kind of mess she was in came back tenfold, but she didn’t show it as she nodded.  The rest of them fell back into silence as they made their way up the building.

When they came to a floor that seemed to be a dead-end, the one called Locke looked around until he found a window that could be opened.  He stuck his head out, and when he saw an open window in the building next to them, he didn’t say anything before he jumped across.

Alia stifled a scream and ran to see he was waving at them from the other building.  “It’s safe enough for now.  I think we can go further this way.”

Alia watched as the others made their way across in the same fashion.  Edgar was the last, and he paused and turned to her.  “Why don’t you go first.  I’d hate to leave you alone here.”

Her eyes widened.  These people really were crazy.  “I am not sure I can make myself jump out of a perfectly stable building.”

Edgar sighed and looked around.  He turned back and nodded.  “I suppose if you can find a way to bar the door you would be safe enough here until we return.  I don’t know how long we’ll be, but I am certain we will have to come back this way.”

He turned back to the window, and Alia realized he meant to leave her alone.  The fear she had felt while facing that group of men came crawling back up her throat, and she called out again.  “Wait!”  When Edgar turned back with a raised brow, she cursed under her breath.  She hated feeling dependant on anyone, but she couldn’t waste the chance these people gave her to get the hell out of this crazy place.  As weird as they were, they weren’t half as bad as the rest of the people she had run into.  Not to mention the dead bodies she had found. 

She forced her feet to take her to the window again.  She looked across with a critical eye and realized it was a rather short jump.  The landing might be difficult, but at least it was close enough that she felt she could grab the sill, and there was no broken glass.  She swallowed and turned to him.  “Let me go first, that way if I fall you’ll at least know what happened to me.”

He chuckled at her morbid humor before he stepped back and gestured to the opening.  “Ladies first.”

She grimaced at his gallantry but pulled herself up onto the windowsill.  Once she was crouched there like she had seen the others do, she pushed off and covered her head.  She wasn’t sure if she was more embarrassed or hurt when she managed to land halfway through the window.  At least she hadn’t fallen.  She made quick work of pulling herself the rest of the way in and Edgar was right behind her.  She frowned at the way he rolled into the room and was on his feet immediately.  You would think this was something they did all the time.

Edgar noticed her flushed cheeks and gave her an understanding smile.  “Don’t worry about it too much.  We’ve had to do that many times over the last several days.  The first time I almost didn’t make it either.  Though the other two have far more grace.  Perhaps it comes with their professions.”

Alia didn’t want to know what kind of profession would make them be able to handle something like that, so she kept her silence.  She did, however, thank the man for not leaving her behind.  That was the last thing said between them as they continued their trek up and between the buildings.  At least the group she was with was capable of making short work of any problems they ran into.  She knew how to use a knife if she had to, but was thankful that her skills were only moderately necessary.  She had already had enough of fighting to last her a lifetime.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

The small group ended up having to jump between the buildings twice more. Alia cursed under her breath each time but didn’t hesitate to follow them.  The closer they got to the top, the more a knot was forming in her stomach, but she kept that to herself.  It wasn’t that she was ignoring the obvious warning she was getting from her subconscious, but these people were still strangers.  Despite their own weirdness, she wasn’t sure they would accept hers.

From what Alia could tell, they had made it about two-thirds of the way up the two buildings when they finally ran into a long line of men winding up the stairs.  They all stopped and had their weapons poised, but the line marched passed and didn’t pay them any mind.  After watching for several minutes, Edgar finally stepped forward. 

“Where are you all going?”

The man he had addressed glared at him.  “Don’t cut.  Find your own spot.”

Edgar stepped back with a confused look.  He tried to look up the stairs, but the line prevented him from seeing far.  Plus the staircase was narrow.  He sighed and looked back to the rest of the group.  “We can try to backtrack and see if there is another way up.”

At his suggestion, Alia felt a pang brush across her consciousness.  She grimaced at the feel of it but didn’t ignore it.  She stopped the group as they started off.  “The guy said to find our own spot.  Why don’t we jump in line?  The worst that will happen is the men attack.  It would probably be the easiest way up.  Besides, I don’t remember seeing any other route.”

Edgar gave her a contemplative look.  He hadn’t known her long, but she had struck him as a woman that didn’t put her life on the line unless it was necessary.  Considering how they found her, it really made him wonder why she had been willing to suggest the course of action she had.  He didn’t get to ask her as Sabin had stepped forward and nearly knocked her off her feet when he clapped her shoulder.

“I like your style!  Let’s go.”

Edgar swallowed a groan.  When he had arranged for Sabin to follow his heart, he hadn’t realized that it was more than allowing his brother the freedom he craved.  Now that they had been reunited, he was beginning to see that it might have worked out for the best.  Still, the two of them had already managed to squeeze into the line, and the worst that had happened was grumbling from the men around them.  Edgar looked at Locke and Celes.  The former just shrugged and followed the other two.

With them all in line, they slowly made their way up several flights of narrow stairs.  The only incident was when Alia stopped and glared at the man behind her.  “I can’t say for sure that it was you, but I swear to god the next person that puts their hand on my ass will have it removed from their body.”

Edgar smirked at the fire that flashed in her eyes and almost felt sorry for the man, but only almost.  Anyone foolish enough to try again after that deserved what they would get.  Although he felt slightly despondent that he had not been the one behind her.  From his spot in line, what he could see of her posterior made him understand why someone would be tempted to touch it.

It was a ridiculously long time before they finally reached the head of the line.  When they saw that the group was just going a counter and handing off a small package, they looked on with confusion.  Luckily the room had widened, and they were able to observe with no problem.  That didn’t mean they could even begin to understand what the whole ordeal was about.  Once the men in line handed off the package, they headed toward another set of steps that led back down.  The group had no idea where that set went, but they realized that was the least of their problems for the moment.  At least they had made it near the top.

Despite their collective curiosity, primarily belonging to Locke, they headed up the last set of stairs and down a long, mostly open room.  They had only made it about halfway before Alia felt a sharp stabbing pain rush through her head.  She swallowed a scream, but couldn’t keep back a groan as she fell to her knees.  She barely even noticed that both Locke and Edgar were instantly by her side and helping her to her feet.

She had never experienced anything like it before, but it was still familiar.  That frightened the hell out of her.  She had no idea what to think, but she knew beyond a doubt that she needed to find out.

It was several moments later that her head cleared enough for her to be able to understand the group’s worried questions.  She pushed away from where Edgar had been holding her upright and tried to smile.  Though, she felt it was probably more of a grimace.  “I just got a little dizzy.  It’s nothing.  It shouldn’t be surprising with everything that’s happened over the last couple of days.”

None of them looked convinced.  She made a shooing motion when Edgar stepped closer again.  “Didn’t you say you were in a hurry.  Let’s see what’s up here.”

Edgar frowned.  He did not like the way Alia’s face had lost all color, and it still seemed as though she were not feeling well, but she was also correct in that they needed to find Terra.  It had been too long since she disappeared already.  He gave in, and they continued.

It wasn’t much longer before they reached an area with a single bed and an old man standing nearby.  As soon as they realized it was Terra in the bed, Locke rushed to her side.  Edgar would have as well, but he was stopped when Alia stepped back into him.  When he caught her arms to keep her from running into him, she nearly jumped out of her skin, but her focus was on the old man.

Locke had tried to ask the man what was going on, but the man’s attention was on Alia.  Edgar finally realized she was speaking as well.   “No, no, no, no!  This is impossible!”

Alia tried to back up further when the old man stepped toward them.  Edgar reacted out of instinct and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to the side away from the approaching man.  He frowned when he felt her trembling.  He glared at the man.  “Who are you and what is going on here?”

To his shock, it was Alia that answered.  “Ramuh.  You’re really Ramuh.  I can feel it.  What… why?”

The old man’s gaze softened as he finally spoke.  “Indeed, I am the esper, Ramuh.  And you, child, are something altogether different.  You don’t belong here.”  Alia had fixated on his face while he spoke.  Neither of them noticed the other four that were staring between the two of them and the bed with Terra.

Ramuh’s look turned contemplative as he also looked back to Terra.  He shook his head and nodded toward Alia.  “It would seem you have been called here for a purpose.  Or perhaps her fear drew you.  Either way, you have become part of what is to come.”

Alia started shaking her head.  “No.  I can’t really be here.  This has to be a nightmare, right?  I’m stuck in some hospital with alcohol poisoning or a concussion in a coma or something.”

Ramuh’s gaze almost turned to pity, but he didn’t respond to her.  Instead, he turned to the others.  “Now that the introductions are out of the way, I suppose you are the girl’s friends?”

Locke stepped up.  “What happened to Terra?”

The old man sighed.  “Is that her name?  Well, there is nothing wrong with her, but until she comes to terms with what she is, her body will not respond to her control.”

At his words, Terra jumped from the bed.  She shuffled around the room and fell several times before she stilled again.  It was horrible to watch, as it almost looked as though she were being controlled by a bad puppeteer.  When she finally stopped, Locke picked her up and carried her back before he turned to the old man.

“Are you really an esper?”

Ramuh nodded.  “Yes, as is Terra, at least in part.  Espers come in many forms.  I look enough like a human that I have been able to hide here.  Terra must have felt my presence when she lost control and fell nearby when she became exhausted.  I have been tending her since then.”

His words were almost too much for the group to take in.  Finally, Celes stepped forward and looked between Ramuh, Terra, and Alia.  “What did you mean that Alia does not belong here?”

Ramuh sighed again and looked to the girl that was still staring at him in shock from Edgar’s arms.  “She is an anomaly.  She is not like any of you.  I can sense a presence in her almost like that of an esper, but it is different.  She is still human, but more.  I have never encountered another like her.”  He paused and gave Celes a long look.  “Not even like you, that has been enhanced with the essence of my brethren.”

Celes cringed at his words, but there was no censorship in them, just a forlorn acceptance.  He turned to the rest of them.  “I cannot help further, but my companions are still being held within the empire’s laboratories.  Gestahl has tried to drain their power, but he is going about it the wrong way.  The only way an esper’s power can truly be passed on is when we become magicite.  I will lend you my strength so you can seek their aide.  They might prove to be of more assistance.  I left them behind and ran like a coward, but you should be able to help them.  If you do, they might help you in return.”

Everyone but Alia looked at him in confusion.  She suddenly became frantic and flung herself at the esper.  “Don’t!  You can’t leave yet!  I have so many questions.  How did I get here?  Why was it me?  How can I get home?”

Ramuh gave her a pitying look.  “Child, I do not have any of those answers.  You will need to find them for yourself.”  He looked at the others before he looked back to her.  “I believe you can help each other.  Follow them.”

He then looked to the other four.  “My companions that were able to escape with me did not make it.  Use their strength along with mine to stop Gestahl from starting another War of the Magi.  Maybe this will make up for my lack of courage.”

At those words, the man drew up his arms and was surrounded by a bright light.  Alia was flung back as the brightness expanded.  By the time she made it back to her feet, the esper was gone and in his place were four small glowing stones.  She stared at them in shock until Locke finally moved to pick them up. 

The treasure hunter could barely be heard.  “Old man, did you really disappear?”

After another moment, he stood and pocketed the stones before he turned to the rest.  “I suppose that means we find a way to get to Vector.”  He looked back to the bed with Terra and gave her a soft smile.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll be back before you know it.”

When he turned back to the rest of the group, his face was somber.  “It won’t be easy to get there, but we need to find a way.”

Celes nodded.  “If we can get there, I can help you find the laboratories.”

Locke smiled at her.  “Great!  Our only problem now is the fact that the empire has stopped all ships.  We need to find another way.”  There was a pause while they all considered how difficult that part alone would be.

Their group turned to leave at that point, but all stopped when they saw Alia still standing near where Ramuh had been.  They had been so excited about helping Terra, that they had all but forgotten the girl and the strange things the esper had said.  Edgar was the first to approach her, and she turned to him with confusion.  Despite his questions, he felt pity for her.  She was obviously lost in more than just the physical sense.  Still, they needed answers.

“What did Ramuh mean when he said you were like an esper but not?”

Alia sighed, and her confusion turned to bitterness.  “That was the only thing he said that makes sense to me.”

She shook her head and looked back at them all.  “I am as human as any of you, but I have had gifts my whole life.  Some people call it being psychic, but I suppose precognition would be a better word.  You know, like dreams that come true, gut feelings, and it is scary sometimes how accurate I can be with a deck of tarot cards.  Not that everyone believes me.  Most people think it’s a load of bull.”

  Edgar looked slightly confused.  “If you are familiar with magic, why did you react that way to Celes?”

Alia snorted.  “It isn’t magic.  At least not like that.  Where I’m from there is no such thing as flinging fireballs or curing injuries instantly.  I never considered what I do to be magic.”

Locke spoke up.  “Well, I can understand as it isn’t as flashy, but it sounds like magic to me.  Are you sure you don’t have any espers in your family history?”

Alia tried really hard not to roll her eyes, but it was a lost cause.  “Even the old man said I wasn’t an esper.  No, this is different, and no, I don’t know where it comes from, just that I have it.”

There was a stretch of silence again after her declaration that was cut by a new voice.  “Ah, we have finally found thee.”

The group turned to the door and saw two more people enter.  The one that spoke was leading and behind him was a boy wearing tattered leather and furs.  At the sight of them both, Alia dropped to her knees and finally started crying.  The man, Cyan, instantly stepped forward with concern.  “My lady, what has happened?”

Edgar, who was the closest to her, knelt and tried to help her to her feet.  She allowed his assistance, but couldn’t stop crying.  The king handed her a tissue from one of his pockets and tried to cheer her up.  “If Ramuh was correct about everything, then if you come with us we all might be able to figure out what is going on and how to help you.  What do you say?”

Alia looked up at him with tear stained cheeks and terror in her eyes.  He was taken aback by the intensity of it.  “It will not be as easy as you escorting me home.  The old man wasn’t kidding when he said I don’t belong here.  I don’t… I have no idea what the hell is going on, but this is the stuff of nightmares.”

None of them knew how to respond to her statement.  None of them realized just how far from home she was, but they could all agree that they were living in a nightmare.  Still, Edgar had a feeling that they hadn’t found this woman by chance.  Not with everything they had just learned.  Despite how unlikely it seemed, there was something bigger at work here, and he was never one to discard a helpful hand.

“Even if that is the case, we could use your help.  Will you come with us?”

Alia nodded as she wiped away the last of her tears.  Despite how terrified she was at where she found herself, she knew that having a breakdown would get her nowhere.  “I don’t have much of a choice, really.”

Edgar frowned slightly but didn’t get to ask as she walked to where the others were standing.  They all turned to leave as well.  Even though most of their conversation heading back down was focused on their plans and the truth about how Celes received her abilities, the one thing that struck the king as odd was the first thing Alia asked Cyan.

“How did you get all the way here when you were supposed to be defending Narshe?  I never understood that.”  The knight looked at her strangely but still explained that they had left to assist their comrades as soon as they had the city defensible. 

Edgar doubted any of the others had heard, so he kept his questions to himself, but he did hope to have the opportunity to get to know their newest associate better, and soon.  He smirked to himself when he realized that at least this once, it wasn’t just because she had a distracting smile.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

They all waited to regroup until they were out of the hellish town of Zozo.  A short distance away, the group stopped to discuss what the next steps should be.  It was decided that they would go to Jidoor.  If anyone had information on how to get things through the system, it would be wealthy people that didn’t want to wait out a blockade.  Getting that information might prove to be difficult, but that hadn’t stopped them yet.

It was also decided that Cyan and Gau would return to Narshe.  They had the city defensible, but the townsfolk simply didn’t have the mindset for warfare.  It would be best if they had at least a few of the Returners on hand besides Banon.  Sabin also volunteered to stay with Terra.  Without Ramuh there, he didn’t want to leave her alone until they returned.

Once that was settled, the whole group minus Sabin headed south.  They would have to travel together until they got to the end of the mountain range, at least.  They would split up before their destinations.

It was expected for them to take a week to get back, and that was if they could stay on track with long days and no obstacles.  Alia blanched a little at the thought of all that walking, but she didn’t complain.  She wouldn’t either.  At least she had been wearing her tennis shoes and not the dress and heels her friends had tried to get her into.  She pushed that thought back.  The last thing she needed was to be distracted by thoughts of how the hell she got there.  At least not yet.  There would be time for that when she wasn’t in the open with a group of strangers in a land where monsters that attacked for no reason was a thing.

By the end of that first day, Alia was ready to drop where she stood when they finally called a halt for camp.  She admired the stamina of all the others.  It wasn’t that she was in bad shape, but the constant walking and monster attacks were just wearing.  Not to mention, her clothes and everything else had seen better days.  It might not have been so bad if she hadn’t taken a beating or five in that hellhole they just left.

Despite how exhausted she was, she still volunteered to help them set up camp.  They split it up, so there wasn’t too much per person, and they made sure everyone went in pairs.  Monsters didn’t care if you were trying to get ready for bed or not.  Within twenty minutes, they had everything ready, and a fire started.  Alia almost did drop at that point, but a breeze picked up and blew through a gaping hole in the back of her shirt that had been made worse when they cut through some woods earlier in the day.

She wanted to cry but managed to just groan under her breath as she finally spoke voluntarily for the first time since they left Zozo.  “I hate to ask this, but do you think I might be able to borrow some clothes for now?  I only have what I’m wearing.  I can probably wash and reuse everything but my shirt.”

Celes had been the one quietly walking with her for most of the day, so she was the first to look up.  Her expression almost instantly turned apologetic.  Alia waved her concern away.  “I know anything you might have would be too small.  You’re tiny.”

Celes looked as though she wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, but Alia tried to explain a little better.  “I was actually hoping one of the guys would have a little to spare.  The pants might be a little big, but my hips should keep them up.  If not, then I’m sure I can find something to use as a belt.  At this point, anything is better than what I have on.”

Celes nodded in understanding, and the two women turned to see the three adult men had already been rummaging in the rucksacks they carried.  Locke was the first to step forward.  “Here, I have a small pack you can use and a pair of pants.  You can keep them until we can stop and get something better.  I’m a little shorter than Edgar, so those should fit well enough.”

Alia thanked him as she took it.  Edgar was right there as well.  “I did notice your shirt is, well, let’s just say it has seen better days.”

Alia snorted at the understatement, but gratefully accepted the bundle he held out to her.  “None of us carry much, as we need to travel light, but there are two shirts and a cloak that you can keep for now.”

His eyes passed over her quickly.  Alia raised a brow at his evaluation but didn’t get to say anything as he quickly continued.  “I also have some soap if you would like to clean up.  The river isn’t far.”

At that point, Alia forgot all about any irritation she felt.  He could even ask for a kiss, and she might give it to him.  Hell, she was tempted to give him one anyway when he handed her the cake of soap.  Edgar must have noticed something in her expression because he smirked.  “It isn’t safe to go alone.  Would you like some company?”

Celes snorted from beside Alia.  “I can go with her.  You men decide on the watch schedule.  We won’t be long.”  Edgar sighed as the women walked off but didn’t argue.

The walk to the river was silent until they were almost there.  Alia finally broke it as the water came into sight.  “Thank you for coming with me.”

Celes gave her a contemplative look but nodded.  “Edgar was right that it isn’t safe alone.”

When they got the river edge, Alia barely waited to start shucking off her clothes.  She didn’t even care that Celes was there.  She was so filthy that just the thought of cleaning up a little sounded like heaven.  She had nearly everything off when Celes called out again.  “If you leave your clothes on the shore, I can wash them.”

Alia froze and gave her a confused look.  “You don’t need to go that far.  I can rinse them when I get clean.”

Celes smiled for the first time.  “I know what it’s like to be the beginner and have to fight to catch up.  You have to be tired.  Besides, we can get back quicker if I help.”

Alia was so tempted to just do as the woman suggested, but she couldn’t let it go just yet.  “What about you?  Will you clean as well?”

Celes’ smile grew.  “I make a point of cleaning every time there is water near, so it won’t take me as long.  Trust me, I don’t mind.  You need to hurry, though.”

Alia knew she was wasting time, so she left all but her undergarments on the shore and headed out far enough that she could rinse thoroughly.  The water was a little chilly, but it felt amazing on her aching feet.  She made quick work of cleaning up.  Her hair took the longest, but she managed.  She was also thankful that whatever soap the king had given her, it wasn’t too harsh on her hair.  When she remembered the way his was tied up, she smirked.  He probably took care to have better than average toiletries.  That was a fact she was currently grateful for.

By the time she was completely rinsed off and had wrung as much water from her hair as she could, Alia felt worlds better.  She was still tired, but she didn’t feel like the world was on her shoulders anymore.  She laughed at her inside joke as she wondered just how much dirt she had washed off.

When Celes gave her a questioning look, Alia waved it off and dressed in the borrowed clothes.  The pants were still a little long, but Locke was narrow through the hips, so at least they stayed up without help.  She rolled the pants legs up and was happy enough.  The shirt, on the other hand, nearly swallowed her.  She knew Edgar was broad-shouldered and tall, but she hadn’t expected his shirt to be so big.  At least it was a button-down, so she was able to leave the last several buttons undone and tie them up at her waist.  Once it was all said and done, she was happy enough with the results.  She even decided to leave her shoes off for the time being.  The grass was soft, and her socks were still wet.

She made sure to thank Celes when the woman handed everything over.  It was still wet and would have to be laid out to dry before it could be packed up in the morning, but at least she was clean.  She felt ready to face nearly anything,  As long as some sort of bedroll or some such came first.

By the time the two women made it back to camp, Locke, Gua, and Cyan were already asleep.  Edgar had taken the first watch.  He was sitting with his back to the fire and facing the water.  He hadn’t expected them to be quick, but they had taken longer than he thought they would with Celes involved.  The woman was efficiency incarnate.

He stood when they got closer, but whatever he had been going to say was locked in his throat.  He had been correct.  Without the mud and bruises, Alia was stunning.  Her dark hair was drying in waves that fell halfway down her back.  He wasn’t sure if her new clothes helped or would hinder.  Locke’s pants clung to her curves in all the right places, and she had them rolled, so they were tight all the way down.  The shirt was tied so that it bared part of her midriff, which showed the skin on her stomach was the same caramel color as the rest of her.

He hadn’t realized he was staring until Celes punched him in the arm as she passed.  Hard too.  He shook off the daze and turned to see Alia smirking at him.  She hadn’t missed his evaluation either, but she didn’t seem to be as bothered by it as the ex-general.  Whether she was upset or not, he didn’t get the chance to apologize for his rudeness before she stepped forward and held out the soap. 

“I appreciate you letting me use this.”

He chuckled and shook his head.  “Keep it.  We can replace it when we get to Jidoor.  It is a small price to pay to see you wearing my shirt so fetchingly.”

Alia chuckled again.  “Fetching.  I think I like that word.  I suppose that’s one good thing to being sent here.”

Edgar paused at her offhanded statement.  They had not had the chance to speak that day, but he still had questions.  The list of questions he had continued to grow each time she spoke.  He was reminded that now was not the time as Celes reappeared with a frown to tell Alia they could share a tent for the time being.  When he turned back out to face the darkness, he wasn’t sure what to think of their new mystery.

Alia was somewhat glad they had not asked her to take a turn to watch, as she had needed the sleep.  She did know that it would be wise to offer the next night, though.  She didn’t want them to think she was incapable of pulling her own weight.  Even if she wasn’t sure what would happen if there was an attack. 

Cyan had been the last to take watch, so it was up to him to rouse everyone.  Alia kept her grumbling to herself as she helped Celes pack everything away and then offered to take part of the load.  If they were going to be sharing a tent, it was only fair.  The ex-general was shocked but glad to split the tent trappings.

None of them had noticed Cyan’s reaction to seeing her when they came out, except for Locke.  The treasure hunter gave the man a worried look as his face was bright red.  It wasn’t until he followed the knight’s gaze that he figured out why.  Locke didn’t have a flirty streak as bad as Edgar, but even he could admit that out of the muddy and torn clothes, their newest addition was quite the looker.  She was exotic too.  She was darker than most women in hair and skin, and it contrasted starkly with her blue eyes.  Add all that on top of the way his pants hugged her every curve, and it was no surprise that the old man was about to have a heart attack.  Most women wouldn’t dare show that much skin.

Still, it didn’t look like she was flaunting herself on purpose.  She was just doing what she could with what they had.  It wasn’t much worse than Celes’ outfit.  Locke walked by Cyan and clapped the man on the shoulder to break him out of his stupor.  The knight was still red, but he turned to help them finish preparing for the day.

It wasn’t long until they were on their way again, and Alia quickly became thankful that Edgar had an extra cloak.  It was still midmorning when it started raining.  She cursed under her breath at the thought of soggy feet but was relieved once she had the thing clasped.  Since it had been made for Edgar, it actually went all the way to her ankles.  She had to worry more about tripping than getting her feet wet.  Since she had practice being light on her feet, she’d take the trip hazard over squelchy tennis shoes any day.

Edgar had noticed Alia grumbling about wet feet and chuckled under his breath.  It is evident that wherever she was from, it wasn’t somewhere they traveled often.  Not that she had openly complained about anything, but it was hard to hide her inexperience.

His thoughts on the matter finally prompted him to close the gap and get her attention.  “Alia, would you mind speaking with me?”

She looked up at him with a slight frown that turned to a smirk when she saw who had asked.  “Sure, I owe you one anyway.  What’s up?”

He raised a brow at her informal speech.  It was easy to tell that she was becoming more relaxed around them.  Her mannerisms had been much stiffer and formal the day before.  Lucky, he was friends with a th- a treasure hunter and was used to it.  “Given what we were told by the esper, and some of the things you have said already, I would assume that you are a long way from home.  Could you tell me what happened?”

Alia snorted at the understatement.  “I suppose a long way from home is one way to put it.  As for the hows and whys, I’m just as clueless as you are.”

He didn’t look convinced, so Alia sighed and tried to explain.  “I wasn’t kidding when I said the last thing I remember was going out with some friends.  I had been holed up for the last half-year, and they practically kidnapped me and took me to a party in the quarter.  Several of them pitched in and rented a few rooms next to each other, and we proceeded to walk around and get drunk.  I vaguely remember telling one of them I was ready to head back sometime early the next morning, but that was the last thing I remember before I woke up to some dirty creep with one hand in my pocket and the other up my shirt.”

Edgar wasn’t sure what to think.  A lot of what she said was unfamiliar at best, but he understood the gist of it anyway.  After taking a moment to think through it, he turned back to her.  “Do you make a habit of drinking to excess?”

Alia laughed and shook her head.  “Not at all.  But it was nice to… let go of it all for a little bit.”

The was an unmistakable note of melancholy to her last statement that begged for him to ask for more, but her eyes had taken on a distant look, and he doubted he would get a straight answer anyway.  He still was no closer to understanding, so he tried to steer them back on track.  “If you don’t know how you got here, then can you at least tell me where you are from?  I might not know it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find someone else that won’t.”

Alia sighed and gave him a wry smile.  “I can tell you, but you won’t believe me.”

His brows drew down.  “Why don’t you try me and see?”

She chuckled and shrugged.  “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He gave her a confused look, but she took a deep breath and continued before he could ask what she meant.  “I am not from this planet at all.  I’m from a place called Earth.  And before you ask, I have no clue where that is in relation to here.  It could be in another galaxy, or another dimension for all I know.  I just know I’m worse off than Dorothy ever thought of being.”

Edgar had stopped walking and was staring at her with his jaw agape.  When the rest of the crew noticed it, they all stopped as well.  Alia turned to him and sighed.  “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

None of the rest of their group had been close enough to overhear what had been said, so they looked between the two with confusion.  Finally, Edgar stepped forward with a low voice.  “You really are a long way from home.”

Alia blinked a few times and gave him a shocked look.  She wasn’t sure why he believed, but it didn’t really matter.  It wasn’t like it gave her the answer on how to get home, or even how to continue staying alive.  She knew the story she was in was familiar, and she remembered bits and pieces of it, but that only meant she knew it was going to take a miracle for her to not die quickly and violently.  At least she was with the right people to give her a better chance at success.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Once Edgar started walking again, the others asked why he had stopped, and Alia was forced to tell her tale once again.  The second time around, there were far more questions asked and a lot more doubt.  Especially from Cyan, as he had not been there before Ramuh had disappeared. 

Finally, Alia threw her hands up.  “Enough!  Look, I get why you guys don’t believe me.  Really, but I have no reason to lie.”

Cyan pinned her with a glare.  “Thou mightest be a spy of the Empire!”

Alia laughed at his accusation but stopped when she realized he meant it.  She raised a brow and looked at Celes.  The woman shrugged.  Cyan’s glare was then shared between the two women.  “I trusteth her not, either.”

Alia sighed and shook her head.  “Fine, believe what you want.  It’s not like I can change your mind with words.  Just know I’m no warrior.  The only reason I know how to handle a knife is because of my uncle.  For now, I planned on helping you all because you helped me.  At least until I could figure out how I got here and how the hell I can get back.  It’s up to you whether you believe that or not.”

Edgar stepped forward with a  conciliatory gesture.  “Why don’t we all calm down.  Nothing is going to happen right away, so let’s call a truce.  At least until we get to Jidoor.  We can decide what to do then.”  Cyan didn’t look happy about the decision, but Locke agreed.  Gua was just glad the yelling had stopped.

After that conversation, things were tense when the group was all gathered together.  Alia was just glad that it wasn’t so bad with each individual.  She could tell that Locke wasn’t sure about her, but he wasn’t rude to her.  Celes was surprisingly sympathetic, and the two women actually got along well.  The only point of contention was the fact that Celes was much quieter and made no secret of the fact that she disliked Edgar’s flirting.

As for the king, Alia found that she liked his company the best.  Yes, he did flirt with her ceaselessly, but she wasn’t as opposed to it as Celes.  There were many times that they got into discussions filled with so much innuendo that she almost forgot where she was.  They were usually brought back to the moment by Celes or Cyan.  Neither cared for the interactions.

Alia didn’t let their glares bother her, though.  It wasn’t that she had plans to sneak into the man’s tent.  Not by a long shot, but it was nice to feel desirable.  It had been a long time since she had even wanted to feel that way.  Given the strange circumstances she found herself in, it was an excellent way to keep herself grounded and not thinking about how weird it all really was.  It also helped to pass the time.

By the time they made it to the point where Cyan and Gau would split from their group, Alia had gotten used to the travel.  She was still tired at the end of each day, but not exhausted.  They had needed an extra day to get there, but her improvements ensured that was all they needed.

It was a tense farewell between the two groups.  Or rather between the men.  The two women had been left out of it entirely, as Cyan had pulled Locke and Edgar to the side to talk to them.  It was nearly half an hour later that they both returned with frowns.  At least Gau was kind enough to give both women a strip of dried meat before he raced off after the older male.  Alia grinned and thanked him.  It might not seem like much, but she had gathered enough over the last week to know it was something the boy prized, and thus was a meaningful gift.  She was rewarded with a wave before he disappeared.

Edgar sighed as he turned them toward Jidoor.  He hadn’t refuted Alia, as she seemed to believe what she was saying, and it did line up with what the esper had said, but it was quite the tale to swallow.  Cyan’s arguments made it all the more difficult.  The only problem was that she had not yet shown any sign of wanting to get any information out of them.  In fact, the only time the Returners had been brought up, she had already known the information.  None of it made sense.  It was a problem that would need to be tabled for the moment, however.  Just like Celes.  Both women would have ample opportunity to prove themselves soon enough.

When they made it to the city, they headed straight for the largest mansion at the top of town.  The last time they had been there, the man that owned the place, Owser, had mentioned something about Celes looking just like his favorite opera star, Maria.  They hoped to see if they could use that to their advantage.  If anyone in the town were likely to know how to get what he wanted, it would be him.

When they were led into the foyer, a couple of them had to practically jump out of the way or risk getting run over.  A visibly distressed man with slicked-back hair was nearly running on his way out.  He didn’t even notice when he dropped an envelope.

Locke stooped and picked it up.  He didn’t care that his actions could be considered rude when he opened it.  He either didn’t notice or didn’t care when Celes shot him a glare for his disregard.  It ended up not mattering, as Owser had already entered and noted Celes.

“Maria!”

They all turned to him, and his brow furrowed as he noticed Locke and the letter he held.  He then turned back to Celes with a confused look.  “You aren’t Maria, but you could pass for her.  It’s too bad.  She has disappeared.  After the Impresario received that letter, she was too frightened to even stay for practice.”

The rest of the group turned to Locke, and he shrugged before reading the letter out loud.  “My Dear Maria, I want you for my wife.  I’m coming for you.  The Wandering Gambler.”  He looked up.  “Who’s the wandering gambler?”

The man looked at him like he had spouted nonsense.  “How do you not know? He is Setzer Gabbiani. He owns the world’s only airship.  It is the flying casino, the Blackjack.  He caters to no whim but his own.  Not even the Empire has brought him down.”

There were several furtive looks between the group before Celes stepped up.  “Do you know where we might find him?”

Owser shook his head.  “No one can predict where he will be, although he is a fan of the Opera.  Also, given that letter, he may still try to kidnap Maria, unless he finds that she has disappeared.”

Locke grabbed the man’s hand and shook it.  “Thanks!”  That was all that was said as the group ran out after him. 

Once they were all outside, he turned to them with a grin.  “This may be our lucky break.  Let’s head to the Opera House.  We might be able to figure something out!”  It wasn’t exactly a plan, but it was the best option they had seen so far.  Alia wasn’t happy that it was almost as far to the place as it had been from Zozo, but at least it was mostly open.  It didn’t take them nearly as long to get there.

When they arrived, the first person they ran into was the man called the Impresario.  He was pacing in the lobby of the building and fretting to himself.  As soon as he saw Celes, he pushed through the group and grabbed her.  “Maria!  You’ve returned!”

Celes tried to take a step back, and the man’s face fell.  “You aren’t Maria.”

The ex-general shook her head.  “No.”

At her apologetic shake of the head, he went back to pacing with even louder mumbling.  Locke picked that time to step forward.  “Hey, we heard that Maria left because some Gambler guy threatened to take her, right?”

The Impresario nodded absently before resuming his worried pacing.  Locke’s cheer was oddly out of place.  “Well, we really need to speak to the guy.  When do you think he’ll be here?”

When the man turned and looked at Locke as though he was ready to murder him, Edgar stepped smoothly in front of him.  “Pardon his enthusiasm.  We had hoped we could somehow help you with this situation.”

The man seemed to accept Edgar’s response, though it didn’t change much in his demeanor.  He went right back to pacing.  “There is nothing anyone can do.  I’ll be ruined!  Without Maria, the opera will be a failure.  I’ll lose my reputation, my job!  My life will be over!”

The group all looked at him with concern.  Even if he was being a tad overdramatic.  Locke was the first to step forward.  “What if you had Maria?”

The man wrung his hands together and shook his head.  “That would be worse!  Setzer would pick the worst possible moment to arrive and take her.  He loves to make an entrance.  I would still be ruined!”

“Locke looked a little put out by his last outburst, but not for long.  “Is there no way you could save the show?  I mean, Celes looks just like Maria, right?  She could stand in, and we would be right there so it wouldn’t get out of hand.  Your show would be saved, and we would have a chance to talk to him.  It’s a win for both of us!”

Both the Impresario and Celes looked at him like he had lost his mind.  Celes was the first to speak.  “Have you lost your wits!  I am not some opera floozy!”

The Impresario spoke right afterward.  “We only have three days until the first showing!  Even if she looks like her, there is no way she could stand-in.  This is about more than looks you know!”

At his denial of her capability, Celes glared at both men before she stormed off.  Locked looked in the direction she went with confusion.  Alia glared at him.  “You are clueless, you know that!”  With those parting words, she followed after Celes and left it to the men to figure out the rest.  She had a feeling Celes was feeling a little conflicted and probably needed someone to talk to that was not testosterone riddled.

She walked around the corner and found a set of stairs.  At the top were several doors.  She listened at each of them to see if she could hear anything.  It wasn’t until she reached the third one down that she heard a soft voice singing scales.  She smiled before she knocked.  The voice cut off suddenly before Celes called out.  “Yes?”

Alia opened the door and smiled a slightly blushing Celes.  She closed the door behind her before she spoke.  “You know, it’s okay if you want to do this.”

Celes frowned.  “I would be willing to if it would help us get to Vector.”

Alia sighed and leaned against a dressing table.  She looked around with a little melancholy.  It was a lot nicer than what she was used to, but it still reminded her of summers spent with her uncle.  She shook her head and focused back on Celes.  “I know how hard it can be as a woman authority figure.  You have to always be in control and never make mistakes.  God forbid you want to do anything feminine, because that just isn’t acceptable, right?”

Celes’ frown grew slightly as she answered.  “I have never had time to consider such things.”

Alia gave her a soft smile, and her eyes flashed.  “Well then, there is no time like the present.  Let me assure you that not only is it possible to be both strong and feminine, but it’s perfectly acceptable.  You are the only person you need to be answerable to.  If you can’t be happy with yourself, then who else’s would matter?”

Celes blinked a few times before she smiled.  “Maybe I have misjudged you.”

Alia grinned and winked.  “Probably not, but that’s okay.”  She looked around and found a copy of the opera they were currently getting ready for.  “Here, why don’t you start memorizing these.  I’m going to see what kind of a mess the guys are concocting and see if I can keep the damage to a minimum.  The Impresario guy said we have three days, right?  That should be plenty of time for you to memorize the lines.”  Celes gave her a nod as she walked out.  Alia smiled at the soft sound of scales being sung once again as the door was closed.

As it turned out, the plan was pretty much what Locke ad laid out.  The only point of contention was the fact that the guys were all okay with allowing Celes to be kidnapped and taken to the airship.  They figured she could then f=let them on.  Alia flat out refused.

“Absolutely Not!  What happens if he gets her up there and locks her in some tiny closet while he takes off or something!”

Edgar was giving her a sympathetic look, but Locke just looked confused.  “Why would he do that?  He says he wants to marry her?”

Alia gave him a look like he was stupid.  She had to take a step back and count to ten to keep from saying as much.  Even so, her next words implied it heavily.  “We are talking about a man that has threatened to kidnap a woman so he can forcefully wed her.  We are assuming it is against her will because she ran away.  Maybe they had a secret relationship we don’t know about previously that she is done with, or maybe they didn’t, but we can’t assume that they did.  If they didn’t then we have to assume the worst.  In that case, it means there is no telling what he might be willing to do to get what he wants.  Understand now?”

Locke looked down with a frown for several moments before he finally looked back and spoke.  “But we need the airship.  What if we try to get him on the ground, and he gets away before we can talk to him?”

Alia sighed.  It was a valid point.  It still didn’t matter to her.  “I’m sorry, what you say is a possibility, but risking Cele’s life isn’t worth it to me.  Yes, we need to figure out how to help Terra, but can you willingly throw away one life to save another when there is at least a possibility of another way?”

Locke gave her a frustrated look and took a few steps away.  He seemed to be deliberating her words before he turned back with a scowl.  “What do you suggest?”

Alia looked at them all.  “Let me stay backstage.  You plan on staying upstairs so you can see everything well and react quickly from there.  You can also cover the rafters.  Let me cover the back.  Believe it or not, I have some experience with entertainment, so I can fit in and be out of the way.  If he tries to leave that way, I’ll stop him.  Or at least slow him long enough so that you can catch up.  The same goes if he tries to go through the roof.  Then we can all talk to him together.  That is the goal, right?”

Edgar nodded.  “Yes.  I may eventually be able to figure out how to work his airship, but would take time.  It would be best if he would cooperate.”

Alia looked at Locke since he seemed to be the biggest opponent of keeping the gambler on the ground.  She hid her grin when he finally sighed.  “You win.”  He looked around at them all.  “Don’t expect this to go perfectly, but I suppose you’re right.  I don’t want anything to happen to Celes, either.” 

Alia patted him on the shoulder as she walked past.  “I know you don’t.  Let me go see how she’s doing.  Why don’t you guys figure out where we are going to sleep tonight in the meantime.”  She didn’t wait for their responses before she headed back up the stairs and to the dressing room where she knew Celes was still working.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

The night of the performance found Alia in the main dressing room with Celes helping her with the costume she would need to wear.  Apparently, the ex-general had never had to wear a corset.  Alia hadn’t worn them often either, but she had worn them for show, so she at least knew the concept.  Plus, she had helped other women put them on.  It wasn’t long until it was laced.  The hard part was making sure Celes could still sing her lines once it was done up.  Alia had tried not to tie it too tight.  Not that the tiny woman had needed it.

Once she was sure Celes was set with the costume, she told her to break a leg and rushed out.  She missed the way the woman’s face paled as the door shut.  Celes quickly brushed it off.  She figured it had to be some strange custom for the girl.  It wouldn’t be the first odd thing about her.  She didn’t have time to worry about it right now anyway.  She needed to make sure she had the script memorized.

As she was going over the lines one last time, she heard the outer door open.  She looked up to see Locke frozen in the doorway and staring at her with his jaw hanging open. Despite her lack of social skills, seeing the way he looked at her sparked something inside that she had long forgotten.  It wasn’t helped when he spoke.

“Since when have you been so beautiful!”

Celes clenched her jaw and tried not to snap at him.  Leave it to the bonehead to ruin a perfectly beautiful moment.  She turned back to her script as she spoke.  “Was there something you needed?”

Locke was still red when he joined her, but his speech was closer to normal.  “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”  He paused and looked around.  “Has Alia already left?”

Celes looked up at him with a sigh.  “Yes.  She is supposed to be helping with the props.  Was that all you needed?”

Locke looked into her eyes for several moments.  Celes forgot to blink.  She nearly forgot to breathe.  At least until he spoke again.  “I’m sure you will do great out there.  Knock ‘em dead.”

With that, he turned to leave once again.  Before he made it to the door, Celes made an impulsive decision.  One that she had no idea where it came from, and really wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the result of, but it was out.  “Locke!  Why did you take me with you when you left South Figaro?”

He paused with his hand on the doorknob.  It was several seconds before he finally answered.  “I’m tired of standing by and doing nothing while I lose the girls I like.”

Celes was frozen for a moment.  His words had scrambled her brain.  By the time she had thought to ask further, he had already opened the door and turned to her with a half-smirk.  “Good-luck”  The door was closed before anything else could be said.

As distracting as that conversation had been, Celes knew she could not let it keep her from doing what she must.  There were greater things at stake than her heart, after all.  Besides, worries about her heart and such were better suited to times of peace.  Currently, that was a luxury she did not have.  With those thoughts in mind, she picked up her script once more and started reciting her lines with all the precision she had ever used for drills.

Alia had helped swap out the props for the next scene and was waiting in the catwalks above the stage for Celes’ first scene.  She had no doubt that the ex-general would do fine.  The woman had been practicing non-stop since the plan was hatched.  The few times Alia had checked on her, she was surprised to find the woman had talent too.

When Celes finally came out, Alia couldn’t stop grinning.  Despite the somber nature of the opera, Celes was doing wonderfully.  She doubted anyone that didn’t already know about the swap could tell the difference.  Although she had never heard Maria, so maybe they could.  At least she hoped the Gambler couldn’t.  Even if the thought of the man kidnapping a woman to take for his wife irritated her, they did need his airship.

As the emotional scene ended, the curtains closed, and Alia rushed to raise the castle front and lower the props for the next scene.  She hoped the boys were enjoying things from where they were sitting on their asses up in the stands.  She pushed that thought back as well as her worry about the fact that their prey hadn’t shown yet.  The Impresario had said the man liked to make an entrance.  Hopefully, he would take advantage of the duel in the next scene.

She didn’t have time to worry about either issue as she had to work the lights to follow the couples around the dance floor.  At least she wasn’t missing much.  From what she could tell, this was the boring part, at least to her.  It was all about politics and intrigue.

She almost sighed in relief when the main lights came back up as Draco made his entrance, and the next scene finally started.  At least until the unthinkable happened and a giant purple octopus fell from the ceiling along with Locke and Edgar.  Alia had to blink several times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things as they all got up, and the thing started talking. 

She had to clamp down hard on all the jokes that started running through her head as she watched its tentacles creep toward a couple of the actresses.  It wasn’t really funny, but she still chuckled.  At least until she saw Celes rush forward as well.  She cursed under her breath and quickly tossed one of her knives down to cut the woman off.  The men seemed to have things under control so they couldn’t afford for her to blow her cover yet.  As much as she hated it, she stayed on the catwalk as well.

When Celes looked back with a glare, Alia returned it.  She looked around exaggeratedly to make her point that they were waiting for someone else to show up.  Celes sighed as she realized her reasoning and stepped back.

Once Alia was sure Celes wasn’t going to get involved, she turned back to the men.  Just because she wanted to stay out of sight, didn’t mean she wouldn’t get involved if it looked like things were going downhill.  By that point, the Impresario had gotten on stage and was trying to improvise as if the whole thing was part of the play.  He might have pulled it off if it weren’t for Locke’s cheesy acting.  The audience was booing, but it didn’t really matter.  The purple mollusk had already lashed out.

Alia tensed to jump down if they needed her.  Thankfully, they ended up not.  Between Locke flinging his newly learned fire spells and Edgar slamming the thing with the chainsaw that he had found while they were looking for Terra, the thing slipped away quickly.  Alia had a bad feeling at the sight of the slimy trail and the still twitching tentacle it left behind. 

As the battle music was slowing with the beast’s disappearance, several gasps were heard.  Alia’s attention was jerked back around to Celes as she heard the woman make an uncharacteristic noise.  They had agreed it would be what Maria would have done, though.  Thankfully, the man that held her arms pinned to her side had stopped and was grinning at the Impresario.

“Impresario, I am a man of my word.  I am here to take Maria!”

Alia was shocked to find that he was an attractive man.  His hair was silver, and he was scarred, but he couldn’t be any older than Edgar.  He also had a dramatic flair for fashion.  Given the fact that he was resorting to kidnapping, she had expected an old, bald, fat man.  She shoved those thoughts aside as he grinned and started pulling Celes backstage.  They didn’t have much time to stop him.

The men would follow, but they couldn’t move too fast and spook him.  It would be up to Alia to slow him long enough for them to catch up.  She ran lightly along the catwalk until she could see them.  He had his head leaned down near Celes’ ear, presumably whispering something.  Alia repressed a shiver and jumped to the next catwalk over.  She sent up a thankful prayer for all her training with her uncle when there was no noise.

She ran the length of that one as well and managed to get in front of them.  She breathed a sigh of relief as she got into place.  As soon as they passed below her, she dropped lightly behind him.  The man didn’t even have time to react before she had a knife in his ribs and another near his throat.

She kept her voice light as she spoke.  “That is a lovely jacket.  I would hate to put a hole in it.  Why don’t you let the lady go?”

She had expected him to release Celes and step away.  Instead, he released Celes and turned to her in a swirl of that same jacket.  Alia barely had time to twist away from the dart he had in his hands.  When two more followed it, she flipped back and out of the way.  Her heart was racing as she stopped several feet away, but she was grinning as she stood and faced him.  “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to hit me.  It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had sharp objects thrown my way.”

Once they were both fully facing each other, the man had frozen.  It was several seconds later that he finally spoke.  “Who are you?”

Alia’s eyes flashed as her grin widened.  She bowed theatrically and looked up at him as she spoke.  “Alia De LeGris.  Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

When she stood again, he had taken a step forward and looked her over slowly.  Instead of bristling at his open evaluation, she returned the gesture and was further shocked to see that not only was he younger than she expected but in good shape too.  She wondered why in the hell he was trying to kidnap anyone when he shouldn’t have trouble finding a suitable bedmate.  She didn’t get to ask. 

By that time, their eyes had met again, and his widened again as he realized what she had been doing.  He lifted one pale brow as he spoke.  “And do you have a personal interest in the lady yourself?”

Alia smirked at him.  “And if I do?”

His eyes flashed once, but he didn’t get to say whatever had been on his mind before Celes ran around and between them.  She held up both hands and turned to him.  “Wait!  Please stop.  We would like to talk to you.”

His brows furrowed.  “You are not Maria.”

Celes shook her head.  He frowned as he looked between the two women.  He didn’t say another word before he turned and headed toward the door.  Celes called out again.  “Please just hear us out!”

He stopped, but he didn’t turn.  “If you are not Maria, I have nothing else to say to you.”

Alia snorted.  “Why would you go to all that trouble to steal away a woman that would run from you anyway?”

He did turn to her at that, and his eyes were flashing, but only for a moment.  His expression turned almost lackadaisical.  “Perhaps I was bored.”

Alia gave him an incredulous look and shook her head.  It was soon replaced by a more calculating one.  “Well, if you are bored, we might have a solution.”

At her words, he walked until he was right in front of her.  He wasn’t as tall as Edgar, but he was still taller than she was, and she had to look up as he smirked down at her.  “Oh? Is that so?”

Whatever he had been about to suggest was interrupted as Locke and Edgar came running up.  The man frowned over at them as they practically skidded to a stop next to the three that had been talking.  Edgar was scowling as he looked between Alia and the stranger.  “What is going on?”

Alia took a step back and gestured toward Setzer.  “I was just getting to the point.”

Setzer gave her a confused look.  “The point?”

She looked back with a grin.  “Yes, of curing your boredom.”

His frown grew as Edgar stepped forward with his hand out.  “I am Edgar Roni Figaro, King of Figaro.  We are currently working to find a way into Vector and had hoped to convince you to help us get to the Southern Continent.”

Setzer looked down at the king’s hand and then back at Alia with a skeptical look.  “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.  She had no doubt that wasn’t what he intended, but at least they had an open channel of dialogue.  “We hadn’t had a chance to say anything yet.  All I asked was that you hear us out.  Surely, that sounds like something that would be exciting.”

He chuckled mirthlessly at the humor he could hear in her voice.  He had played into her hands.  Still, dealing with the Empire was no joke.  He turned to leave once again.  “I have no desire to die today.”

Celes stepped in front of him at that point.  “Wait, please.  We aren’t asking you to do more than transport us.  Surely, that would be no great risk.”

He paused once again and frowned.  These people were undoubtedly persistent.  It wasn’t helped by the fact that both the ladies were more than pleasant to look at.  He sighed.  “The Empire has been bad for business lately.”

Alia caught Celes’ eye at that point, and they both had the same thought at the same time.  There was their opening.  Celes was quick to take it.  “You aren’t the only one.  The Empire is making life unlivable for many people around the world.  We aren’t asking for much.”

When he continued to hesitate, Alia stepped forward again.  “You are a gambler, correct?”  He raised a brow at her as though she had asked something stupid.  She ignored the look and continued.  “Why don’t we settle this with a game of chance then?”

“Oh?  Now that sounds interesting.  What did you have in mind?”

Alia had to bite back on her grin.  That was easier than she expected it to be.  “Just a simple coin toss.  If it’s heads, then you help us.”

“And if it’s tails?”

She shrugged.  “What would you like?”

His grin took on a glint that had a shiver running down her spine.  “What if I said one of you?”

Edgar made a sound at his words, but she held up a hand.  “Ok.  I suppose if you are going to put your life on the line, then it would only be fair for us to as well.”  She paused and looked to Celes to verify the other woman was also alright with the decision.  She was frowning, but she nodded.  Alia turned back to Setzer.  “There you go.”

When Setzer reached into his pocket, Alia held out a hand.  “One moment.”  He raised a brow, but she ignored it as she turned to Edgar.  “Could I bother you to borrow a coin, please?”

He gave her a confused look.  “Why should I give you a coin for something like this?”

She had to bite back her sigh and give him a smile instead.  “Well, you are the luckiest person I know, and we could use all the luck we can get right now.  I mean, you are a king, after all.  What could be luckier than that?”  She hadn’t forgotten the one item he prized and seemed to have out often when they camped.

She saw as understanding finally flashed through his eyes.  Thankfully, his eyes were all that showed it as he reached into a small pouch he kept on his belt and handed her a coin.  “Then, I hope some of my luck extends to you.”

She flashed him a grin.  “Merci beaucoup mon cher.”  When he gave her a questioning look, she waved it off as she turned.  “Ask for a translation later.”

She didn’t wait for any other response as she turned to Setzer.  “Ready?”

“As ever.”

She tossed the coin up and allowed it to fall between them, where it spun on its side for several seconds before it finally fell face up.  She grinned up at him.  “Well, I suppose that means we are going to Vector.”

He looked at her in silence for several seconds before he reached down and picked up the coin.  Alia bit back on the urge to curse as he stood and looked carefully at the coin.  She was shocked as he grinned over at her.  “A two-headed coin.  That is a rare and valuable item.”

She chuckled a little awkwardly.  “Fun fact, the king is a twin.”

She was further shocked when Setzer laughed as he handed the coin back to her.  Though he didn’t release her hand right away.  “I suppose my life is a chip in your pile.  Ante up.”

Alia swallowed at the unmasked fire that was in his eyes for just a moment before he released her hand and turned.  “If we are to go to the Southern Continent, we will need supplies first.  We should leave.”

Both men fell into step behind him, but Alia called out.  “Wait!  Let’s get Celes out of this costume first.  We won’t be long.”  She didn’t wait for a response before she grabbed the ex-general by the arm, and they both headed back to the dressing rooms.

Setzer did not hide the fact that he was enjoying watching them walk away.  Edgar stepped next to him with a frown.  His voice was low.  “I do appreciate your assistance, but do not think of them as items that can be won.  They are more than mere possessions.”

Setzer chuckled as he looked over at the king with a smirk.  “All of life is a gamble.  I have not busted yet.  The game is not yet lost.”  He ignored the look both Edgar and Locke shot him at that as he turned to the door.  “I’ll be on the Blackjack.”

Neither man wanted to leave the women behind, but they didn’t want to let the gambler out of sight either.  Finally, Locke turned to Edgar.  “Follow him.  Maybe you’ll see something that’ll help us.  If anyone’ll understand that contraption, it’ll be you.”  Edgar really didn’t like the situation at all, but he knew his friend was correct.  He gave Locke a nod and followed Setzer into the night.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

It didn’t take long for Edgar to catch up to the pilot.  He hadn’t made it up the gangplank yet.  Once he was even with the man, Setzer grinned over at him.  “Tell me, how did a king wind up in this mess?  Are you unlucky or just vulnerable to a pretty face?”

Edgar frowned slightly.  “Actually, it was I that got both Celes and Alia involved.”

Setzer chuckled.  “So, you have an eye for a pretty face then.  At least I know you have good taste.”

Edgar wanted to be angry at the man for the comment, but he wasn’t entirely wrong.  It wasn’t as though he hadn’t flirted with both of them as well, or at least tried to in one case.  Still, he could not let this stranger get away with such an attitude, so he changed the subject.

“I have seen many machines and have created many more, but I have never seen an airship.  What kind of system does it use for buoyancy?”

At that question, Setzer stopped smiling and gave the king a blank look.  “I will pretend that you were not just trying to ferret out my deepest secrets within minutes of meeting me for the first time.”

Edgar blinked a few times as he realized how he might have felt if their situations had been reversed, and the man had asked about the castle.  He did not like the comparison.  Still, he had many years of practice in diplomacy and smiling when he wanted not to, so that was precisely what he did.  “My apologies if that was the impression I gave.  It’s simply that I do have a soft spot for anything mechanical, and oft-times, my excitement outweighs my judgment.”

Setzer looked at him in silence for a few moments but nodded as he turned to the plank where the rest of the group was coming up.  His smile returned as he took in the sight of the women in their changed clothes and decided immediately that he preferred these outfits over the dress and dungarees.

He gestured for them all to follow him down into the belly of the ship after he quickly gave instructions to several crew hands to get them in the air and headed to Jidoor.  Once they were below, he led them into a large area that was full of felt-covered tables and heavy-looking wooden furniture.  Alia looked around with a critical eye and noted that the place could have looked garish, but it barely missed it.  Instead, it looked opulent.  She leaned against a chair and also noticed that it didn’t move.  She raised a brow at that fact.  It was probably a good thing the furniture was stationary on an airship.

Her attention was drawn back to their host when he started speaking.  “This is the main casino.  Through those double doors behind you is the galley, and past that are the stairs to the cabins.  I will assign you rooms momentarily and give you keys.  You should find all you need below.  There are bells in each cabin if you need anything, and I have a full staff on hand.  Any questions?”

Edgar was looking around appreciatively, and Locke’s eyes were gleaming.  Celes gave him a nod, as did Alia.  At that point, he looked at the two women with a smirk.  “Good, before we disburse there is one more thing I would like to ask.”

Edgar frowned, but stepped forward.  “If you are worried about reimbursement, do not be.  We will make sure you are compensated for your time and supplies.”

Setzer raised a brow at that and grinned.  “While that is good to know, that was not my question.”

Edgar frowned, but Setzer turned to Alia.  “My question was for you.  Now that we are in my home, would you be interested in a bonus round?  Say, double or nothing?”

Alia felt her heart rate pick up.  She hadn’t anticipated this.  She was all for gambling, but they couldn’t afford for him not to take them to Vector.  She ran through all the possibilities and tried to figure out how to word her response.  “Why don’t we discuss this a little before I decide.  What did you have in mind?”

He stepped back and gestured toward the tables.  “I have any game you could wish to play.  As for terms, if you win, I will not only take you to Vector, but I will agree to help the Returners.  If I win, I get you both.”

Alia looked over at Celes and saw the woman frowning.  She clenched her jaw and looked back at him.  She tried to keep her voice even.  “I didn’t realize polygamy was a thing here?”

His eyes flashed, and he smirked at her.  “Who said anything about marriage?

“That is no way to speak to a lady!”

Alia appreciated Edgar’s anger on her behalf, but it wasn’t helping their situation.  At least she knew how to handle this kind of guy.  She let her shoulders relax, and she smirked back as she held up a hand to stop Edgar from advancing.  “Ok, I’ll even make it easy for you.  Take a deck of cards and pick one.  Show it to these guys, so everyone but me will know which it is and then shuffle.  I’ll be able to pick which card it is.  If I’m wrong, you win.”

He laughed at her suggestion.  “I’ve seen that sleight of hand before.”

She raised a brow.  “I won’t touch the deck.  I will only need to run one finger across the backs of the cards to find the right one.  The rest will all be you.  If there is any sleight of hand, it will be yours, not mine.”

His laughter stopped immediately, and he gave her a hard look.  “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

She smirked and nodded.  At that action, Celes came up beside her with a frown, but she took the woman’s hand and squeezed her fingers.  The ex-general stiffened at the personal gesture, but Alia hoped she understood that she would never barter away their freedom so easily without a plan.

She could tell Setzer had caught on already, even if Celes had not.  He was frowning slightly.  “Why would you make such an offer?  What catch is there?”

Alia’s smirk grew.  “Is it worth it to find out?  Am I bluffing, or is there something else?  That is what gambling is about, right, Mr. Gambler?”

His frown disappeared at her taunt, and he threw his head back in laughter.  When he looked back at her, his eyes were glinting.  “Indeed.”  He pulled a deck of cards from an inside pocket of his jacket and winked at her.  “I accept your terms.  Now, turn that pretty head of yours and cover your eyes.  I’ll tell you when it’s safe to turn back.”

She did as asked, and Celes whispered.  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Alia smiled before she covered her eyes.  “Trust me.”  Unfortunately, she could tell the ex-general had a hard time trusting anyone, and this was an impossible request.  Still, Alia had no doubts about how this would play out.  She listened to the sharp sound of the deck being shuffled a few times before she heard the softer sound as he seemed to be looking through them.  After she heard a soft fwip, there was silence for several seconds before the shuffling started again.  It went on much longer that time.  She was beginning to wonder how many times he planned on shuffling those cards when he finally stopped and called out for her to turn.

She lowered her hands and turned to see him standing there with a grin, and the deck fanned out between his hands.  She raised a brow at the confident look in his eyes but returned it with a self-assured smirk of her own.  She stopped in front of him and held up one finger, so he could see she had meant what she said.  She took that finger and started at one side and slowly dragged it across the deck.

She made it all the way to the other end without pause and frowned.  She went back to the other end and repeated the action.  When she reached the far end once again, she looked up and him with lowered brows, and she started chewing on the corner of her lip.  His grin widened.  She pursed her lips at the sight of it and ignored the worried looks of her companions as she ran her hands lightly along his forearms.

Whatever she had been looking for, she didn’t find it.  As her frown grew, so did his grin.  She gritted her teeth but didn’t say anything as she moved to one side and treated his upper arm to the same patdown before moving to the other side and doing the same.

When she came to stand in front of him again, he chuckled.  “Are you quite done feeling my muscles?”

Her eyes flashed, but she took a deep breath and managed to speak calmly.  “No.  Would you lift your arms, please?  I wouldn’t want you to think I am trying to touch the cards.”

He lifted a brow.  “No peeking, either.”

She rolled her eyes.  “I won’t be able to see them either.  You can watch my eyes.”

He finally complied and lifted his arms.  When he did, he tilted the deck just enough that even if she had looked up, she would not have been able to see the underside of them.  It didn’t matter, however, as she was too focused on his chest.

He nearly dropped the cards in his hands when she put her hands on his shoulders and slowly started dragging them down.  It was the last thing he had expected, and he had no idea where this situation was going.  He had to admit that he was reluctant to stop her too.

He started to rethink that when she made it to the waistband of his pants.  He almost stepped back, but he wasn’t fast enough.  By the time he had the thought, she had already slipped two fingers below the band and retrieved what she had been looking for.  She stepped back and held up a single card between her middle and forefinger and gave him an incredulous look. 

“How in the hell did you get it all the way down there without anyone noticing?”

There were several gasps from behind her.  Celes was the first to speak.  “That is the card he picked!”

Alia looked back with a grin.  “I know.”

Her attention was drawn back to Setzer when he swiped the card from her fingers.  He didn’t look angry, though.  Instead, he looked fascinated.  “The question is, how did you know?  Not only could you tell it wasn’t in the deck, but you knew where to find it.”

She shrugged and gave him a grin.  “You’ll be hard-pressed to beat me at any game of chance, but that is a card, and cards speak to me.  Or at least that’s the closest thing I can compare it to.  It’s the reason I’m so accurate with tarot.”

He froze and looked at her with interest for several moments.  “You read tarot?’

Her eyes widened.  He was the first person that had even known the word.  “Yeah.  Do you know what it is?”

“It is a lost art.”  He paused and walked around her once.  “I had heard that the lost arts were being revived, but to know it as truth, that is fascinating.”

Celes looked away at his words, and Edgar stepped up.  “About that.”  The king had to fight not to frown at the pilot after the scene he had just witnessed.  He understood why Alia had done what she did, but that didn’t mean he liked watching it.  Especially as the gambler seemed to have been enjoying it immensely up until he was found out.  Still, they needed the man for the moment.  He pushed aside his personal feelings once again and explained their objectives.  Setzer would need to know the basics, at least if he was to be joining them.

Alia had never been so happy to see a functioning shower in all her life.  It wasn’t that she and Celes hadn’t been staying clean at every spot of water they crossed that was bigger than a puddle, but it wasn’t the same.  They had even had tubs at the opera house, but they had to be filled by hand.  Neither woman had wanted to deal with it more than once.  They ended up cleaning like usual with the pitchers and basins where they slept.

That meant that the hot water pouring from the faucet onto her head at the moment was like heaven.  Setzer had assured them there was a large enough well that was heated by the engines.  They could each take their time, and it would not run dry, at least not with one shower each.

Alia sighed as she realized she didn’t want to be the one to test that theory.  It was too precious a commodity to be banned from it after only one use.  With that thought in mind, she grabbed the soap.

She had barely started lathering up when she heard the cubicle door open behind her and looked over her shoulder sharply.  She froze at the sight of Setzer standing there, smirking at her.  She wasn’t sure whether it would be worse to turn and try to knee him, or just go ahead and scream and expose herself to everyone.

She settled for sighing and glaring at him as best she could without turning around.  “I know I locked the room door.  What the hell are you doing?”

He raised a brow and leaned against the jamb, just out of reach of the spray.  “I am the Captain of this ship.  I have a key that will open all the doors.”

Alia rolled her eyes.  “That is far from comfort inducing with you.  And in no way explains what you are doing here.”

His smirk widened a little.  “I felt it was only fair.  You did just recently have your hands down my pants, after all.”

She cursed under her breath.  “Having the tips of two of my fingers under your waistband in no way correlates to you feasting your eyes on my nude backside.  How does that even make sense?”

He chuckled lowly.  “You could always throw me out.”

“And let you see my front side too?  No thanks.  I could also just scream and let Celes or Edgar come to take care of you.  I’m sure either of them would be happy to introduce you to something pointy and painful.”

He stood at that point and turned slightly.  He was still smiling, but it was subdued.  “Perhaps I simply wanted to talk to you without the others around.”

She frowned at that.  “What?  Why?”

He looked up, and for the first time, she could tell he wasn’t wearing a mask of some sort.  “Maria and I were lovers, though it had been casual.  She wrote over a month ago and said she was with child.  She was desperate.  She was frightened of losing her career.  I did not believe she would run when I offered to take her.”

Alia sighed.  It all made sense now.  Yes, he was still a perv, as his presence in her shower proved, but he wasn’t what she had believed him to be.  Her voice was soft.  “I apologize for misjudging you.  And thank you for helping us.”

Neither of them realized they had both turned to face each other until he looked down and smirked.  “Oh, no, thank you.  Trust me.  The pleasure is all mine.”

Alia growled at the look he was giving her and threw the soap at his head.  “Get out of here, you incorrigible bastard!”

He chuckled as he deftly ducked the slippery projectile and shut the cubicle door before she could find anything else to throw.  He called out as he walked away.  “Breakfast will be at 08:00.”

Alia wasn’t sure what to think about that encounter.  Yes, he had come to purposely peep at her.  However, he had made no move to touch her at all, and he hadn’t even deliberately tried to get her to turn around.  He would have left either way with no objection.  He hadn’t hidden his presence either.  He was very upfront about wanting to see her nude.  Now that she was alone to think about it, he was simply the most forward man she had ever met. 

She shook her head as she finished rinsing off.  They didn’t have time to worry about it currently.  They still had to find a way into the heart of enemy territory and back out again.  If they could live through that, then she would worry about the fact that maybe she didn’t mind the way he looked at her as much as she should have.

As soon as Setzer was in the hall, he leaned back next to the door and closed his eyes.  He was going to need a moment before he could manage to make it anywhere, much less before he could be seen walking through the populated portions of the ship and to his own cabin.  He sighed as he realized he was going to need an icy shower before his problem was dealt with.

He had gone into her cabin on a whim.  He really had wanted to tell her about Maria, but hearing her in the shower was hard to walk away from.  He had still planned on doing so, but she had made a sound that was suspiciously like a moan, and his curiosity got the better of him.  At least he had not tried to be sneaky.  She knew from the first that he was there.  If she had screamed or demanded that he leave, he would have.  Instead, she had addressed his presence with snark.  She was unlike almost any woman he had ever known.  Only one other had been similar.  That thought was finally enough to cool what that last image of her had done.

He opened his eyes to see the resident thief standing across the hall with arms crossed.  He swallowed a sigh as the man spoke quietly.  “It’s a good thing I’m the one across the hall, and not Celes or Edgar.  If either of them had heard you come out of her cabin and saw what I just did, even the fact that this is your airship wouldn’t have saved you.  We may not be as close to Alia as we are to each other yet, but she is still our ally.  Don’t forget that if you plan for us to trust you too.”

Setzer stood with a smirk.  “Trust is overrated, but I have gambled my life away.  Don’t worry that it isn’t yours for the duration.”  He ignored the man’s huff as he sauntered off and back to the Captain’s quarters.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

It took them less than two days to get back to Jidoor and less than half a day to negotiate for all the supplies they would need.  Alia was fascinated with all the little cubbies that opened for storage.  There was no wasted space in the airship at all.  She had been a bit leery of it when she first saw it since it literally looked like a ship with a blimp on top.  Inside it was similar to a ship as well, but the bowels of it were where the engines were along with all the other technical stuff that made it a luxury liner in the sky.  It was not only an amazing piece of machinery, but it was also unlike anything she had ever seen. 

Her only disappointment was the fact that Setzer refused to let any of them below the level with the cabins.  It wasn’t that both she and Edgar hadn’t asked many times, but the pilot wouldn’t even consider it.  Not even with the prospect of trading information or gambling. 

Once they left Jidoor, they were informed it would take them more than a week to get to the southern tip of their destination.  They couldn’t go directly to Vector without being seen from the air, so they would have to land elsewhere and walk there.

Since they were confined to their cabins, the casino, or the deck, Alia often found herself in the casino.  That was where Edgar found her after they had been out for two days.  She was sitting alone at one table with several cards laid out in front of her.  Setzer was seated a short distance away and watching her with curiosity, but she didn’t seem to know he was there either.

Edgar gave the man a frown as he approached Alia.  He watched as she laid out a couple more cards and then frowned at them all.  When she didn’t do anything else, he finally spoke up.  “That is the most unusual game of solitaire I have ever seen.”

She jumped slightly and whirled around to face him.  It only took her a moment to recover, and her frown was back, though it didn’t show in her voice.  “It’s not solitaire.  It isn’t as good as using a full deck, but a regular deck of cards can be substituted for the Minor Arcana of a tarot deck.”  She pointed to the cross-shaped pattern.  “See, the diamonds are pentacles, the spades are swords, the hearts are cups, and the clubs are wands.  It’s a lot more cloudy, but without my deck, this is the best I can do.”

He blinked at her several times as he tried to figure out what to say.  Before he could, Setzer had stood and joined them.  “It is utterly transfixing to watch.  I believe her frown has grown larger each time she had gone through this procedure.  What I find most interesting is that I have seen her do this at least ten times now, and each time eight out of the ten cards have been the same.  And it isn’t as though she hasn’t shuffled them well.”

Edgar’s eyes widened again.  Alia had told them all that she could see future events, and they had each seen enough magic to accept it with few questions at the time, but seeing this was altogether different.  “So, you are saying you have seen the future?”

She chuckled and shook her head.  “You make it sound as though I am making a prophecy.  It’s nothing like that.  It’s more like an idea of the overall outcome, or perhaps it might better be described as the effects of the outcome.  Still, it’s not the details.”

Edgar took a seat nearby and pointed to the card layout.  “Can you explain?”

She sighed.  “There is no point in going over each one.  Setzer was right in that all my readings have pretty much said the same thing.  It says to expect a conflict, but one we will emerge from victoriously and stronger for having been through it.”

Edgar took a deep breath.  That wasn’t surprising.  None of them had expected to get into the capital of the Empire with no fighting.  This actually sounded like the best possible outcome, but that didn’t explain her frown.  “What aren’t you saying?”

When she looked back to him, her eyes were troubled.  “They are also showing a loss.  Not an overall loss, but something important will be lost.”

Edgar sat back with a sigh and ran his hand down his face.  Again, this was something they had all been prepared for.  He didn’t like hearing that it was a likelihood, but they couldn’t let it stop them.  He stood and shared her frown.  “Would you please keep this to yourself?”

She frowned at him.  “I hadn’t planned on telling anyone unless it was something we could act on.  I only told you because you asked.”

He nodded absently and tried to smile.  “I apologize if I made it sound like you did something wrong.  It would be best if the rest are not too worried when we get there.”

Alia nodded as he walked off and swiped the cards up and started shuffling again.  Setzer took the seat the king had just vacated, and watched her shuffling with a raised a brow for several seconds before he spoke up.  “Why do you keep trying in the vain attempt for different results?  That is the definition of insanity, you know.”

She shot him a glare.  “Why are you talking to me?”

He smirked and leaned forward.  “Just curious.  Are you still angry about my welcome, or because I won’t share my secrets?”

Her hands froze for several seconds before she looked up at him with a glint in her eyes.  “Tell you what, if you want answers, why don’t you help me?”

He gave her a curious look.  “Oh?  How would that be possible?”

She sighed and set the cards down.  “I am not looking for different results, not really.  I was hoping for a little clarification.  Maybe if I do a reading for you, then I can at least rule some stuff out.”

He picked up the deck she had abandoned and started shuffling.  His eyes were excited, even if his voice was even.  “And what would I need to do?”

She laughed and gestured to him.  “You’re already doing it.  Just handle the cards for a bit while you think of whatever question you want.  When you feel like it has been enough, hand them back to me.”

He raised a brow but continued to shuffle.  It was several moments later that he laid the deck down in front of her.  “And should I tell you my question?”

She shook her head and smirked at him.  “No, and knowing you, I don’t want to hear it.”

He put a hand over his heart.  “I am offended.”

She snorted at his exaggeration, and his smirk returned, but he turned serious quickly.  “If you do not know my question, how can you be sure this will help you find clarification?  What if my question was as frivolous as you expected it to be?”

She smiled at him.  “Even so, it could show where you are headed.  Since our paths are the same for now, I will hopefully at least know what our loss will not be.”

He blinked a few times as he processed her words.  Finally, he nodded.  “I suppose that makes sense.”  He gestured to the cards in her hands.  “Let’s see if our paths are indeed the same, shall we?”

She nodded before she shuffled once more and fanned them out.  She closed her eyes and ran her finger over the cards before she started picking them one by one.  It was only a matter of moments before she had a new pattern in front of her.  Setzer’s eyes widened as he once again saw four of the same cards as before.  He was a master at statistics.  You couldn’t be in the business he was in and not be, but it was impossible for those cards to have been pulled randomly so many times in a row.  And yet, there they were.

His attention focused back up to Alia’s face when she started talking.  “Well, that is not what I was expecting.”

He raised a brow.  “What do my cards have to say?”

She gave him a thoughtful look and smiled at him.  The look threw him off balance.  “Well, given how many hearts there are, I would say most of your decisions are made with your emotions and not your logic.  Which, I suppose, isn’t surprising.  In the past position, it also shows heartache.”  She paused and gave him a look that he couldn’t interpret.

She didn’t give him a chance to try before she continued.  “Your conflict will also be heartache, but overall, it looks like you will manage to achieve whatever it is you are looking for.”

Setzer froze for several seconds.  He had not considered what her cards might turn up.  In just those few sentences, she had unveiled things that he had buried under years of self-indulgence.  Still, she wasn’t asking what they were.  He took a deep breath and waved his hand toward the cards.  “What kind of heartache could possibly cause me conflict?”

He was smirking, but it fell away when she turned to him with a sober look.  “There are many kinds of heartache, not just that caused by a lover.”  She looked around at the room they were in.  “It could be the loss of something treasured, or even-“  She paused, and her gaze softened before she continued.  “A heartache caused by wondering what might have been.”

It did not take him long to understand what she was referencing.  She had been the only one he had told about Maria.  She had also been the only one that found out what the messenger bird had been about the day before.  The Impresario had written to let him know Maria was back and better than ever, but he was banned from the opera house.  It stung his pride more than his heart, but part of him wondered if she had lied, or if something far worse had happened.  Either way, it was done, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

He stood and stepped away from the table.  It was several moments before he finally turned back.  “And does any of this help with your clarification?”

Alia sighed and gave him a nod.  “Yes, actually.  Although this speaks of heartache, it doesn’t specifically reference loss.  So I doubt it has anything to do with you or the Blackjack.  That’s something, right?”

His smirk was quickly back in place.  “Indeed.  We won’t get far without her.”  Alia rolled her eyes at his mercurial temperament.  It was just what she had needed, though.  She put the cards back in the middle of the table and decided to get some fresh air while she could.  When they got to their destination, it was likely to get messy again.

When they reached the southern continent, Setzer took them around the edge and to the southern tip.  Even from that distance, they could still see the city rising above everything else in the center.  It was just a speck, but it stood out as a bleak brown color against the verdant plains around it.  Alia felt a cold pit roll up in her stomach when she first laid eyes on it.  It didn’t go away either.

Still, she didn’t mention it to any of the rest of the party as they gathered what they would need for an extended trip and headed to the closest town.  Setzer ended up coming with them.  Edgar had questioned him about the decision, but he had just grinned back.

“I did say that I would join you, remember?  My crew will find a spot to stay where they will be close enough to retrieve us in case of an emergency.  I have the means to let them know if it all goes to hell.”

Edgar felt the urge to ask what it was on the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back.  He doubted he would get a straight answer.  Instead, he nodded and led them all down the gangplank.  “Well, I know there are a few towns we might want to stop in before we try to reach Vector.  It could help us gather intel.”

Alia frowned at both men.  Part of her wanted to ask why they hadn’t just gotten closer right off the bat if there was a way for Setzer’s crew to do so ‘in case of emergency,’ but like Edgar, she doubted she would get a satisfactory answer.  The pilot sometimes liked to do things the hard way just because he could.

Thankfully, the first town Edgar wanted to stop in was only a few hours away by foot.  Alia grudgingly accepted that this might have been why they had landed where they did.  Still, she wasn’t too fond of the idea of walking to the next town that wasn’t decimated.  It didn’t take them long to find out there weren’t many remaining.  Any city that had even tried to resist the Empire was razed.

They ended up taking nearly two weeks before they finally made their way to Vector.  They spent several nights in burnt out buildings that provided slightly better shelter than the tents from the monsters that roamed the land and the thieves that seemed to avoid the places.  It was probably because most of them came from those towns in the first place.

The whole thing gave Alia a heaping helping of the creeps, and she could tell Celes was unsettled as well.  She had a feeling a lot of the ex-general’s problem was because she was seeing things from the other side for the first time.  It had to be unpleasant for the woman.  Alia did her best to keep Celes occupied, at least.

They managed to find out that even on this continent, there were Returners sympathizers.  That didn’t mean they were helped often, as many of those weren’t found until they were being hauled into the open by guards, but at least they had been able to aid a few of those.  Locke’s skill with picking locks actually paid off.

They were glad to have saved a few lives, but more than that, they found that there were even a few sympathizers in the capital.  It might be hard to find them, but if they could, then they might find a way into the labs.  Celes had told them there was a direct way in through the transport shafts if they could get past the guards.  So far, it was the closest thing to a plan they had.

When they got to Vector, they were able to get into the city with no trouble.  Alia was both awed and disgusted by the sight of it.  In a world that mostly seemed to be in the dawnings of an industrial revolution, mainly with two of the males she was currently traveling with, this city was grossly out of place.  The fact that it was only possible because of magic stolen from other beings made it hard to stomach.

They hadn’t even been in the city for a full day when they stumbled upon what they had been searching for entirely by accident.  They entered a small side building that looked like an item shop.  They almost left immediately when they found a single woman sitting in the middle of the room.

They stopped when she called out.  Alia felt her stomach clench and almost pulled them out anyway, but didn’t get to before the woman spoke in a harsh voice.  “I haven’t seen you here before.  Are you those vile terrorists trying to defile this city!?”

They all froze with widened eyes.  So far, none of them had been recognized.  Not even Celes.  They had all worn cloaks, which wasn’t that out of place in the busy metropolis, so this was unexpected.  Apparently, their silence was taken as a yes.  One of the walls slid back, and several troops sprang out at them.

Alia was sickened by the thought of killing men that were defending their home, but she hated the idea of dying more.  Thankfully, it had only been a few of them, and it was not a long skirmish.  Alia had to step out to empty her stomach as the woman stood and apologized.  She helped them clean up the mess while Setzer stepped out with Alia.

He held out a handkerchief when she stood.  His eyes were stormy when he caught her gaze.  “Killing a man is not the same as killing a monster.  Are you certain you can do this?”

Alia could feel tears in her eyes and ignored them as she shook her head.  “Not at all, but I don’t have a choice.  It’s not like I can just quit and go home.”

Something in her broken voice caught his attention.  He had known that she was a recent addition to their team, but they had not shared more than that.  She had not spoken to him much either, not after his stunt the first day they were on the airship.  She didn’t seem to hold it against him now, but she had kept her distance.  He wondered now at the loss that had made her join the cause of the rebels.

He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself, as though she were trying to keep her trembling from shaking her to pieces.  Part of him wanted to comfort her, but he hadn’t the slightest clue how.  He wasn’t given a chance as Edgar chose that moment to step out.

“Alia!  Are you alright?”  The king didn’t wait for a response.  As soon as she turned to him with tear-streaked cheeks, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close with a curse.  “Come inside.  “Ms. Kaks has a place for us to stay for tonight.  We can plan for tomorrow.”

He didn’t let go of her shoulders as she nodded and allowed herself to be guided into the building.  Setzer frowned as he followed them into the building.  This whole mess was already becoming bothersome.

Once everyone settled in the secret room, it was revealed that the woman, Ms. Kaks, had been suspected of being a Returners sympathizer.  She was, of course, but that meant she was put under observation.  She apologized profusely for getting them involved, but Edgar and Celes both assured her it worked out for the best.

Alia had been quiet.  None of them had thought about how it would affect the young woman to have to kill a man.  When they found her in Zozo, they hadn’t needed to kill to get away.  If she had been forced to kill before they found her, they doubted she had been in a frame of mind to deal with it adequately at the time.  She had been forced into extraordinary circumstances and did what she must to survive.  This had been different.  She was still doing what she must to survive, but her head was far clearer.

As they made plans to meet with another sympathizer the next day, Celes stood and had Alia follow her back to the other room.  It was dark, but they had a little privacy.  The ex-general leaned against the wall and gave her a cool look.  “We will be forced to face men again before we leave this city.  Can you take a life?”

By that time, Alia had been able to process what had happened.  She sighed as she returned Celes’ look.  “I would love to say no.  Honestly, the thought of it makes me want to run away screaming.  I know that isn’t an option, though.  I can’t go home.  I was sent here for some reason.  Even I’m not crazy enough to think this was a coincidence.”

Celes’ only answer was a frown.  “That does not answer my question.” 

Alia chuckled bitterly.  “I suppose not.  Not directly.”  She stood and squared her shoulders.  “I will not abandon any of you.  If that means that I fight your enemies, your human enemies, then so be it.  I will face my nightmares.”

Celes raised a brow at the fact that fresh tears had stared despite her determined statement.  She stood and placed a hand on Alia’s shoulder.  “That is a braver statement than most I have heard from green troops.  Just remember you aren’t alone, and this isn’t in vain.”

Alia allowed her shoulders to relax under the ex-general’s touch.  “Thanks.”  That was the last thing said as they rejoined the rest of their group and settled into an uneasy sleep as they prepared for the following day.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

Alia felt better with sleep.  Thankfully, her mood from the previous night had not caused a rift with her companions.  Not even Locke gave her more than an understanding smile as they left.  She supposed it made sense.  It wasn’t as though they all started out as killers.  They had to understand why she felt the way she did.

It didn’t take them long to find the man they were supposed to be meeting with.  After exchanging an incredibly cheesy line with the man, he had them follow him back among some crates.  They were hidden from view of the city, mostly, but they could hear some guards in magitek armor nearby.  Getting past them would take some planning.  Luckily, the man had a plan.  A really shitty one, but a plan nonetheless. 

He pointed to the top of the crates to where there was a narrow beam that held the point of the cable carts.  It went all the way into the tunnel Celes had mentioned.  They could use it to pass over the guards as long as none of them looked up.  It was dangerous as hell, but it was their best option.  Alia once again thanked her summers with her uncle as she followed everyone up.  It wasn’t long until they heard the man staggering out in front of the guards.

Alia almost laughed when she heard something splatter, and one of the guards cursed.  Apparently, the old man’s idea of causing a distraction was to puke on the head guard.  She hoped that they took pity on the fact that he was an old man and didn’t treat him poorly for it.  She barely had time to glance back to see the three guards standing around the old man while the head guard was yelling.  At least it was just yelling.  She sent up a prayer that it stayed that way as they reached the end of the beam and jumped down.

It wasn’t long at all until they all became more than grateful for Celes’ knowledge.  The tunnels were convoluted and branched off ceaselessly.  She didn’t hesitate as she led them, though.  It seemed to take forever, but they eventually made it to a door that opened into some sort of factory.

They all paused just inside the room.  Celes assured them that most of the process was automated.  Unless there were an issue that stopped production, they would not encounter another person.  That didn’t stop them from being leery, but it did get them moving.

For the most part, they stuck together.  The only one that felt the need to explore was Locke.  Alia grimaced at that particular part of his nature but didn’t complain too much when one of his side trips had him bringing back a sword that crackled with electricity.  It was fascinating to look at, but even handier when they were attacked by a group of machine sentries not long afterward.

Alia really wondered at the logic of whoever had been storing that thing down here, but she wasn’t going to complain.  Celes was an excellent swordswoman, to begin with, but with that thing in hand, she was incredible against the machines they kept running into.  At least they hadn’t seen any humans.  Celes had been correct about that part.

The whole factory seemed like a maze, but Celes still appeared to know where she was going.  They had to do a little inventive maneuvering to get to new areas, as some of them were blocked to human entrance from where they were, but they made it work.

They had managed to make it up onto a catwalk, and Celes had told them they were getting close to their destination when she froze and gestured for them to all hide.  None of them questioned her as they jumped behind some nearby crates.  It was only a moment later when several people came through an adjacent room.  Alia felt the dread she had been pushing down for the last couple of weeks, blossom into something that nearly overwhelmed her as she laid eyes on the one in the middle.  He was dressed like some sort of clown or jester, but she could see the madness in him, even from where she was standing.

The clown man did a little dance around the two armored men and cackled as he poked the things they were holding.  It was at that time that she realized they must be espers.  She didn’t even hear what he said to them before he ordered them to be disposed of.  Like they were nothing more than trash.  Alia hadn’t realized she tried to stand until a sharp tug on her arm pulled her back.  She looked back to see a frowning Edgar.  He mouthed the words.  ‘Just wait.’

She didn’t like it, but she did as she was told and watched the trio walk back the way they had come.  Once they were sure the three men were gone, they stood and turned to Celes.  She was frowning, and her voice was low.  “I hadn’t wanted to believe the Empire was really using espers.”  She looked over at Locke and gave him a determined nod.  “We cannot let this continue.  Kefka and Gestahl must be stopped.”

An unnamed emotion flashed through Locke’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.  “That’s why we’re here.  Or at least part of it.  Let’s go see what’s down there.”

Alia didn’t like the idea of heading down into a pit there was no guarantee they could get out of, but no one else seemed bothered.  She almost wanted to be sick again as soon as they landed.  The room wasn’t large, but there were partially eaten corpses littering the corners.  The things that seemed to be eating them reminded her of cheesy 1960’s horror film monsters.  Thankfully they had all gathered around the two bodies that had just been dropped, and between a few well-aimed spells from their party, they melted away quickly.  Alia shuddered as she watched the goo disappear through a grate in the floor.

As soon as those were taken care of, they went to inspect the two that had fallen.  Much to their surprise, they weren’t as dead as the group had believed.  Alia barely missed being shanked by an ice spear as the blue woman jumped up.  The red demon-looking one was right behind her.  Thankfully, the two of them didn’t fight for long.  Locke still had Ramuh’s magicite, and it had begun to glow.  The female lowered another ice spear and looked at him for a moment before she spoke.

“I sense a kindred spirit.”

The one next to her looked over as well.  “It is Ramuh.”  He paused and took a step forward.  He looked at all of them.  “I sense several of our companions with you.”

Edgar stepped forward as well.  “Yes, it is a long story, but the gist of it is that one of our friends is part esper.  She had an accident, and Ramuh found her.  He lent us his aid so we could come to help you in the hopes that you could, in turn, help her.”

The female esper stepped forward.  “I am Shiva.  May I hold his magicite?”

Locke pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.  They had summoned the spirit of the esper enough times to suspect that there was some way they could still communicate with their own kind, so this wasn’t too strange a request.

It was only a matter of moments later that Shiva looked up sharply and over at Alia.  She looked back at the other, and he too looked at her.  The girl took a nervous step back at their intense gazes.  The male was the one to speak.  “I am Ifrit.  Even though we have been weakened, even I can sense what Ramuh sensed in you now that I am paying attention.  What are you, child?”

Setzer was the only one of their companions that had not known about Ramuh’s previous statements, so he was the only one looking at her with curiosity.  She was just grateful that’s all it was.  She was barely dealing with the looks of the two espers as she spoke.  “I’m human.”

Ifrit chuckled, but it held no mirth.  “No.  Not like these others.  You are not an esper either.  You are something different.”

Alia wasn’t sure what to think of that.  She hadn’t been sure if any of the others had noticed that she had learned the magic from the magicite at least twice as fast as any of the others, even Celes.  She knew why that was, but she already felt out of place.  She hoped now was not when it came out.  She was more than thankful when Shiva looked back to the others.

“That is of no consequence.  We understand why you have come.  We cannot help in the way you wished, as our time is short, but we can lend you aid in the same way our brother, Ramuh,  has.  Use it well and defeat the Empire.”  No one was able to say anything before the two of them were enveloped in a bright light and disappeared.

It happened so abruptly that no one moved for several moments, not even Locke.  Finally, Edgar stepped forward and picked up the two pieces of magicite before he turned back to them all.  He gave Alia an odd look but shook it off as he turned to Celes.  “Where to next?”

The ex-general was also giving Alia an odd look, but it was more understanding.  When Edgar asked where to go, she nodded to the girl and pointed to the farthest door.  “That should take us back out of here.”

She had been correct.  It led to a set of stairs that had them out of that depressing room and back on track.  It wasn’t long until they entered a place that had tubes that once looked like they could have held specimens of some sort.  They looked like giant versions of the test tubes you see in a scientist’s lab with extra gadgets around the bottom and top.  That thought gave her chills when she thought about what it could mean.

Her disquiet was not helped by the fact that she was trying to fight the same feeling she had as they had been searching for Terra.  It was stronger this time.  It almost felt like something was calling to her, just out of range of her hearing, but still close enough that she could sense it.  It had her nerves on edge.  No one else seemed to notice anything, so she had a sneaky suspicion it had to do with the rest of the espers.  She was starting to see a pattern.  There was some connection there that she would eventually have to explore.  Now was not the time to think about it, though.

Setzer had also noticed how jumpy she had become.  A furrow had formed between her brows, and he doubted she realized the fact that she kept rubbing either her temple or her stomach.  Something was bothering her extra sense, of that much, he was sure.  Whatever it was, he was confident it would be unpleasant.  He stepped closer to her as they made their way through the creepy room.

They were stopped when a man stepped from behind one of the tubes.  Setzer quickly amended that descriptor when the thing looked over at them.  It was man-shaped, but he couldn’t tell if it was a man.  The thing proved to be more of a problem than they had anticipated.  It was not as vulnerable to lightning as any of the others and was twice as fast.  In fact, it seemed to absorb the first spell Celes sent its way.  After that, they tried to pummel it, but that was not easy either.  The metal body made things harder than it should have been.  Thankfully, Edgar had thought to bring his drill and was able to use it to make openings the rest of them could exploit.

Thankfully, it finally went down in a heap after it lost an arm.  Edgar stopped and picked up one of the swords it had been using.  It was similar to the one Locke had found for Celes, except it was coated with ice.  It could come in handy, so he pushed it through his belt as they headed onward.

Almost as soon as they were in the next room, Alia grabbed her head.  Setzer was still next to her, so he was the only one to notice.  The rest were too taken by the sight of several espers floating in tanks like the ones in the previous room.  At least they didn’t notice until she started yelling.

She had dropped to her knees, despite Setzer’s presence.  “Oh, god!  The pain!  Let them out!  LET THEM OUT!”

They were only frozen for a few seconds.  Celes and Edgar ran toward Alia, while Locke ran toward the control panel.  It only took him a moment to locate the most prominent button and pushed it.  Thankfully, it was the one to drain the tanks.

As soon as they started draining away, one of the espers spoke.  “We see you want to help us, but we don’t have long.  We will lend you our aid.  Use all that you have been given and do not allow this to be in vain.”

At that point, there were several bright lights, and each of them changed to magicite.  Before the lights had faded completely, a man in a yellow lab coat came running into the room.  “What is going on here?”  He looked around at everyone and then at the tubes.  He looked torn, but not for long.  His attention was drawn to the cylinder closest to him, where he was looking at a readout.  “So, when an esper dies, they become this.  The power output is far greater than anything I have seen before.  Interesting.”

That was when he finally turned to Celes.  “General, where have you been?  Is it true that you left to infiltrate the rebel base?”

Locke froze from beside her and turned to her with shock.  “Celes?”

She shook her head and gave him a pleading look.  “No!  I did not deceive you!”

Alia had finally recovered, and made it to her feet with Setzer’s help, though she was still shaky.  She glared at Locke.  “Wise up.  This is classic.  They probably covered her absence, so they didn’t look like fools.”

None of them got to say anything else as the shards grabbed everyone’s attention.  They all floated up and out of their containers, and instead of going to one of the Returners, they gravitated to Alia.  She barely managed to catch them.  All the eyes in the room were turned to her, but only until a creepy laugh was heard from the doorway.

“Excellent work General.  You don’t have to keep up this charade anymore.  Now that we know how to get the most out of these espers, we can conquer the world easily!  Bring me those magicite!”  Kefka started cackling harder at the looks the two men next to Celes were giving her.  “Ah, the sweet taste of betrayal!”

Alia tried to take a step toward them and nearly fell.  Setzer caught her, but the action drew Kefka’s attention.  His eyes widened, and he grinned wider.  “And what are you?”  He stepped closer, and Setzer grabbed her and pushed her behind him.  Kefka ignored the action as he leaned far to the side so he could still see her.  “I tingle when I look at you.”

Setzer glared at the man before he turned and swept Alia up into his arms.  “Up you go.”  He ignored her protests as he joined the rest of their group. 

It didn’t matter as Kefka laughed again and pointed at them.  “No matter.  Kill them all!”

Two magitek knights came forward with a blast that Celes was barely able to deflect.  It knocked Locke off his feet, and the other two were sent off balance.  Celes regained her feet and looked back once.  Alia wanted to scream at the expression she saw.  The ex-general’s words were barely audible.  “Locke, for once, let me protect you.”

“Celes, wait!”  Alia’s scream was drowned out by a bright flash as Celes cast a teleport spell that transported herself, Kefka, and the two magitek knights.

None of them were given long to worry about Celes’ action, though, as an ominous rumbling had started.  Cid, the scientist that had first spoken to Celes, jumped up and looked at one of the empty capsules.  He cursed under his breath and waved at the group.  “This way!  That blast reversed the flow of energy in these capsules, and they are about to overload!”

Even without a scientific background, that didn’t need much explaining.  They all quickly followed the man down a set of stairs and to an elevator.  As they rode down, he turned to them with a frown.  “Kefka has been using me, using the empire.  We cannot let him continue.  I was a fool.”

Alia snorted.  “Yeah, you were!  Who the hell thinks it’s okay to do that to sentient beings!”

The scientist looked away uncomfortably, and Alia felt a suspicious rumble from the man that still held her.  She looked up to see him looking the other way.  She frowned at him but looked back to Cid when he spoke again.  “You may be right about that, too, but we were told it would be for the betterment of mankind.”

By that time, they had made it to the bottom floor and disembarked.  Cid looked at them all with a frown.  “I practically raised Celes.  I doted on her, but I also pushed her to become who she is today.  I have no doubt that she will survive, so when I see her again, I will apologize.”

Alia had so much she wanted to say to the man at that moment but bit her tongue.  At least he looked to be genuinely remorseful and not just putting on an act.  It still pissed her off that it came at such a high cost.

They didn’t have time to worry about it either.  The laugh they heard echoing off the walls above them was already recognizable and unmistakable.  Cid turned to them with widened eyes.  “This way!  I’ll try to delay Kefka and convince the Emperor to stop this foolish war!  Go now!”

He nearly physically pushed them all onto one of the carts used to transport materials in and out of the facility before he programmed something into it.  He hit the go button.  “That will take you to the exit.  Good luck!”  None of them got to ask anything else before the cart immediately started moving.

They were all shell shocked.  They had achieved their objective, sort of, but Celes had been left behind.  Alia felt sick at the realization of what her prediction had meant.  Edgar had given her a few sideling looks that she ignored so far.  There would be time for that later.  Currently, she was trying to deal with merely staying conscious.  Whatever had happened when they first encountered the espers had drained her.  Besides that, she was still pissed at Locke.  When they got back to the ship, she had a few choice things to say to him.

They didn’t have long to worry about any of that, though.  It wasn’t long until they were attacked by several groups of mechanical enemies on wheels.  Setzer put Alia on the floor of the cart behind him and gave her a wink.  “Why don’t you watch my backside for now.  It should provide enough entertainment until we get out of here.”

She wanted to be mad at his arrogance, but she snickered instead as he stood.  Before he was even facing the other direction, she felt one of the newest magicite calling for her attention.  Despite how much she wanted to ignore it, she knew now was not the time.  She pulled it out and listened as it explained why she should summon it.  Almost as soon as it was finished, she did just that.  The act nearly made her pass out, but she managed.

Her team was now invisible to anyone that wished them harm.  When the machines suddenly stopped attacking or started missing, Edgar turned to her with shock.  “What was that?”

She waved him off as she tried to hold herself up.  “Later.  Get us out of here first.”

He frowned.  Both at her dismissal, and at how exhausted she looked, but he knew she was correct.  Since they could not be hit, it did not take them long at all to dispose of the last of their enemies.  When they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, they all sent up thankful prayers.  They weren’t out of danger completely, but hopefully, the worst was over.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

When they finally made it out of the building, they found that their hope had only been wishful thinking.  The explosions from inside the research facility had drawn far too much attention.  The area around the front gates was swarming with soldiers, so their pathway back into the city was completely blocked.  Edgar cursed under his breath as he pushed them all back into the tunnel and peeked around the edge again. 

It was a moment later that he turned to Setzer.  “Now would be a good time to initialize your emergency whatever it is.”

Setzer gave him a smirk before he looked down at Alia.  He had picked her back up once the cart stopped.  “I know the King is a poor substitute, but I’m afraid I need my hands for this.”

She rolled her eyes at him.  “Just put me down.”

He laughed.  “As humorous as I might find it to watch you fall on your enticing behind, now is not the time.”

By that point, Edgar had walked over and reached out for her.  When she protested, he lowered his voice.  “Alia, I don’t know what happened back there, but we can all see how it affected you.  It isn’t shameful to ask for help when you need it.”

She sighed and allowed herself to be transferred from one man to the other before Setzer walked to the mouth of the tunnel.  He held up something that looked suspiciously like a gun.  Alia’s eyes widened at the loud report.  “A flare!?  Why don’t you just invite the Imperials in here while you’re at it!”

He turned back with a frown.  “We will be gone by then.”

Edgar was in agreement with Alia.  “How?  There is no telling how far away the airship is!”

Setzer just grinned as they all heard the familiar whir of blades, and they sounded too large to be the ones from the Empire’s machines.  Edgar and Locke followed Setzer out of the tunnel and to the edge of the wall.  Coming toward them quickly was the Blackjack.

Setzer didn’t wait for the question he knew they all had.  “I had them camouflage her and bring her as close to the city as they could via the ground.  They hid her in the woods.”

Edgar started laughing as he saw the ladder that was hanging down.  They all heard troops running toward them, but by that time, the airship was already there.  Setzer reached back for Alia.  “I’ll take the lady up last.  You two go, and the pulley can handle us.”

Edgar looked like he was going to argue, but Alia could see several magitek knights quickly closing into firing range.  “Not now.  Just let me go, and I’ll climb up my damn self!”

The king sighed at her outburst and handed her back before he scrambled up.  Locke followed after.  Setzer looked down at her.  “Now, wrap those lovely legs around my waist and hold on tight.  I will make sure you don’t fall, but I will need at least one hand free.”

She wanted to throw a fit, but her limbs felt like jello.  It was only adrenaline that was keeping her going at this point.  She did as he asked and ignored his smirk as he grabbed onto the ladder.  She was thankful that he had been correct.  All he had to do was hold on tight, and his crew did the rest.

When they made it to the top, several men were there to haul them both the last little bit of the way.  Setzer issued several curt orders that would get them out of firing range as quickly as possible.  Even with doing so, they all heard a sickening crunching noise before they could leave the city.  Edgar looked over at the pilot.  “That did not sound good.”

“Hmm.”  That was Setzer’s only response as he sprinted up the stairs.  He only paused long enough to deposit Alia on one of the couches in the casino before they all ran up to the deck to see why they had stopped going forward.

Alia felt absolutely useless, despite the reassurances she was getting from the magicite she had been near the longest.  She listened intently to the sound of several explosions, and thankfully it was only a matter of minutes later that the Blackjack was moving again.  At least there hadn’t been anymore crunching noises.

The three men all looked as tired and worn as Alia felt when they came back down.  By that time, she managed to stand on her own and locked her knees.  It was all for show, but she had something she needed to do before she found her bed.  She looked over to Locke and paused.  He was looking down dejectedly.  She sighed but still called out to him.  When he looked up, she caught his eye.

“I really had every intention of slapping the shit out of you, even if it made me fall over again.  I can see I don’t need to, though.  Just do me a favor, and the next time you see her, make sure she knows you never really doubted her.”

Locke looked away from them all, and she could see him swallow thickly before he turned back and nodded.  “Sure thing.”  He didn’t say anything else before he turned and walked downstairs.

Alia sighed as he walked away.  There was an awkward silence for several moments before she turned to Setzer.  “Is the Blackjack alright?”

He raised a brow at her.  “She’s flying, isn’t she?”

Alia nearly flipped him off.  Instead, she took a deep breath.  “I don’t have the patience for you right now.”  She turned to Edgar.  “I’m sure you have questions, but can we table them until later?”

He gave her a nod, even though he didn’t look happy about it.  That was all the response she needed before she turned to find her bed.  She had barely made it two steps when her feet seemed to tangle together, and she nearly faceplanted.  Thankfully, Setzer was close enough that he was able to catch her.  He pulled her up with a chuckle and shook his head.  “So stubborn.  Why don’t we get you to bed.”

She frowned up at him.  “Can you stop already.  I’ve heard enough innuendo from you today to last me a month!”

His eyes danced with mirth as he ignored Edgar’s frown and started down the stairs with Alia.  “Only a month?  I’ll have to try harder.”

She growled at him, and he flashed her a grin.  “Honestly, I was not even suggesting taking you to my bed, but depositing you in your own.  The fact that your mind immediately thought otherwise says more about you than it does me.”

She opened her mouth for a scathing retort but snapped it shut as she realized he had a point.  She still frowned at him.  “You can’t blame me.  Who the hell flirts when there is fighting going on?”

He smirked at her once again.  “It didn’t seem to be bothering you at the time.  As a matter of fact, I do believe I heard you laughing.”

So, he had a point about that too.  She shook her head and let it lay against his chest.  Mostly so he couldn’t see her trying to fight a smile.  She didn’t bother responding.  When they got to her room, he politely asked for help opening the door, and she obliged before he gently set her down on the bed.  He even knelt and started helping her with her shoes.

She called out with embarrassment.  “Don’t!”  When he paused and looked up, she shook her head.  “I can get it.  Thanks for bringing me down here.”

He gave her a nod and turned to leave.  He paused on his way out.  “Rest as long as you need to.  The king can wait for his answers.”  Alia frowned, but didn’t get to say anything before he flashed her a grin.  “Besides, I may enjoy having you in my arms, but I much prefer watching you walk across my deck.” 

He didn’t give her a chance to say anything else before he winked and closed the door behind himself.  Alia was too exhausted to worry about it.  About any of it.  She pried her tennis shoes off one at a time with her toes and let them fall to the floor before she flopped back.  It was only a matter of minutes before she was asleep.

Alia ended up sleeping for nearly a whole day.  When she did finally wake, they had already decided to head straight back to Zozo to check on Terra and Sabin.  Since there were no plans to be agreed on, she excused herself again.  She knew Edgar still wanted to talk about what had happened in the Magitek research facility, but she wasn’t sure what to tell him.  If she was honest, she wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone anyway.  It seemed as though Locke felt much the same as over the next two days, neither of them could hardly be found outside of their rooms. 

Although Locke stayed in his cabin most of the time, the other two men knew why he was isolating himself, so they didn’t bother him.  Neither felt the need to give Alia the same space.  They didn’t understand why she was avoiding them and often tried to coax her out.  That was why it didn’t take her long to figure out somewhere else to be, even in the confined space of the airship.

It was the afternoon of the fourth day since they had left Vector, and they were not far from Zozo.  They would be there in another two days.  Edgar had been searching for Alia to talk to her before their arrival and was beginning to get worried.  He finally broke down and went to find Setzer.  Part of him hoped he would not find them in the same place.

He could not deny a bit of relief when he finally found the pilot on the deck at the wheel, and he was alone.  He didn’t always need to pilot himself, but he often did, as it seemed to be one of his favorite pastimes.  Even though Edgar was relieved that Setzer wasn’t with Alia, his worry returned with a bit more strength.  It showed in his voice when he spoke.  “Setzer, have you seen Alia today?”

Setzer turned to him with a smirk.  “Can you really not get her out of your mind for one day?  It’s only been since breakfast.  Did you check her room?  She seems to want to be alone lately.”

Edgar frowned at Setzer’s attitude.  “Even if all you can see is the shape of her ass, surely you have noticed that she has managed to repeatedly disappear, even on this ship!  She is not in her room, and I cannot find her anywhere.”

Setzer stood a little straighter.  He didn’t really care what Edgar thought about his attitude toward Alia, as it was none of his business, but if the king had checked her room and still couldn’t find her, there were only so many options left, and none of them were good.  He sighed and clipped the wheel into place.  He would send a crewman up while they looked.  “Well, let’s see what we can figure out.”

When they got below deck, he had Edgar once again check all the common rooms while he headed toward the crew quarters.  Even if the bowels of the ship were locked, he wouldn’t put it past her to figure out a way down.  She was resourceful like that.  When he questioned everyone, and no one had seen her, even he began to get worried.

It wasn’t until he was headed back down the hallway past the cabins and toward the stairs to the engine room that he heard something unusual.  Most others might have missed it, but it was his ship after all, and he knew the sounds it made.  He paused to see if he could hear it again, and sure enough, it seemed to be coming from one of the locked balconies.  He frowned as he searched for his master key.  Surely, she couldn’t have made it out there.  Those doors were kept locked during flight to prevent people from being blown away.  They were too small to offer sufficient protection from drag during regular operation.  They were only there to be used on nights spent hovering or when the ship was grounded.

When he finally got the door open, he froze.  Alia was seated on the floor of the tiny balcony and looked up to him in shock.  He barely noticed the fact that the wind picked up around them as soon as their eyes met.  He had been too distracted by the sight of something small and furry that disappeared.  He even forgot to ask how she got there in the first place.  “What was that?”

He had to yell to be heard over the wind, but he could tell she heard him.  She gave him a defeated look.  “Close the door and sit down.”

Setzer’s curiosity outweighed his worry about being blown off the ship.  Besides, Alia had obviously been out there for some time and was not gone.  It wasn’t until he was seated that he also noticed she had been crying.  He was once again distracted from his questions when she lifted a hand, and a translucent barrier formed over the top of the banister that cut the noise down significantly.  He gave her a curious look.  “That is a handy use for that spell.  I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

With them both on the floor, there wasn’t much room between them, so at his question, she bent her knees closer to herself and looked away.  “I didn’t either.  It was a suggestion from someone else.”

Setzer had a feeling things were about to get even more interesting.  He shot her a smirk.  “Why don’t you start at the beginning.  While you’re at it, you can explain how you got out here in the first place.  These are locked during flight for a good reason, you know.”

Alia put her chin on her knees and didn’t speak for so long that Setzer thought he was going to need to ask again.  When he shifted closer, she finally looked up and caught his eye.  “I know you weren’t there in the beginning, but from what Celes told me, the guys didn’t react very well to the fact that she could use magic.  To Terra, either.”

Setzer held his tongue for once.  He could already see where this was likely headed, but he would wait and see what she said.  Or that was the plan until she froze again.  Finally, he gestured toward the barrier above their heads.  “The esper you had out earlier, was it the one that told you about the barrier?”

Alia’s head jerked over, and she gave him a shocked look.  “How did you know she was an esper?”

He chuckled and put his hand over his heart.  “I only hope it is the fact that you are distraught and not that you have grossly underestimated my intelligence.”

When her only response was to glare at him, he continued.  “Well, I do have a strict ‘no pet’ policy on the airship.  In addition to that, most pets don’t simply disappear into thin air.  It wasn’t much of a leap to come to that conclusion.”

Alia stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment.  She really should have known better.  Before she could answer him, the same esper appeared beside her with a tiny pop and looked over to him.  Despite its diminutive size, Setzer recognized the form as Kirin.  He raised a brow as she spoke.  “You are the most comfortable of the humans around us.  Why is that?”

Setzer looked back up to see Alia was staring down in shock.  He suddenly realized that she had not voluntarily called the esper and looked back down with widened eyes.  “I am always on the lookout for something interesting, so I have no reason to be wary.  On the contrary, I would say that given what I already know of magicite, you should not be able to manifest like this, and yet here you are.  I have a feeling it has something to do with my pretty guest and what she doesn’t want to share with the King of Figaro.  What could be more interesting than that?”

Alia looked at Setzer’s smirk for several moments, before she sighed and moved so this smaller version of Kirin could crawl into her lap.  Setzer watched as the unlikely pair got comfortable, and the esper looked over again.  “I did not witness the other human’s reactions to Terra or Alia, but I have noticed a tenseness in them when they are around her.  She is the only human able to communicate with us in our magicite form, which is why she can access our powers so easily.  That is unheard of.  Given that, I can understand her reluctance to speak to any of the other humans.  We will wait until after we return to Terra and then decide what must be done.”

Setzer leaned back against the door and watched as Alia watched him.  This was unexpected.  His mind was already whirling with what it meant about Alia, even though they all insisted she was human.

She must have noticed some of those thoughts in his eyes as she grimaced.  “Look, I know this is weird.  That is my normal now, it seems, but please at least do me the favor of not saying anything until after we get back to Terra.  Once we make sure she’s alright, I can leave and not feel bad.”

He sat forward sharply.  “Leave?  Why would you leave?”

She huffed a bitter laugh.  “Why would anyone want me to stay?  I’m strange even by this world’s standards.  I know there are a couple of the Returners that don’t trust me, and when they find out about this, it probably won’t help.”  She paused and clenched her jaw while she tried to fight a fresh batch of tears.  She finally gave up and looked away as she continued.  “Besides, I arrived in Zozo, maybe that’s where I have to be, so I can go back.  I have to go back eventually.  I can’t stay here.”

Setzer sighed and shook his head.  “That will be something to consider, but do not plan to leave simply because you are afraid of what the others will think.  I believe you are doing them a disservice as well.”

Alia looked back with confusion, but he shook his head and gestured upward.  “This is not the ideal location for an extended conversation, and I have a feeling there is much more.  Why don’t we get you back to your room for now, and I will tell King Figaro that you are ill.  I’ll have your meals brought to you until we arrive.”

Alia’s eyes narrowed.  “Why would you help me?”

He gave her his trademark smirk.  “It’s simple, really.  I have no desire for you to leave yet.  I still haven’t won a rematch, and I plan to.  In the meantime, I will do what I can to prepare the others to understand that you are still you, no matter your skills.”

Alia blinked at him a few times before she began to laugh.  Every time she thought she was finished, she caught sight of Setzer and the grin he was giving her, and it set her off again.  It was several minutes later that she finally got herself under control.  She gave him a genuine smile.  “Thanks.”

He chuckled but didn’t get to respond before she looked down.  The tiny esper looked up with its equivalent of a smile as well.  Alia gave it a nod.  “Thanks for helping.”

Kirin nodded and hopped off her lap.  “You can speak with any of us, though I would not recommend trying to speak to all of them yet.” 

A cloud passed over Alia’s face.  She understood all too well why she needed to wait.  When she nodded to Kirin, the esper winked out of existence as did the barrier.  Thankfully, Setzer already had the door open and pulled her through before she could be caught by the wind.  Neither of them thought to make sure they were alone in the hall as he relocked the door and turned to her cabin.

Thankfully, Edgar must have been searching elsewhere as Setzer opened the door and let them both in.  Alia rolled her eyes at how familiar he made himself with her personal space, but she had already given up on trying to push him out of it.  For starters, she felt it was a lost cause, but she had to admit that she was beginning to appreciate his presence.  Not that she had to tell him that.

She turned to him with a slight frown.  “I thought you were going to let me be for now?”

He raised a brow.  “I never said that.”

Alia huffed and sat on one of the chairs.  She gave Setzer a curious look when he didn’t join her.  She didn’t have to ask.  “While I would love to stay and chat, I do need to call off the search for you.  I’ll let them know about your illness when I find them.  In the meantime, I would like you to consider an offer.”

She sat forward with a smirk.  She had a feeling she knew what was coming and wondered what he would wager this time.  “Oh?”

Setzer’s eyes flashed as he caught sight of her grin.  Oh yes, she was entirely too entertaining to allow her to disappear just yet.  “Yes.  Another wager.  This time, a game of my choosing.”

Alia sat back.  She wasn’t too worried, but she wanted to get to the terms.  That was the important part.  “I figured as much.  And what is it you want to wager this time?  Was your life not enough?”

He took a step closer to her and knelt so they would be eye-to-eye.  “Time.  I want a full day of yours if I win, to do with as I please.  Within reason, of course.”

Alia sat back and tried to ignore the warmth she felt spreading through her abdomen at his words.  She barely knew him, for crying out loud!  Still, she could at least admit to herself that she found him appealing.  Somehow, she managed to keep her voice even.  “Within reason?  Would that be within mine or yours?”

He leaned a little closer.  “We could negotiate.”

Alia had to swallow before she could respond.  “And if I win?”

He stood at that point.  “I was thinking that perhaps flying lessons would interest you.”

Alia nearly jumped to her feet.  “You would teach me to fly the Blackjack?  You would let me touch the wheel?”

His smirk widened at her enthusiasm.  “Under the right circumstances, there isn’t much on this ship I wouldn’t let you touch.”

Alia could already tell this man was going to be bad for her health as she felt that heat spread further.  She took a step back and tried to stay composed.  “As interesting as your offer is, now isn’t really the time.  Especially since I don’t plan to leave this room until we get to Zozo.”

Alia had not realized that she had cornered herself when she took that step back until Setzer stepped closer.  She was not a short woman, but she still felt tiny as he lifted a hand and placed it on the wall next to her before he leaned in.  He didn’t touch her, but she could feel the heat from his body.  That did not help her gain control of her senses.

“As tempting as the thought of staying in here with you might be, I thought we could have our game after Terra joins us.  We should have a few days at that point.”

It took Alia a couple of deep breaths before she could respond without leaning forward instead of back.  “That sounds like a plan then.  I look forward to hearing what you come up with.  Just know that no matter what, it won’t be easy.”

He leaned forward even further until his mouth was next to her ear.  She shivered as his breath brushed across the shell when he spoke.  “I hope not.  I’m looking forward to being entertained.”

Neither of them moved for long enough that Alia began to wonder if he was going to move those last few centimeters and kiss her.  Or if she was going to.  As she was thinking about giving in to the urge, he finally pulled back and gave her a wink.  “I will see you in two days then.  I hope you feel better soon.”

Alia didn’t move from where she was leaning against the wall as she watched him walk out.  Or for several minutes afterward.  When she finally did, she huffed a quiet laugh.  At least she wasn’t as depressed about all the goodbyes anymore.  She would need to at least thank him for that, someday.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

Despite Setzer’s reassurances that Alia was safe but indisposed, Edgar was at her door almost as soon as he heard where she was.  Part of her wanted to be angry at her host, but she doubted it was because he hadn’t tried.  Edgar would not go away until she finally acknowledged him at least.  She reassured him that yes, she was there, yes she was sick, and no she was not up to coming out.  She also let him know that it would be a bad idea for him to come in. 

What she didn’t mention was that it was because her nerves were wearing thin, and she needed time to think.  Too much had happened in too short a time.  Yes, she had been there for nearly two months now, but it was all back to back battles and trying to figure out how to survive.  Now that she had a few moments to think, it all hit home.

Celes’ disappearance was just the last thing in a long line of things that started while she was still on Earth.  She hadn’t been avoiding her friends for a half a year for no reason.  Still, there wasn’t much she could do but keep moving forward.  It was with that thought in mind that she made her way up to breakfast on the day they were supposed to arrive.  It would have looked even more suspicious if she had stayed in her room until they got there.  At least she hoped that Edgar would give her room to breathe with Terra so close.

She was shocked to see Locke was also at the table when she arrived.  The treasure hunter looked away from her almost as soon as she entered, and she frowned.  She wasn’t sure if it was out of guilt over Celes still, or something else, but she would be glad when they got the whole mess done with.  One way or the other.

Setzer had not missed the exchange and frowned slightly.  He also did not miss how Edgar stood as soon as she was in the room.  He did not like the way the King was looking at Alia, although he couldn’t really place why.  It wasn’t as though the man looked like he wanted to hurt her or anything.

“Alia!  I’m glad you are feeling better finally.  You are feeling better, right?”

Alia gave Edgar a weak smile and nodded.  “Of course.  I apologize if I worried you.  I think everything must have finally caught up to me.  I’m fine now.”

Edgar frowned slightly, but he moved aside and allowed her to take a seat with the rest of them.  Silence fell for a few moments before Setzer finally spoke.  “We are expected to arrive in Zozo within two hours.  Once we finish our meal, we should check our weapons and supplies to make sure we are prepared.  From what I remember of that place, it would be unwise to go in unprepared.”

Alia shot him a grateful look.  He may not have done it on purpose, as they really did need to prepare, but his timing couldn’t have been better.  She just needed them to wait until after they reached Terra.  After that, she would at least feel like she had done what she could to help them.  If she had to leave, then she wouldn’t feel as bad.

She managed to avoid everyone’s gazes as they finished breakfast.  Even Setzer’s.  Although, she felt even more guilty about that than she did about the rest.  He had gone out of his way to help her.  Still, the closer they got to Zozo, the more she was finding it harder to concentrate.  Now that she was faced with the real possibility of having to face this terrifying world alone, she found it a daunting prospect.

Once they finished breakfast, Setzer led them down to the supply room to see what all they had left.  He smirked at Edgar’s grimace when the man there reminded him things were not free.  He also took that opportunity to pull Alia to the other side of the room.  She gave him a glare that he smirked back at.

“You know, you’re much lovelier when you smile.”

She took an exaggerated breath through her nose and managed to keep her voice low enough not to attract attention.  “What did you need?”

Setzer’s smirk fell away, and Alia felt confusion as his serious face peeked through.  She had only seen it a couple of times, so this was odd.  “Alia, no matter what you believe may happen, you have a place here on the Blackjack.  Unless you magically stumble upon your portal home while we are down there, I will not allow you to not have a bed here.  Do you understand?”

Alia blinked at him a few times as she tried to come up with a response.  She still couldn’t make sense of what he said in the first place.  Finally, she just said the one thing that kept circling her mind.  “Why?”

His eyes flashed, and his smirk was firmly back in place as he leaned forward slightly.  “I have already told you why.”  He stepped back as they both heard Edgar call out to them.  He gave her a wink and turned back to the King.  “I’m afraid we will have to resupply again after we find your friend before we go much further.  This will have to do in the meantime.”

Edgar looked back and forth between the smirking pilot and Alia’s pale face.  He wondered again what was going on there with more than a little worry, but they didn’t have the time to get into it.  He did put his hand on her shoulder as she passed and tried to give her a reassuring smile.  “I’m glad to see you doing better.  It hasn’t been the same without you.”

She blinked at him twice before she chuckled, and a little color returned.  There was still a shadow behind her eyes, but she smiled at him like she used to.  “You just missed looking at my legs.”  She took any sting out of her words with a wink as she walked away.

Alia wasn’t sure what to think now.  She had managed to thoroughly convince herself over the last two days that no one would want her around, but perhaps she was letting the past color her thoughts more than she realized.  She was beginning to wonder if she wasn’t as over things as she thought she was.  She shook the thoughts off as she caught sight of Setzer giving her an odd look and looked the other way as she grabbed what she would need before they disembarked.  They were nearly to their destination, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Once they had everything in their packs, they headed to the deck, and they could all see Zozo.  It was only a matter of minutes before they set down, and the group of four started down the plank and into the town.

The experience was not any more pleasant than it had been the last time they were there, but at least they were better prepared.  They knew better than to ask questions.  They expected fights, and they were all together.  They also knew exactly where they were going.  Alia was also pleased to find that with proper sleep and nutrition, jumping from one window to another wasn’t such a chore.  Her practice with her uncle in the circus during the summers had more than prepared her for this as long as she wasn’t half-dead already.

When they finally made it to the top of the building, Sabin met them with a grin.  He clapped his brother on the shoulder before he greeted the rest of them.  None of them had much of a chance to do more than exchange names before one of the new magicite floated up and started glowing above Terra.

Alia grimaced as images started rushing through her head.  It wasn’t as painful as her encounter in the magitek research facility, at least not in the same way, but it was wholly unpleasant.  She saw the esper, Maduin, in a place she didn’t recognize, among many other espers.  Many scenes flashed past, but she was able to make sense of most of them.  She understood enough to know that the woman he found was Terra’s mother, and he was her father.  She felt nauseous as she saw how things played out.

She hadn’t even realized that she had fallen to her knees until her head cleared, and Setzer was helping her to her feet.  As she stood, she noticed a girl with green hair sitting up in the bed.  She didn’t have to ask to know it was Terra, even though it was her first time seeing the girl in her human form.

Locke was there in front of her, and Terra looked at him sheepishly before she looked around at everyone else.  She looked back at Locke before she finally spoke.  “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Locke smiled at her and patted her hand.  “It’s fine.  We’re just glad to see you’re alright.  What happened?”

Terra frowned.  “It’s hard to explain, but you already heard that I’m half esper.  That- that was my father.”

There were several gasps, and Alia hadn’t even realized she had moved until she was seated beside Terra and had wrapped her in a hug.  “I know you don’t know me, but you aren’t alone.”

Terra froze for a moment, but she allowed the embrace.  After a moment, she leaned back and looked at Alia with a frown.  “It was you.  I felt you there too.”

Alia didn’t need to ask what she was talking about.  She grimaced but nodded.  Terra’s eyes widened.  So did Alia’s when she heard the girl’s voice without her mouth moving.  ‘Does that mean you can hear me?’

Alia’s shoulder’s slumped, but she nodded.  “Yes, I can.”

The rest of the men were looking at the women in confusion, especially Sabin, as he hadn’t had a chance to get to know Alia.  Terra was giving her a look of awe.  “What are you?  You don’t feel like the other espers.”

At those words, Sabin made a confused noise.  Thankfully, he was the only one.  The rest had already heard it at least once.  Alia shook her head.  “I’m human, but I’m not from around here.  It’s a long story, but I’d be happy to tell you once we’re out of here.”

Terra was still giving her a strange look, but she nodded and stood.  Once she was on her feet, she looked around at everyone else.  “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.  It was hard for me to understand what I was; for me to accept my heritage, but I think I can now.  I still don’t know what I need to do, though.”

Locke gave her a grin.  “That’s okay.  You are welcome to come with us.  You both are.  We could use all the help we can get.”

Both women looked at him in shock.  Their shock grew when Edgar nodded.  “Of course, we would never try to force you to do something you do not want to do, but we would be happy for the help.  You have both proven to be formidable in your own ways, and I have a feeling there is more yet to learn about each of you.  If we are to have any chance of stopping the Empire before there is a repeat of the War of the Magi, then your help could prove to be invaluable.”

Alia could not stop from tearing up a little as relief flooded through her.  She still needed to find a way home, but she hadn’t wanted to try and do it alone.  Edgar was immediately by her side with a handkerchief.  He shook his head and gave her a worried look.  His voice was low when he spoke.  “Is this why you have been avoiding me?  Did you believe we would forsake you?  Why?”

It took her a moment to find her voice.  Her words were broken and choked out past her crying.  “It’s just that I’m so different.  I can hear the magicite and-, and I know you think I already knew magic, and since I learned it so much faster, I didn’t know how you would react.”

Edgar blinked a few times before he responded.  “You can communicate with the espers in their magicite form?  Is that how you knew which one would help the most as we were leaving the magitek research facility?”

She nodded to him as she spoke.  “Yes, Phantom told me he could make you all invisible to anyone who wanted to harm you.”

It was a few more moments before he started to laugh and grinned at her.  “Well, that is incredibly handy.  I wish you would have said something sooner.  It would have been easier than trial and error to figure out which spells we were supposed to learn from which magicite.”

Alia blushed a deep red as she began to understand that these people had eventually accepted Celes and Terra despite there differences, so it made sense that they would do the same for her.  “I apologize for not trusting you.  If you can forgive me, I promise to do all I can to help going forward.”

Terra stepped forward and looked at Alia before she looked at Edgar.  “I don’t know what I can do, but I will at least consider it.  I will go with you.”

Edgar nodded.  “Well, if that is decided, why don’t we get out of this hellhole.”  He turned to Setzer.  “You said we needed supplies?  Is there a place we can stop on the way to Narshe?”

Setzer frowned.  “Jidoor is out of the way.  I suppose we can fly over the mountains and stop at Kohlingen.”  Locke grimaced at that news but didn’t argue.  Once that was decided, they all filed out and headed back down the stairs.

It had taken them several days to get to Kohlingen.  Their group had taken that time to get everyone caught up with what was going on, including Celes’ absence as well as Alia’s talents and Terra’s ability to change into her esper form at will. 

Setzer had been openly fascinated when she changed the first time, and for some reason, Alia found she did not appreciate it.  Not that she blamed Terra.  She actually liked the girl.  That didn’t mean she didn’t give Setzer glares for a day afterward.  She quit when his only response was to smirk and wink at her.  She wasn’t sure if he knew why she was glaring or not, but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying when he made her confused afterward.  She was thankful when they had a little time off the ship to resupply.

After they restocked and were on their way to Narshe, things settled into quiet waiting once again.  It would take them even longer to get to the mountain town than it had to get to the southern continent.  They had only been out for a day when Setzer found Alia in the casino with a deck of cards.  He leaned against it and watched her for a moment as she finished dealing before he spoke.

“Are we headed into doom and gloom once again?”

She frowned up at him.  “Would you rather I keep my information to myself?  Most people do.”

Setzer stood up straight and frowned at the bite in her tone before he took the seat next to her.  “My apologies if you mistook my teasing as disparaging your talents.”

Alia took a deep breath and shook her head.  “No, it’s all me.  I shouldn’t have jumped at you.”  She gestured to the cards.  “They don’t exactly spell out gloom and doom, but they don’t give good news.  They are grey and unclear.  I don’t like it.  It’s a split.  Part of them says something good and the rest something bad.  I’ve never seen it before, and it puts my nerves on edge.”

Setzer frowned for a moment as well.  He had already seen enough to not take her words lightly.  However, he also knew there was not much they could do without further information.  He stood and held out his hand.  “Well, if that is the case, then I have just the solution to get your mind off your worries for the moment.  I was hoping you would be up to testing your luck once again.”

Alia blinked a few times as she tried to understand what he meant.  A grin slowly spread across her face as understanding came to her.  “You must be a masochist.”

He gave her a smirk as he took her hand and helped her to her feet.  “Perhaps.  Or perhaps I would like to push until I no longer am able.”

She snorted and gestured around them.  “Well, what will be your poison today?”

He cupped his chin and looked around.  His eyes lit up when they landed on the craps table.  He pointed toward it.  “Will that do?”

She looked over.  “Dice?  Well, that is something I have never played, so you might have a chance.”

His eyes flashed as he grinned at her.  “After you, my lady.”

She followed him, and he pulled a bell along the wall.  She gave him a curious look, but he didn’t need to answer as an attendant was there within a minute.  When she raised a brow, he answered her unasked question.  “Just to keep us both honest.  It isn’t as though either of us hasn’t tried something before.”

Alia blushed at his reminder that they had both tried to cheat once and gave him a nod.  At the table, the attendant held out his hand and showed them both a pair of dice that he then threw a couple of times to demonstrate that they weren’t weighted.  Once both parties were convinced they were clean, Setzer gestured for Alia to take them.  “Ladies first.”

She shrugged and scooped them up.  “Not that it will matter.”  She looked at the dice and then over at him.  “Are there any particular things I should or should not do?”

He gestured back at the table.  “Just throw them with one hand and make sure they hit the far wall without falling off the table.  The rules can be explained as the numbers turn up.”

She raised a brow at him.  “That’s incredibly convenient.”

He smirked and gestured to the dealer.  “He will be the one explaining, not me.  Keeping us honest, remember?”

She gave him a hard look for another moment before she chuckled and turned back to the table.  “Fine.  I suppose I trust you this far anyway.”  With that, she tossed the dice across the table.  When they bounced back and finally stopped rolling, there were a five and a six.  She gave a ‘hmm’ before she turned to him.  She was shocked to see the look he was giving her.

“You really do have more than your fair share of luck.”

She raised one brow.  “Does that mean that was a good roll?”

He threw his head back and laughed.  When he finally stopped, he scooped them up and leaned down to her.  “Would you be willing to give me a kiss and share some of that luck?  I would be happy with a tie at this point.”

Alia felt that same heat pooling in her belly and thought about telling him yes, but only for a moment.  Instead, she stepped back.  “Ask me another time when I’m not the one you’re playing against.”

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders.  “Ah, well.  It never hurts to ask.”  She watched as he then threw two fours.  Since she had no idea if that was good or not, she watched as the dealer moved a marker over a new part of the table, and Setzer picked them up again.  When he then rolled a three and a four, he froze.  It was several moments before either man moved. 

Finally, the attendant nervously picked everything up and looked over to Alia.  “You are the winner, ma’am.”

Alia gave Setzer a curious look.  “Are you going to explain the rules now?”

He looked over at her with an unreadable gaze.  “One of these days, you are going to need to explain to me how you came across that nifty trait.”

Alia grimaced and decided that turn about was fair play as she changed the subject again.  “Perhaps, but for now, don’t you have flying lessons to give?”

He didn’t speak right away.  After several moments, he put his hand on her waist and turned her toward the stairs.  “After you.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

By the time they made it back out to the deck, Setzer was back to his normally smirking self.  Alia had to swallow a smile.  He must have really believed he was going to win despite her warnings.  Maybe he would believe her and give up finally.  At least she got flying lessons out of it.  Something she was supremely excited about.

When they got to the wheel, he motioned for the crewman there to stand aside and allowed Alia to step up to it first.  She nervously took her place and looked around.  It was the first time she had been permitted this close, and it was a little intimidating.  There were more levers and peddles than she expected, but what caught her eye first was what was in the middle of the wheel.  She turned to Setzer with wide eyes.  “Is that a gyroscope with a compass?  That is amazing!  And handy.  Especially for a ship that has a spherical range of motion.”

He blinked at her as a slow smile crossed his lips.  “And here I thought you were all luck and talent.”

She gave him an indignant look, but it passed quickly, and she shrugged self consciously.  “Actually, it isn’t like I’m some sort of wiz.  It’s just that where I’m from this sort of stuff is a lot more common.”

He looked at her in shock.  “There are no other airships in the world!”

Alia realized she had made a mistake and held up both hands.  She didn’t really have space to move back, so she spoke up quickly.  “Not airships, and not this world.  I’m from another world entirely!”

He froze for a moment before he placed his hands on the wheel on either side of her, pinning her in place.  “Another world?”  At her nod, he looked in her eyes to see if he could find a lie.  When all he found was her normal sincerity, he took a step back.  Suddenly, some of the things she had said made much more sense.  He had thought she had been speaking figuratively, not literally.  “How did you come to be here?”

She looked away with a frown.  “If I knew that, do you think I would still be here?”

Setzer sighed and took her by the shoulders.  She looked back at him with surprise as he gently turned her to face the wheel.  He ignored the look she was giving him as he spoke.  “We have plenty of time for you to tell me all about it.  For now, we have a course that has been skewed, and we need to get back on it.  No better time to teach you how to fly than now.”

Alia let a small smile grace her lips as Setzer started showing her what each lever was for.  He also taught her how the wheel tilted for vertical motion, as well as the obvious left and right of the turning.  It was far more complex than she expected, but he was right there with her the whole time, so she wasn’t too worried about messing up.  He was too close to let anything bad happen.

It was more than an hour later that they were interrupted.  Alia was adjusting the wheel slightly to the left to compensate for the wind.  Setzer was standing right behind her with his chest to her back and his hands over hers on the wheel and trying to explain how to make the adjustments by feel alone.  She had a sneaky suspicion it was not something he expected she could pick up any time soon, but he was more than happy to get close enough to try.

Both of their attention was drawn by an angry voice.  “What is going on here?”

Alia couldn’t see past Setzer, but she didn’t need to.  She recognized Edgar’s voice.  She frowned as Setzer calmly pinned the wheel in place and stepped back so she could move back as well.  He winked at her before he turned to the king of Figaro.  “I was giving Alia flying lessons.”

For one moment, Edgar looked like he wasn’t sure how to respond.  Alia could tell that part of him wanted to ask if he could learn as well.  The urge passed quickly, and the fire was back.  “That is not what it looked like from here.  If you were any closer, your clothes would have been entirely unnecessary.”

Alia could not believe her ears.  She took a step forward and glared at the king.  “Would you care to clarify that a little?  Because I swear, it sounded as though you were accusing us something you have no right to have an opinion on.”

Edgar’s jaw clenched as he fought to keep his voice calm.  “Alia, his hands were all over you.  He has made no secret from the moment you met that he wants you and has practically undressed you with his eyes every time you are in the room.”

She tried extremely hard to remind herself that he wasn’t being a jackass just to hurt her feelings.  That didn’t stop her from getting pissed off.  “Don’t you think that’s my business?”

Edgar closed the distance between them and pulled her a short span away from Setzer before he released her and gave her a worried look.  “I don’t want to see him take advantage of you.  Besides, I felt-“  He cut himself off and turned slightly.

Alia’s eyes widened as understanding washed over her.  This wasn’t about worry for her at all.  Rage passed through her eyes, and she stomped in front of the king.  It made no difference to her that he was much larger.  She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down until they were face to face.  Her voice was low and full of fire.

“We flirted.  That is all.  I can’t say that it could not have become more, but it didn’t.  You never tried, and I’m currently not in the frame of mind to care to.  That doesn’t give you the right to even think about spouting this bullshit.”

He pulled back with wide eyes, and she let him go.  “I never presumed anything.  It’s simply that I feel responsible for you.”

She was still glaring at him.  “Really?  That’s it?  You are telling me you wouldn’t have been just as willing to warm my bed?”

Edgar looked uncomfortable at her blunt statement, but he couldn’t deny her either.  Still, he wasn’t ready to walk away.  “I cannot say that I am comfortable with you so close to a man that would have gone to such lengths as a kidnapping to get another woman into his bed.  What would he do if you said no?”

Alia’s eyes flashed.  She heard Setzer shift behind her, and she wasn’t sure if he would defend himself or not, as it wasn’t really anyone else’s business, but she wasn’t going to let it pass.  She glared at Edgar, and her voice dropped into an icy and cutting tone.  “If you are referencing his attempted dramatic offer of marriage to the mother of his child, then you can rest assured I know I have nothing to worry about.  He may have a flair for the dramatic, but he sure as hell isn’t going to violate me.”

Edgar looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words.  At his silence, she continued.  “Tell me something, and I want you to answer me honestly.  If you can tell me no, then I will go back downstairs with you, and we can discuss a whole new set of issues.”

He gave her a look that was part trepidation and part curiosity, but he nodded.  “I would never lie to you.”

She took a deep breath to keep a rein on her temper.  “If any of the crew members on this ship had been female and had asked to share your bed, would you have told them no?”

Edgar didn’t speak right away.  He couldn’t.  He could tell immediately what her point was because he could not honestly say that he would not have.  With time to kill and a willing woman, it would have passed the time nicely.  He wanted to groan as he realized how much of an ass he had been to her and to Setzer, especially as he put the pieces together and realized what she meant.  What the truth behind the other man’s kidnapping attempt had been.  That left a bad taste in his mouth, and he felt regret as he realized he had no proof that Alia and Setzer had been doing anything more than flirting. 

He ran his hand down his face before he looked at her with apologetic eyes.  “You are right.  I would not have said no.  I also have no right to get angry at Setzer unless you are.  I would happily defend you if you asked me to, but if his advances are not unwanted, it is not my place to get in the middle of this.  Please forgive me.”

Alia felt her anger drain away as quickly as it came.  At least Edgar was a smart man.  It probably helped that he had years of practice in forcing down his own anger and thinking critically, but she was glad he wasn’t thinking with his dick anymore.  She shook her head.  “Apology accepted.  Next time at least ask first.  I like you, and I would like us to stay friends if you don’t mind.”

Edgar chuckled at her acerbic tone and smirked.  “I suppose.  Though old habits do die hard.  I can’t say that I will be able to give up on the odd flirt here and there.”

Alia couldn’t help but smile at his teasing.  “I’ll let you know if I feel it gets out of hand.”

Edgar looked over her shoulder to Setzer.  The pilot had been watching the whole exchange with a smirk from the wheel the entire time.  The king was still not entirely happy with the situation, but it was Alia’s choice.  He gave the man a nod.  “I owe you an apology as well.  Though, if you ever get in the mood to teach anyone else to fly this thing, I would suggest a little less hands-on approach.  Not everyone would take to it quite as well.”

Setzer chuckled.  “Well, I doubt anyone else on this ship has enough luck to win the right, but I’ll keep your warning in mind.”

Edgar turned back at that point and left the two of them to get back to the flying lessons.  Once he was gone, Setzer gave Alia a calculating look.  “You and the King?”

She snorted.  “Not at all.  Well, not really.  He’s fun to talk to, and at the time, I was trying to cope with being in a strange new place.  I’m glad he is one of the first people I met, but I don’t think I would have ever slept with him if that’s what you’re asking.”

He moved until he was very much in her personal bubble and lifted her chin.  Her breath caught at the look in his eyes.  “And if I were to ask?”

She could feel the heat explode through her whole body and still somehow found the willpower to keep her voice steady.  “I’ll give you an answer when you do.”

He didn’t miss the way a slight flush filled her cheeks, despite her efforts, but he let her go and turned back to the wheel.  “I believe we are off course again.  Let’s see what we can do to fix that.”  Alia took a moment to get her heartbeat under control again before she followed him back over to continue her lessons.

When they made it to Narshe, Edgar immediately took them to see Banon.  The Returners leader was in a conference with Arvis and the town Elder along with Cyan.  Gua was there as well, even if he was mostly being a pest.

As soon as they entered, the boy zeroed on Sabin, and the two of them nearly started wrestling in the middle of the room.  Alia giggled at the sight of it and wondered if it was some sort of greeting with them.  Her giggles stopped almost immediately when she caught sight of Cyan glaring at her.  She took an unconscious step closer to Setzer as Edgar started filling everyone in on what had happened while they had been separated.

Once the stories were all out, Banon asked to speak to both Alia and Terra without the others.  The two women agreed, though, for Alia, it was a formality.  She already had an idea of what was going to be asked, and she didn’t need to debate her answer.

She was correct too.  Banon asked them both to lend their aid to the Returners.  Narshe had finally decided to throw their lot in entirely with the rebels, and they could use all the help they could get.  Terra didn’t speak right away, but Alia gave the old man a nod.

“I know I’m not a fighter.  I know how to handle a knife because I was taught tricks as I was growing up.  However, I’m learning magic at a phenomenal rate, and I can communicate with the few magicite pieces we have.  If that can help you at all, then I will do what I can.  Edgar and the others have helped me, and I believe that I am here for a reason.  Until I find that reason, then I will do all I can.”

Banon gave her a long hard look.  The king of Figaro had taken him to the side and explained to him alone the truth about Alia’s origins, as he didn’t want to have to explain it to everyone.  Not after the way Cyan reacted.  The leader was still uncertain if she was lying, being controlled somehow, or even worse, telling the truth, but in any case, her talents and the abilities she listed were true enough and would come in handy.  He gave her a nod before he turned to Terra.

The other girl looked between them.  “I know that I spent most of my life with the empire, but I was a slave.  I am not sure what I can do to help, but I will do what I can.  I don’t want anyone else to end up like me.”

Banon sighed and gave them both a stern look.  “You both underestimate how powerful you are.  This war is one of magic, and you are born magic users.  You may be our most valuable assets.  I thank you for your help.  We will take the next few days to decide what our next steps should be.  For now, rest and stay near at hand.  We will call when we need you.”

Neither woman particularly liked the sound of his words, but it was war.  They both nodded as they watched him walk back to the elder’s house.  Once Banon was gone, they turned and headed back to Arvis’.  Hopefully, their friends would be there.

When they arrived, Alia was thankful to see Setzer leaning near the fireplace with a frown while Edgar was speaking with Arvis on the other side of the room.  Sabin and Cyan were speaking quietly at the table, and Gua was curled up under it.  Alia smiled softly at the sight before she looked around.  Locke wasn’t there.  She noticed his absence at the same time Terra did and felt bad for the girl.  She wasn’t sure what the relationship was between them, and it wasn’t her business, but she did know Terra felt most comfortable around the treasure hunter.

She gave Terra’s arm a squeeze as she passed by on her way to the fireplace.  Terra gave her a smile and walked over to join Edgar instead.  Before Alia could reach Setzer’s side, she was shocked when she was intercepted by Cyan.  The older man gave her a somber look, but he was no longer glaring.

“After hearing of all thou hast done to help the others, even going so far as to put thine own health in danger to guarantee their safe retreat, I feel I may have misspoken.  Please accept my apologies.”

Alia grinned at the man and shook her head.  “I understand why you were mistrusting, so you don’t need to apologize, but I’m glad we’ve moved passed it.”  She held out her hand.  “I hope that going forward we can watch each other’s backs.  That’s what teammates do, right?”

Cyan looked at her with surprise, but he took her hand tentatively.  She shook his and grinned a little wider before she released him.  “All I ask is that you don’t watch my backside.  I get enough of that from those two.”  She gestured behind her to Setzer and Edgar.

Cyan froze in shock.  Setzer chuckled, and Alia barely caught sight of Edgar’s frown before Sabin spoke.  “Brother, are you still bothering every woman you meet?”

Edgar coughed politely and erased his frown.  “I have not bothered Alia… recently.”

When Alia realized Cyan was still staring at her with wide eyes, she decided to take pity on him.  She took a step back and took her grin down a notch.  “Sorry, I guess I let my gratitude get the best of me.  I was just teasing you.  I know you would never do anything like that.”

Cyan blinked a couple of times as her words registered with him, and he finally shook his head.  “I see thine humor is much like Master Locke.  I shall keep that in mind.  Art thou a thief as well?”

Alia raised a brow at the knight.  She doubted he meant anything by it, but it was still a rude question.  “He prefers the term treasure hunter, and no, that has never been my trade.”

Her attention was drawn when Edgar turned to her fully with a curious look.  “That reminds me; what did you do before we met you?  You never told us.”

The rest of the group turned to her with curiosity.  Edgar noticed a subtle but significant change in her demeanor as she faced him.  Her shoulders straightened further, and her eyes become unreadable as her face lost all expression.  It was almost like he was looking at a fellow diplomat.  Her voice was even and didn’t give any clues as to what she was thinking, either.  That more than anything made him wonder how much more there was to her they didn’t know.

“I suppose you could say I was training to take over for my grandmother.  If I survive this, then that will be what I go back to.  Since my mother is dead, the position of Matriarch will fall to me.”

She shook her head, and a shadow of her typical smirk came back.  “But that is a story for another day.”

Alia could tell that both Edgar and Cyan had questions, but she was thankful that Locke picked that moment to walk back in.  “Hey!  You guys will never believe what just happened!  Plus, we have a new friend!”

Alia forgot all about the serious conversation when Locke moved to the side.  She made an odd squealing noise and barely managed to stop herself from scooping up the pint-sized being behind him.  That didn’t mean she didn’t kneel down in front of him.  “Oh my God!  Mog!”

Everyone froze at her actions, including the moogle.  He was the first to speak.  “Do I know you?”

Alia suddenly realized how psychotic her actions must have seemed, and she blushed as she stood back up again.  She shook her head.  “No, I apologize.  I don’t know you either, not really.  I didn’t mean to go all psycho on you like that.  It’s just that where I’m from, moogles are fairy tales, and you are far more adorable in person than I ever thought possible.”

She had to clamp her hands together behind her back to resist the urge to reach out and touch his pompom as she continued.  “Again, I’m sorry.”

As she backed away, Mog finally smiled.  “No worries!  At least you didn’t grab my pompom.  The other girl did it in her sleep the first time we met.  You’ll have to tell me about where you’re from if there aren’t any moogles.  It sounds depressing.”

Alia blinked a couple of times as she tried not to miss any of what he said.  It all came out so fast.  She grinned as she looked over at a blushing Terra and was thankful that she had practiced a little self-restraint.  At least until she heard Setzer next to Edgar behind her.  “Well, it looks as though we both might be out of luck.  If that reaction is anything to judge by, we have some stiff competition.”

Edgar laughed as Alia shot the two of them a glare.  It didn’t last long as the group settled into working with Arvis to figure out where they would all be staying for the next week or so while decisions were being made.  They all knew it was the calm before the storm, and there were still tensions and buried worries, but for the moment, they were let go as the team rested and prepared for their next task.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

Most of the team ended up staying in the adventurer’s lodge in Narshe, as Arvis and the town Elder had made arrangements for several rooms there.  Setzer declined the offer, as he was more comfortable onboard the Blackjack anyway, and Alia liked her shower, so she agreed to stay there as well.  Once that was settled, the group split to restock and make sure all their weapons were up to par and anything else they could think of to be prepared for whatever they might face.

Their second day in town still had no word from Banon, and Alia was starting to get antsy.  She wasn’t sure if that was why Setzer pulled her off to the side or not, but at least he provided a distraction.  She only hoped they were out of earshot, even if Sabin and Terra were the only ones left in the room.

Once he had her in the corner, he gave her a familiar smirk.  Part of her felt a slow heat rising at the sight of it, but the rest nearly laughed.  She didn’t need to ask to know what was coming next.

“I was wondering if you might be willing to indulge me in a game of chance to while away the time this afternoon.  We do seem to have some of it to waste after all.”

She chuckled and shook her head.  “I might be.  The question is, what do you have left to wager?”

He raised a brow and gave her an indignant look.  “You act as though I am destitute.”

She smirked back.  “Not at all, but it is a matter of what I might be interested in.  If you are offering money, then the answer is no.  I won’t want to gamble for that.”

He leaned a little closer, and her breath hitched a little at the look that flashed through his eyes.  “Ah, a woman after my own heart.  Something a little less tangible then?  Or something even larger?  For my end, I still want a whole day of your time.”

Alia looked confused, but only for a moment.  She shook her head and gave him a stern look.  “If all you want is my time, then something larger is off the table.  She is worth far more than that.  Betting should be something of equal value.”

He gave her a languid smile.  “Would the value of the Blackjack not be up to me?  She is mine, after all?  Value is a matter of perception.”

Alia nodded but didn’t relent.  “Yes, but it still isn’t a wager I would accept.  No matter your perception, mine doesn’t agree.”

He sighed and shrugged.  “Ah, well.  So what do you have in mind then?”

She cupped her chin and thought for a minute before her eyes lit up, and she grinned at him.  “Maybe not the Blackjack, but a tour of her engines would be worth it.”

He gave her a shocked look.  “I thought you were not interested in the technicalities.”

She shrugged.  “I might not understand it all, but I would still like to see it.  Just the thought of figuring out how you manage to keep her in the air is fascinating to me.  I think that would be fair.”

Setzer frowned and after a moment, shook his head.  “I disagree.  An hour-long tour that you would get little from is not an equal bet.”

Alia huffed.  “But if I think it is, why not?”

Setzer chuckled and touched the tip of her nose with his forefinger.  “Weren’t you the one that just said both parties must agree to their perception of equality, or it is not actually equal?”

Alia sighed as her words were thrown back at her.  She rolled her eyes.  “Fine then, what do you suggest?”

“Why don’t we tweak your suggestion a little.”  She gave him a curious look, and he continued.  “If I win, I get twenty-four hours of your time to do with as I please.  If you win, I will give both you and the King of Figaro a tour through the engine rooms.  You to soothe your curiosity and he because he would actually benefit.  Does that sound fair?”

Alia looked at him in shock.  “You would do that?”

He cupped her chin and got close enough that she almost thought he was going to kiss her before he spoke.  “For this reward?  Absolutely.”

Alia almost forgot to breathe.  It wasn’t until she heard a squeak from the other side of the room that she remembered they were not alone, and she pulled back.  She knew she was probably blushing, but she gave him a nod.  “That sounds fair.  What game?”

He grinned at her and gestured to the doorway.  “I was thinking roulette.  It is something we haven’t tried yet.” 

Alia frowned.  “There is a good chance that neither of us would win at all.”

He shook his head.  “Nonsense.  We will make it simple.  I will bet on black, and you will bet on red.  Then we will have 50/50 odds.”

Alia chuckled.  “More like 25/75 with you being the former.”

His eyes flashed at her as he grinned again and winked.  “I like my odds.”

She snorted.  “You would, you masochist.  Do you have chains in your room too?”

He paused and gave her an evaluating look before he tilted his head slightly.  “Why?  Would you like to see them there?”

Alia heard another squeak from the table next to them and remembered Terra was still there.  She also heard a strangled sound come from Sabin and almost felt like strangling Setzer, especially when he turned to the two of them.  “Ah, this is perfect.  We need at least one observer.  Would either of you like to volunteer?  Sabin?  After all, your brother would be the one to benefit if Alia wins.”

Alia finally turned to face them and noticed Sabin was looking at her with shock.  At least he wasn’t embarrassed.  His training really did help with that.  The same couldn’t be said for Terra.  The poor girl was almost the same color as a tomato.  Alia felt sorry for her.  She should have remembered they weren’t alone.  As she thought back on the last few minutes, it was no wonder the girl looked ready to melt into the floor.

Alia grabbed Setzer’s arm.  “One of the crewmen will work.  Let’s leave them be.  I’m sure they have better things to do than worry about us.”  She paused and looked back at Terra, who was finally looking at her in concern.  She smiled and tried to sound reassuring.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll be back soon, one way or another.  Even if I lose, which is unlikely, we won’t be far.”

Terra looked like she wanted to object, but she didn’t speak.  Alia took the opportunity to turn Setzer and nearly pushed him out the door.  He chuckled at her actions.  Once the door was closed, he smirked at her.  “So eager to fulfill my desires?”

She glared at him, but it quickly turned to a smirk.  “Actually, I’m looking forward to seeing the engine room.  Besides, you know damn good and well we were torturing that poor girl.  I wasn’t doing it on purpose, but we needed to get out of there before she had a coronary.”

“A what?”

“A heart attack?  You know?  Oh, never mind.”  Alia could tell that he had no clue what she was talking about, but it didn’t matter.  At least they were almost to the Blackjack.

As soon as they were on board, Setzer rang a bell, and an attendant came running.  The man was there so fast that Alia wondered if they had passages specially made for the crew.  Maybe when she won, she could add that question too.

When they got to the roulette wheel, Setzer insisted that the dealer roll a few times so they could both see that it was falling randomly and on different colors.  She laughed at him and shrugged.  “You know, I have had ample opportunity to realize that you don’t normally cheat.  Our first meeting, notwithstanding, of course.  I don’t hold that one against you either, all things considered.”

He raised a brow.  “Because you found the card anyway, or because you cheated first?”

She held his gaze and smirked back.  “Both.”

He laughed at her boldness before he turned back to the wheel.  “Are you ready to begin then?  We will only need one roll.”

Alia nodded.  “Let’s go.  I bet twenty-four hours on red.”

The attendant didn’t bat an eyelash, so he must have been used to strange bets with Setzer involved.  Setzer announced his bet similarly, and the man let the ball drop.  Alia was smirking at Setzer from the corner of her eye as the ball rolled round and round until it started to settle on 32.  She focused on the wheel at that point, since it wasn’t finished until the ball settled completely and it was too close to the 0.  They could both lose and need a reroll.  Her eyes widened further into shock as the tiny ball rocked, not back into the zero, but forward into the 15.  It was several seconds later, and it had quit moving completely that Setzer started chuckling.  She still didn’t move until the sound turned into a full-blown laugh.

His laughter finally jarred her from her stupor.  She turned to him in shock.  “That’s impossible.”

He was grinning.  “Why?  Have you never lost?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I haven’t.”

His laughter stopped as he leaned forward and cupped her chin.  “Well, there is a first time for everything.”  He paused long enough to make sure she was focused on him before he continued.  “I believe I will start with a kiss.”

He didn’t wait for any response before he closed the last of the distance and claimed her lips like she had imagined him doing several times in the past weeks.  She almost pushed him away out of aggravation, but his other arm quickly came around and pulled her closer while the one that had tilted her head up moved around to tangle in her hair, effectively pinning her in place.

Despite her aggravation at the loss, it wasn’t long until Alia realized that Setzer was even more talented than she had anticipated.  She soon lost herself in the kiss and had a hand on his shoulder and another on his waist, trying to erase the distance between them.

She should have known that his hair would be that soft, with as vain as he was, but it still surprised her as the silken strands fell across the back of her hands as she tried to hold on tighter.  She felt light-headed as his kisses wandered from her mouth and down her neck.

She barely even noticed when he lifted her slightly and placed her on the edge of the table.  Her only movement was to wrap her legs around his waist when he stepped closer to her.  She moaned into his mouth when he pressed against her, and she felt him pulsing with need.  His response was to press harder as he pushed her back.

Alia opened her eyes to look up into the smirking violet ones of the man she had just forgotten she was angry with.  He happily reminded her.  “I believe that is a wonderful start to your twenty-four hours, but it would be best if we discuss some things before we go much further.  Besides, while I might find it incredibly satisfying to take you right here and now, I am capable of patience when I feel the outcome would be better if I wait.”

Alia wanted to be pissed at him for his arrogance, she really did, but he had a point.  If he hadn’t stopped, she might not have stopped him until they had gone much further.  She had definitely been enjoying herself and could also admit part of her present aggravation wasn’t just because of his attitude, but also because he stopped.

She sighed as she accepted his offer to help her sit up and was thankful at least that they were alone in the room.  She wondered with a chuckle how long it had taken the attendant to get the hell out of there when they had started making out.  If the crew wasn’t hiding somewhere and watching them, that is.  She wouldn’t put it past them with a boss like this one.

She stood and tried not to show how uncomfortable she was.  She was pleased to see she wasn’t the only one that felt it.  Setzer only took a few steps to a nearby chair where he sat and pulled her down into his lap.  She raised a brow at him.  “Is this really ideal for negotiating?”

He brushed her hair back off her neck and smiled at something he saw there before he grinned back up at her.  “Probably not, but I don’t want to walk to my cabin yet.”

Alia felt her heart rate spike slightly at that point, but she kept her voice calm.  “So, what are we negotiating?  What do you want from me exactly?”

His eyes took on a hungry look, and he ran his thumb over her bottom lip.  It took all her willpower not to think about how his lips had felt on hers just moments before and those hands, god those hands.  She shook her head to rid her mind of those thoughts as she focused on his words.  “What I want is to hear my name tumbling from these lips in ecstasy.  I want to hear you calling for me because you cannot stand for me to stop.  I want to see every inch of you bared to me.”

Alia had always had a good imagination, and his words left little for it to do.  It was hard for her not to squirm in his lap to relieve the ache that was building once again.  She took a breath through her nose to try and keep calm as she focused and smirked at him.  “Well, you have already seen me naked.”

He chuckled.  “It wasn’t quite the same while trying to dodge.  You have uncanny aim.”

She rolled her eyes, but his face cleared, and he became serious for a moment.  “Alia, I know you are already aware that I would not do anything you do not want me to, so I will not use this to force you into something you otherwise would not have done.  I did say we could negotiate what is acceptable.”

Alia smiled and leaned forward slightly.  “When you first asked me, I wasn’t sure what my response would have been, but I agreed to the wager this time knowing full well what you had in mind.  Just don’t turn out to really have whips and chains in mind, and I’m okay with it.”

Setzer pulled her slightly closer, and Alia could practically feel the heat building between them again.  “You did say you would give me an answer when I asked.”

Her voice was breathier than she wanted it to be, but he was also much closer now.  She was having a hard time concentrating.  “If you need to hear the word yes, then you have it.  Yes.  I can admit that I was just as much a willing participant five minutes ago as you were.  Now, what do you want from me?”

His smirk took on a hungry edge, but he surprised her when he had her stand and followed her to her feet.  He didn’t say anything as he took her hand and led her toward the Captain’s quarters.  She followed suit and held her tongue.

He paused outside the door and turned to her before he opened it.  “Once we go in here, I don’t know that we will be coming out for some time.  Is there anything you need first?”

Alia laughed at his conscientiousness and shook her head.  “No.  As long as no one comes looking for us, that is.”

His smirk widened a little, and he leaned closer.  “Well, I hope they aren’t bothered by what they find if they do.”

Alia thought back to Sabin and Terra and hoped that if they did share the scene from earlier, that the rest of their group was smart enough to stay away when they didn’t come back.  God only knew she and Setzer had been flirting enough and in a bold enough way that the rest of them should have seen this coming. 

When she followed him into his quarters, she was not shocked at all to find a sizeable four-post bed took up a large portion of the available space, with various dressers and desks built into the walls.  When she ran her hand across the cover, she bit her lip to keep from laughing at the soft material.

Setzer did not miss the action.  He spoke over his shoulder as he started looking through a couple of drawers.  “If you find them objectionable, I could always remove them, but I thought you might appreciate them.”

Alia shook her head.  “Oh no, I’m sure before it’s all said and done, I’ll appreciate them very much.  I just thought it was fitting is all.”

He looked back over his shoulder with a raised brow, and she grinned at him.  “Your flair for style, remember?”

He rolled his eyes as he finally found what he had been looking for and turned back to her.  Alia felt a slight apprehension for the first time as she noticed what he had in his hands.  She gave him a curious look.  “What exactly did you say you wanted?”

His smile took on an edge.  “I told you.”

She looked at him with askance.  “And that requires a blindfold, why?”

He put everything into one hand and pulled her closer with the other.  With one arm around her waist loosely, he looked down at her with a soft smile.  “Alia, I would hope by now, you would trust that I at least have no nefarious plans.  I do want all I said and more.  All I ask is that you let me go about it my way.”

Alia didn’t answer right away.  She wasn’t a shrinking virgin, but this was something new.  Her thought process was being influenced by the circles his nimble fingers were tracing in the small of her back as he watched her weigh her answer.  She finally sighed and shook her head.  “I do trust you.  I’m not sure that is the wisest decision I have ever made, though.”

He chuckled as he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers lightly.  “I promise to stop if you tell me to if that makes it easier for you.”

Alia realized quickly that she could get drunk off his kisses.  She leaned back enough to look into his mesmerizing eyes.  “What do you want me to do?”

He grinned at her wolfishly as he tossed what he had in his hands onto the bed and wrapped her closer to him.  “Where were we?”

She didn’t get to answer as he descended on her once again.  This time, she met him halfway.  He allowed her to push the coat he always wore off his shoulders, but mostly because he was busy with the buttons on her shirt.  He only paused long enough to let his jacket fall to the floor before he resumed his task and moved on to her pants.

Once he had those undone, he paused and took a step back.  Alia gave him a dazed look and wondered what game he was up to now.  She didn’t have to wonder for long as he stepped around her and trailed his fingers over her shoulder, then down her arm before they circled around her waist and to the center of her back, where he paused.  He then reached across and plucked the blindfold up and slid it across her eyes.  When she made a sound, he leaned in and whispered next to her ear.

“Let me lead you from here.”  Alia swallowed thickly but nodded.

She stood still and let him tie the blindfold before he finished taking her clothes off.  Once she was nude, she shivered.  She could feel his eyes on her, even if she couldn’t see him watching her.  At least he kept one hand on her, so she didn’t have to wonder where he was.

She felt his hand trail back around and take her by the arms as he led her around the bed.  His voice was soft and nearly reverent when he stopped.  His breath tickled her ear, and she felt her nipples tighten in response.  “If only you could see what I see.  This-“  He paused and splayed his hand across her stomach before he ran it up and cupped one of her breasts.  “This is a sight to behold.”

He had barely touched her, and Alia could already feel her knees getting weak.  It didn’t help that his nimble fingers had already started moving again.  Thankfully, he must have noticed, and he turned her toward the bed.  Instead of laying her down, he had her kneel.  That was enough to heighten her already growing awareness of what he was doing to her.  She felt exposed and vulnerable, but she could hear his ragged breathing.  She knew it was all because of her too.  She smiled as he positioned her how he wanted her, and she felt his breath across her shoulder.  It was intoxicating.

She almost asked him to pause when he took her hands and wrapped something soft around her wrists.  He stopped when her breath caught and ran kisses across her collarbone and then claimed her mouth.  She was breathing heavily again when he sat back.  She could hear his smirk, even though his words sounded sincere.  “I promise I will not do anything you don’t want.  Should I stop?”

Her head was swimming, and much to her own surprise, she shook her head.  “No, not yet.”

He buried his face in her neck for a moment before he gently bit her shoulder and sat back.  She gasped at the action, though not in pain.  When he sat back, he lifted her hands just enough that they were in front of her.  He then slid around behind her.  His shirt was of the softest cotton, but against her sensitized skin, it was much rougher than she expected when he leaned into her and put his lips against her ear once again.

“You should be able to move if you need to, but like this, I can see every inch of you.”  His arms wrapped around her loosely, and his hands and mouth began a trail of fire that started at her shoulders and slowly, tortuously, made their way lower and lower.  The only part of her they didn’t touch was the part of her she wanted him to.

She was nearly panting in need when he started back up, and she couldn’t hold back anymore.  “Please! Setzer, please!”

His hands paused in their travel.  He sat up and brushed her slightly damp hair back off her shoulder before he leaned in again.  “Please?  Please, what?”

She tried to bring her breathing back under control, but his hands had already started moving again.  She called out nearly desperately.  “Wait!  Please don’t tease me anymore.  I swear to god I’m about to burn on the spot.”

He paused again.  This time he moved around to her side, so he was kneeling with one hand on her thigh, dangerously and deliciously close to where she wanted him to be.  “Are you asking me to stop?”

Alia nearly growled in frustration.  She wasn’t sure if he was being obstinate on purpose or if this was his way to get her to do as he had asked originally, but she was beyond caring.  “I swear to god, if you stop right now, then when I get free, I will hurt you.”

Setzer chuckled before he nipped her earlobe and caused her to shiver as he spoke next to her ear again.  “That wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted to hear you beg, but that fire- I believe I may like it even more.”

Alia moaned loudly as he finally moved the hand that was on her leg the last bit of distance and cupped the apex of her thighs.  The relief she felt of the pressure that was building was short-lived as he was gone almost as soon as it had happened.  She heard him laugh under his breath again as she found inventive new ways to curse him.

She almost thought about seeing how far her bound hands would allow her to move, but she heard the rustling of cloth and paused.  What was he doing now?  She received her answer soon enough when she felt his bare chest against her back.  Her breath picked up a notch at the feel of his skin against hers.  The cloth had been one thing, but it had represented a barrier in her mind.  Now there was nothing between them, and with her current position, she was both exhilarated and nervous.

Instead of resuming his previous activities, one of his hands gently pulled on her hair until her head rested on his shoulder.  He turned her head slightly and claimed her mouth in a heated kiss while the other traveled down her torso, and his agile fingers set to work fulfilling Alia’s request.  The position could have been awkward, but she was too lost to what he was doing to care.  It was only a matter of minutes before he released her mouth and trailed nips and kisses across her shoulders as his other hand continued caressing her.  Alia felt like she was in sensory overload.  Her head was still on his shoulder, and her back arched.  Her hands grasped at the soft rope as spasms of pleasure racked her body, and she screamed out.

It wasn’t until they finally stopped that she realized Setzer had placed one arm around her to help keep her upright and against him.  Her breath was still coming in gasps as she tried to think through the aftermath of her orgasm.  She had never experienced one that intense, and it was only the beginning.  Good god, what had she gotten herself into?

She had barely had a chance to recover when he moved.  She almost wished he hadn’t released her, but at least he didn’t go far.  He moved to in front of her, and to her shock, brought her hands down from whatever he had them tied up to.  He still didn’t untie them, though.  Instead, he gently coaxed her legs straight before he laid her back.

Her breath caught as she felt him kneel between her thighs.  He took her hands and lifted them above her head, which brought him down to hover over her.  Despite her recent climax, she could already feel the need for him building again with just his proximity and his words.  “Now is your last chance to tell me no.  Tell me to stop.”

She shook her head.  “Don’t you dare.  Don’t bring me here and walk away now.”

Setzer groaned at her heated request.  As much as he had enjoyed seeing her fall apart at his behest, hearing her say those words nearly undid him.  He had to take a minute before he could regain enough control not to take her roughly and instantly.  He wanted it to last at least a little longer than that.

Alia could once again tell that he was having a hard time holding back.  He held still for a moment before he tied the rope off to something above her head.  Once that was done, he cupped her face with one hand and kissed her hotly.  She let herself get lost in it.  Between that and the feel of him pulsing against her, she was practically ready to explode again.  By the time he positioned himself to enter her, she nearly matched his groan of ecstasy and relief.

Setzer started slowly.  He knew she was no innocent, but that was no reason to treat her roughly.  His resolve was quickly tested when her hips rose to meet his with each motion.  It was not long before her legs wrapped around his hips, and she nearly yelled at him.  “Untie my hands!  I can’t move right!”

He was loath to stop, but he paused long enough to pull at the slip knot he had used.  The rope was soft and slithered off her wrists.  As soon she was released, she grabbed on to him and used the leverage to snap her hips forward.  They both gasped at the change in the angle.

He leaned down.  “Why didn’t you say something sooner.”

She didn’t bother removing the blindfold yet. Instead, she shook her head and moved again.  “Less talking.”  Setzer chuckled, but he was inclined to agree.

They moved together until they were in sync and both panting with need and exertion.  Alia could feel the same spring coiling as earlier and called out.  “Don’t stop!  God!  Please!”

Setzer took that as his cue to push a little harder and a little faster.  He moved one of her legs a little farther up and changed the angle to go just a little deeper.  When he did that, the world seemed to explode around Alia.

She gripped his shoulders tightly as her back arched off the bed, and she screamed out incoherently.  As Setzer felt her falling apart, it caused him to lose the last of his control, and he followed quickly after.

They ended up collapsing onto his bed together, both covered in a fine sheen of sweat and panting.  Setzer only took long enough to collect his wits before he rolled to the side and pulled her to him.  Alia settled onto his shoulder and finally pulled the blindfold off before she kissed his chest.

She looked up with a sleepy smile.  “You know, as much fun as that was, the next time, we might have to reverse it.”

Setzer raised a brow at her.  So many things in that little statement made him curious.  There was one that was more important than the others, though.  “Next time?”

Alia blushed and almost pulled away.  She hadn’t thought about the fact that the only reason this had happened in the first place was that she had lost a bet.  Setzer tightened his grip, however, and she was forced to answer.  “Sorry if that came out weird, but yeah.  I thought there might be a next time.”

Setzer’s grin grew, and he pushed her back until he was hovering halfway over her again.  Alia felt an echo of the heat she had felt coming back and wondered just how much stamina this man had as one of his hands started trailing up her side.  “Oh, I am glad to hear that.  The next twenty or so hours notwithstanding, I could get addicted to this.”

As he kissed her again, she wondered briefly if this was a good idea with all the things they had to face, but that thought was swept away under a tide of kisses, caresses, and passion that kept her busy for many more hours.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

Alia could not stop grinning.  She was thankful she hadn’t run into any of the crewmen yet, as she made her way downstairs and to her cabin.  She knew she was probably a sight to behold with her just-crawled-out-of-bed hair and rumpled clothes.  She still had about eight hours left in her twenty-four, but Setzer had been kind enough to give her twenty minutes to run down and get clean clothes, but not kind enough for her to shower alone.  No, that was an activity he wanted to share.  Not that she was complaining.

She giggled at that thought as she stumbled the last couple of stairs and barely managed to catch herself before she fell.  She almost felt drunk.  It was strange, being this sore and tired and still not being able to stop giggling.  Yep, she really had gotten drunk off his kisses.  She knew it would happen.

She was pulled from her reverie when she heard a concerned voice call out her name.  “Alia!?”

Her head jerked up, and her eyes widened as she saw Edgar and Terra standing outside her cabin door.  It looked as though they had been knocking and trying to get her attention.  She stood a little straighter and continued toward them while trying to ignore the looks they were both giving her.

Edgar caught her arm as she got to the door.  He looked over her mussed hair, and his eyes widened further when he looked down before they shot back up to her face.  “Are you alright?”

Terra had grabbed her other hand and looked worried.  “I can help if you need it!”

Alia took a step away from them both and gave them a confused look.  “I’m fine.  Just a little tired.  I just came to get some clean clothes before I head back up to take a shower.  Was there something you needed?”

Terra’s hands flew to cover her mouth, and Edgar’s eyes turned stormy.  His voice was low.  “You do not have to go back up there because of some stupid wager.  I will handle it.”

Alia raised a brow at him, and he took a deep breath before he spoke again.  “If you want me to, of course.”

Alia shook her head and opened her door.  “Why don’t the two of you tell me why you’re here before I have to go back.  I have fifteen minutes or so.”

She heard Edgar cursing, but ignored it as she grabbed her pack and started looking for a change of clothes.  It was Terra that spoke up.  “Banon has asked that we attend a meeting this evening.  I think plans are finally being set into motion, and he wants both you and me to be there.”

Alia frowned, but turned to her and nodded.  She sighed as she realized she was going to have to give Setzer a raincheck for the rest of her time.  Maybe they could make it up while they traveled.  “Alright.  I’ll let Setzer know, and we’ll both be back in town within the hour.  That should work, right?”

Terra nodded and turned to go, but Edgar hadn’t moved.  When the other woman noticed the way he was looking at Alia, she continued on.  She would wait for him upstairs.  She blushed again at the thought of what might have caused those marks all over her friend, but at least Alia didn’t seem to be bothered by them.

Once Terra was gone, Alia was shocked when Edgar pulled her into a loose embrace.  He held it for a moment before he pulled back and reached up to her neck and brushed his hand across her collarbone.  She stepped back with widened eyes.

Edgar shook his head at her actions.  “I am not trying to start something.  Have you looked in a mirror recently?”

Alia raised a brow and slowly shook her head.  His actions had her curious, though.  She didn’t say anything before she moved to the cubicle that held the shower.  When she caught sight of her disheveled hair and the many marks across her throat and down her neckline, she suddenly realized why they had been so concerned.  There were teeth marks and red splotches.  None of them looked like they had broken the skin, but they were markedly visible.  She gritted her teeth.  Oh, she was going to have something to say to Setzer, that was for damn sure.  At least magic was a thing here, and she was positive she could heal these.  She paused and smiled at that thought.  It wasn’t like she hadn’t enjoyed the making of them.

She turned back to Edgar with a grin.  His eyes widened at the look, but he nearly fell over when she spoke.  “No, I had not seen these yet, and I plan on making sure either he has plenty to match, or he knows that he will make it up to me, but I don’t regret how they got there.  Is that why you were worried?”

Edgar sighed and shook his head.  “So, you really are alright with this?  He didn’t coerce you?”

Alia snorted.  “No, he did not.  I knew what he wanted, and he tried to talk me out of it.  He asked me at least a half a dozen times if I was okay with it first.”  Her smile softened, and she put a hand on his arm.  “I wouldn’t have let it happen if I wasn’t okay with it.  You may or may not understand, but I’m a grown woman capable of making my own choices.  It’s not like we’re declaring our love for each other and running off together.  Good God, no.”  She shuddered at the thought before she continued.  “We enjoy each other’s company.  I think it is what I needed right now.”

Edgar sighed again but nodded.  “I already said it’s your choice.  I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”  He turned to the door and paused with his hand on the knob.  “In an hour, then?”

She nodded.  Once he was gone, she took one more look at her neck and groaned.  She grabbed her clothes and headed back upstairs.  She and Setzer were going to have a conversation before they headed back to the village, that was for sure.

When they made it back to the village, Setzer did not look happy.  Edgar was not sure how he felt about that, given the fact that Alia didn’t either.  At least she no longer looked bruised.

As soon as they were all gathered, Banon stood and turned to the two women.  “We have come to a critical point in this war.  The Empire grows stronger every day, and lives are being destroyed.  There is no end to their greed.  We have seen that it isn’t just humanity that they will exploit.  We must seek the aid of the espers.  We must fight magic with magic.  The two of you are the only ones that have any chance of communicating with them.  Will you seek them out and try to convince them to help us?”

Alia had made her decision the first time he asked.  It didn’t make a difference what the request was.  She gave him a nod.  “I’ll do what I can.  Do you have any clue where we can find them?”

Terra looked at her with a slight frown, but she spoke up as well.  “I don’t know if they will even listen to us, but I will help as well.  From what I remember of my father’s memories, I think they are in a separate world entirely.  They sealed themselves away to keep from being used.  I know there is a gate that connects the worlds, but I am not sure where it is.”

Banon nodded.  “We have reason to believe that the gate may be what the Empire is guarding to the East of Albrook.  If you can get through the Imperial encampment there, you should be able to find what you are looking for,  Will you go?”

The two women looked at each other before they looked back at Banon, and both nodded.  Once that was decided, the conversation turned to plans about who would go and who would stay behind again.  Of the group Alia had met, they decided they would all go.  Locke refused to let Terra go without him, and Setzer refused to let the airship go without him, though there were a few people that questioned if that was his only reason.

The Figaro brothers would both be handy to have on hand.  They each had different skill sets, but when it came to a fight, either one of them could use those skills to great effect.  Gau, Mog, and Cyan also came.  Since they didn’t know what they would be facing, they would at least come as far as the encampment.  The rest of the returners had gathered in Narshe and were planning to march toward Vector.  They would wait to hear back from Terra and Alia with good news and hopefully be able to time a two-pronged attack that would allow them to take out the Empire for good.

It was late by the time all their plans were made, and everyone headed to their beds.  Edgar watched with a frown as Alia followed Setzer back to the Blackjack.  He turned back to Locke when the man noticed why he was frowning and laughed.  “It’s not like you to be so slow.”

Edgar huffed and shook his head.  “That isn’t the problem, and you know it, Mr. I need to protect every woman I meet.  What about her?”

Locke looked away, uncomfortably, and shrugged.  “She doesn’t need my protection.  Anyway, I doubt she would accept it if I offered it.”  He looked back and smirked at the two retreating forms.  “Besides, I have a feeling if she does need any protection, she’ll have it.  You may not like it, but he’s not what we thought he was.”

Edgar grimaced.  “No, he’s not.  Even I can see that much.”  He turned back to the Adventurer’s Lodge and clapped Locke on the shoulder.  “Let’s get some rest.  I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

The group left early the next day.  They already knew it would take them more than a week to get there, even by airship.  At least they had been able to restock in Narshe.

The large group spent most evenings together in the evenings going over what they might find and plans to get past the encampment.  Despite the initial tensions between some of their members, it wasn’t long until they at least came to an understanding. Even Locke and Alia seemed to put aside whatever had been bothering them.  Especially after the treasure hunter found out what she had said to Cyan.

The group had learned to turn a blind eye to Alia and Setzer.  It wasn’t that they were public with their relationship, or whatever it was since neither of them wanted to call it that.  At least they weren’t public with it on purpose, but that didn’t mean they didn’t get caught making out multiple times when they thought they were alone.  At least they were trying to be conscientious of the rest of the group when they were all together.  Edgar had a feeling it was mostly due to Alia trying to think of Terra.  The girl was more innocent than he thought possible when it came to matters of the heart or matters of sex in this case.  Thankfully, they all made it to the Southern Continent with friendships still intact. 

They ended up having to park the Blackjack a day’s walk away from the encampment, but at least it wasn’t on the other side of the continent this time.  They approached the outskirts of the garrison with trepidation and stealth.  Sabin volunteered to go and take a look.  Not that he was small and wouldn’t be seen or anything, but no one could stop him before he took off.

Surprisingly, he was back quickly.  He was frowning when he joined the others.  “There is no one in the camp that I can see.”

It was shocking news, but when they went to investigate, it wasn’t just the streets that were clear.  There were no troops anywhere in any of the buildings, either.  Alia felt a chill crawl up her spine and wished that she had taken the time to read the cards before they got there.  Even if they were split like last time, at least she would have felt better about trying.  When they walked out on the other side and faced a cave, she wrapped her arms around herself to keep her teeth from chattering the chill was so strong.

Terra caught sight of it as did Setzer.  He frowned, but Terra was the one to ask,  “what is the matter?”

Alia managed to control her shivering enough to speak.  “Something is wrong.  I don’t know what, but we need to be extra careful.  Something bad is coming.”

Cyan gave her a look like he wished she had stayed on the airship, but the others took her words to heart.  As odd as her predictions were, they hadn’t been wrong yet.  Edgar put his hand on her arm.  “Don’t worry.  We’re all together for a reason.  Thank you for letting us know.”

Alia felt a little better at his reassurances.  At least the chills eased up enough that she was able to step into line.  The only issue she had was a persistent feeling that someone was watching them.  Like someone kept brushing their hands over the spot between her shoulder blades.  It was creepy and kept making her look back.  She never saw anyone, though.

When they got into the cave, she almost wished for the chills to come back as she looked below the bridges they were crossing and into the lava far below.  Even from the height they were, the heat was enough to make her hair frizz.  She groaned as she mumbled.  “This is like the worst parts of a bad Indiana Jones movie.  Seriously?  Who the hell thinks this is okay?”

Setzer, who was walking right behind her, chuckled as he brushed against her hand.  “I’m not sure who Indiana Jones is, but I am sure that none of us find this okay.  Trust me.”

She looked back to him with a grin.  Despite the situation, she felt better having him there.  She was at least thankful that the bridges seemed to have fossilized and didn’t look like they would break at the slightest touch.  That was a plus.  She tried to count those.

By the time they made it through the caves and could see the giant gate at the top of a long set of stairs, Alia wasn’t sure how much more she could take.  Between the constant feeling of being watched, the lava pits, and the monster attacks.  Oh god, the monsters.  She had never hoped to find out that zombies were real, and oh boy, were they real.  She shuddered as Terra put a hand on her arm.

None of their group was unscathed, but at least they had a few ethers and potions to supplement their healing.  When Terra started up the staircase, Alia grabbed her and shoved one of the precious bottles into her hand.  Terra gave her a questioning look, but only hesitated a moment before she followed Alia’s example and downed it.  Even though all of the party members had some form of healing spell learned by that point, the two women were still the strongest casters and would be their first line of defense if something nasty came up.

They led the group up the steps.  When they got to the top, they looked at each other before they took each other’s hand, and each put the other on the door.  They both tried to reach out with their minds as though they were speaking telepathically.

Nothing happened at first.  Finally, they heard a voice.  ‘Who are you?  Why do you disturb us?’

Alia was too shocked to speak, so Terra quickly did.  ‘I am the daughter of Maduin.  We have come to seek help.  We had hoped to ask for an alliance.  It is true that some humans have used the espers that were captured, but not all humans want that.  Please, at least talk with us!’

Before her plea had even finished, both the magicite for Maduin and Kirin started to glow softly, and the echo of their voices joined in.  ‘Please lend your aid!’

After that, there was silence again.  It was silent for so long that Terra opened her eyes and looked at Alia with worry.  The same concern was reflected back, especially as they had finally started to hear something, but it sounded like a low rumbling.  Whatever it was, it was ominous.

They were not given long to think about what was coming, as their attention was drawn by a sickeningly familiar laugh.  Alia’s head shot up and looked down to see Kefka, along with a troop of soldiers at the foot of the stairs.  Suddenly the empty garrison made so much more sense.  They should have known to expect something like this from the insane clown man.

The rest of their group had already raced down to engage the soldiers.  Alia and Terra were not far behind.  Luckily, between the two of them, they were able to negate most of the damage Kefka was able to do with his magic.

Before they could deal with Kefka and his maniacal and irritating laughter, the rumbling grew until it burst through the gate.  Both Alia and Terra felt the rush of power before they saw the flood of espers.  Alia screamed out to her team.  “Duck!”

They all looked back, but it was enough of a warning for them to listen.  They hit the ground.  Many of the espers headed for the group as well, and Alia turned her head and gave Terra a panicked look.  “Quick!  Barrier and Gravity!  We need to keep from being swept away!”

Terra understood immediately and turned to the people on her other side, while Alia started casting on the ones nearest her.  Thankfully, by the time the mob of espers drew even with them, their group was at least protected enough that they could not be dragged off.

Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, Kefka had not paid attention to what they had been doing and was still laughing as an esper with wings carried him away.  As much as Alia hoped that meant it would be the last they saw of him, she had a feeling he was too much like a bad penny.

Once the espers were all gone, the women allowed the spells to fade, and everyone sat up to asses the destruction.  When they looked behind them, what had once been the gate to the esper world was now nothing but rubble.  Alia shivered once again, and Setzer pulled her into a light embrace.  He didn’t care if it made the others uncomfortable.  He was just glad that she had been away from that gate before the espers had come charging out of it.  For a few moments, he wanted to hold her and reassure himself she wasn’t hurt.  Especially after how violent her premonition had been before they entered the cave.  She was right once again, and it could have been far worse.

Everyone took a few moments to check themselves before they stood.  They noticed that the gate wasn’t the only destruction wrought by the stampeding espers.  Some of them had gone straight through the walls as well.  At least that turned out to be a boon since it ended up being a shortcut past the lava caves and back to the entrance.  The tired group raised up thanks for everything they could for the moment.  At least they had all come out alive.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Since the group had been able to use a shortcut to get out of the mountain, it was not long before they were back outside of the imperial encampment and headed to where the Blackjack had been parked.  They had, thankfully, not run into any resistance from the force that had followed them.  The soldiers that were Kefka had also been swept away by the espers and were nowhere to be seen.

As tired as they all were, none of them wanted to pause for the evening.  Even though none of the others were as sensitive as Alia, they didn’t need to be.  The sense of foreboding was strong enough for every one of them to feel it.  That meant the quiet group plodded on into the night.

They had barely made it two-thirds of the way back to the where the airship was parked before they ran into a group of crewmen from the ship.  They all seemed to be upset, and none of them made much sense.  At least not at first.  Setzer had to raise his voice to get them all calmed.  “Quiet!”  He then turned to one of the men.  “Now, just you.  Explain why you are not with the Blackjack.”

Once the crewmen were calmed, none of them seemed to want to look Setzer in the eye, but the one he singled out, finally explained.  “Sir, we apologize, but we felt it would be important to let you know what happened.  We left a skeleton crew with the ship and came to find you.  It was maybe eight or nine hours ago when a group of espers came out of nowhere.  They attacked the ship and nearly destroyed it.  If we had been airborne, we might have been able to maneuver past the worst of the damage, but since she was grounded, there was not much we could do.”

There was complete silence after the man’s statement.  Everyone was trying to wrap their heads around the fact that their transport was damaged.  No more so than Setzer.  Alia stepped closer to him and put a hand on his arm.  Her motion was enough to break the stupor he had been in.  He ignored her as he glared at his crewmen.  “Give me a rundown of the known damages.  Will she still fly?”

The men all fidgeted for a moment before the one that had spoken before did so again.  Though, he couldn’t look Setzer in the eye as he spoke.  “No, sir, she will not.  There are several gaping holes in the hull, The buoyancy mechanism was damaged, and several of the rudders were smashed.  The engine and parts of the interior were the only things unharmed.”

Setzer cursed a blue streak with such vehemence that most of the team took a step back.  It was only a few moments later that he managed to calm himself, but it was obvious that he was still livid.  He had to take a deep breath before he could speak.  “Fine, we have to go that way to get to Vector anyway. Let’s see if any of it can be repaired and salvage what we can before we move on.”

All of the crewmen saluted before they turned to head back the way they had come.  Edgar shocked them all when he gave Setzer an understanding look.  “We will figure out a way to help you get her back in the air.  You’ve helped us too much to ignore this.”

Setzer glared at the King for a moment before he let out a huge sigh and ran his hand down his face roughly.  He then shook his head.  “I know you mean well, but now is not the time.  Let’s go see what has happened and get some rest before we head on.  Those espers are bound to still be causing problems, so we have no time to waste.”  There were several nods of agreement before they all silently turned to head toward the downed ship.

During the walk, Setzer completely ignored everyone, including Alia.  She had initially gone to his side to see if she could offer comfort, but he barely spared her a look before he shook his head and asked to have space.  She fell back at his request and instead walked with Terra.  None of the team spoke more than necessary after that.

The longer they walked, the more distant both Setzer and Alia came to be.  He was too caught up in thoughts of what they could do, while her thoughts were a mystery to all.  Especially as her face became less open the closer they got to the airship.  Terra and Edgar both tried to get her to talk, but she rebuffed their efforts.  That caused them both to shoot a glare at the gambler’s back, but neither were acknowledged.

It was a few hours after they received the news that they finally arrived.  The early morning light made long shadows that hid some of the damage but made other parts look worse than they actually were.  Even so, it was plain to see the Blackjack would not be airborne any time soon. 

From where they were standing, they could all see most of what the men had described.  Holes in the hull were dark pits that seemed to cast off any light.  The dirigible type balloon was shredded and lying in tatters across the deck.  The once-proud airship seemed to crouch in shame as the light continued to rise and crawl across it.

They all paused and stayed back as Setzer walked closer.  None of them wanted to interrupt him at that moment.  It was a full minute later that he sighed and turned to the rest of the team.  “If the interior is as intact as they claim, then we should be able to at least rest here and gather all we can carry before we move on.”  He then turned back around.  “Let’s go see how badly my girl was hurt.”

Once they made it inside, it took them a few moments for their eyesight to adjust.  The electric lights that were always lit were no longer working, and the only brightness was coming from the portholes and various other unintended gaps.  As they looked around the casino level, they were all glad to see that it was mostly intact, other than the hull.

While they were looking around, a man came up from below with a light in hand.  He gave Setzer an apologetic look but still came over with his report.  “Sir.  The levels below are almost all untouched.  The hull has a few cracks, but she’s still intact.  The engine is also unharmed, though it will be some time before we can get power to her with some of the other damages.”

Setzer nodded.  He had already heard most of that.  “I suppose I should be thankful for small favors.”  He then stood a little straighter, and his voice took on an authoritative tone.  “I need you all to focus on getting her ready for transport.  I refuse to leave her here, even if she has to float to a location where I can fix her later.  I will be headed toward Vector to meet with the Returners waiting there.  For now, head that direction once she is steady enough.”

The man gave him a salute before he ran off to spread the word.  Once he was gone, Setzer turned to the rest.  “If the rooms are unaffected, you can use them to rest.  There should be emergency lanterns in each room you can use for now.  I’ll have one of the men bring up anything useful before we are ready to leave.”

Edgar gave him a nod.  “We should get some rest while we can.  We can leave this afternoon.”

There were several grumbles about leaving so close to nightfall, but none of them wanted to wait too long.  There were too many uncontrolled variables for any of them to rest easy.

Once that was decided, all but Setzer turned to head down the stairs.  When he realized Alia was among them, he moved to grab her hand.  He lowered his voice so the rest would not hear.  “Where are you going?”

Her face was a blank mask when she answered.  “To my room to rest.”

Setzer sighed.  “Your room is up here.”

When she shook her head, he tried to pull her closer.  He frowned when she resisted the gesture, but his voice was still soft.  “I apologize if I gave you the impression that I was angry with you.  I needed to think.  Though, I should not have pushed you away.”

Alia just shook her head again as she pulled away from him.  “No, your anger would be justified.  I can’t- you can’t stay close to me.”

His frowned deepened at her confusing words.  “I have no reason to be angry with you.  You are not the one that instigated this attack.”

Her mask started to crack as she took another step back.  Her voice shook ever so slightly.  “No, of course not.  That doesn’t mean-“  She cut off and turned away for a moment.  When she turned back, her face was once again impassive.  “You can’t get any closer to me.  I can’t afford to care about you.  You need to leave me alone now, before it’s too late.”

Something about her words helped him push the last of his worry for his ship away.  He closed the distance between them and grabbed both of her arms as he looked down at her.  “What is that supposed to mean?  I know that we both agreed this was not supposed to be something serious, but I don’t understand how you can continue to ignore what is growing between us.  Surely you are not saying you can’t see it.”

Alia let out a choked sound as she wrenched from his grip. “Don’t!  Don’t say that.  You can’t- I can’t care at all.  Not if-“

When her words trailed off, Setzer grabbed her again.  “What is going on.  I deserve an explanation, at least.”

Alia shook her head.  When she looked up at him, he was shocked to see the shimmer of tears.  It was several moments before her shoulders slumped, and she looked down.  “Fine.  All I ask is that you don’t kick me off the ship.”

He finally dropped her arms and took a step back.  He could not understand why she thought he would do such a thing.  He still managed to hold his tongue as she started with broken words.

“You once asked me to explain to you why I have such unnaturally good luck.  I never wanted to tell anyone, but that goes hand in hand with why you need to pretend I never existed.”

Setzer was thoroughly confused by that point, but something told him now was not the time for questions.  He didn’t even try to reach for her again as she turned away and continued.  “To explain things, I have to go back several generations.  Where I’m from, slavery used to be a common thing.  One of my ancestors was one of them.  The man that owned the plantation she was on was a greedy son of a bitch, and somehow found out that she was not any ordinary slave.”

There was a slight pause as she wrapped her arms around herself.  “She knew how to use magic.  Real magic.  I don’t know what he did to force her hand, but somehow he made her cast a blessing on him and all his descendants.  They would be lucky in all senses of the word.  Money, influence, women.  Whatever they set their mind to, they would end up getting it.”

Setzer thought to try and comfort her, as it was apparent this retelling was taking a toll.  She caught his movement from the corner of her eye and stepped away.  She ignored the noise he made as she kept on.  “What that man didn’t know was that what my ancestor placed was no blessing.  It was a curse.  His line would forever have the luck to gain what they wished, but never would they enjoy it.”

She finally turned to him and looked in his eyes.  “The way the curse works is very specific, and always passed on through the female line, so it proliferated.  Any female of his line that cared for any man would lose that man.  The females would be all that remained.”

“It was not long after the curse was placed that his plantation became one of the most profitable in the region.  He also was killed in a horseriding accident two years later.  His son married and took over from his mother, but he too died when a boat he was on sank.”

She made sure to hold his gaze as she shared the last of the story.  “It was that man’s grandson that thought to break the curse.  Something that hate wrought could surely be undone with love, or so he thought.  And love my great-great-great-grandmother he did.  Despite the hatred from his peers, he freed his slaves and married her.  The color of her skin didn’t matter.  Even she felt the curse would fade, but it did not.  She was devastated when he was killed by a snake bite.”

Setzer gasped when he finally understood what she was trying to say.  If her story was true, then she was the descendent of both lines.  The ones that were cursed and the ones that held the power to force the issue in the first place.  He ignored her attempts to put distance between them and pulled her closer again.  His voice was soft as he tried to figure out the rest.  “Are you saying the curse still continues to this day?  Surely it could not if both sides have joined.”

Alia pushed away from him and shook her head.  “The spell was fueled by powerful hatred.  It has not faded, not once.  My grandmother was married four times, and each husband died a horrible death.  My mother thought it was bullshit, so she married and took me away.”

She pinned him with a pleading look.  “When my father died in a freak construction accident, it destroyed my mother.  I was only four when she killed herself out of grief.”

By that time, Setzer was too stunned to move.  He just stared as his voice dropped further.  “And you believe the destruction of my ship happened because you are cursed as well?”

She nodded before she turned away.  Her voice was barely above a whisper.  “I know I am cursed.  My power and luck are one side, but the other has not faded.  I know because it has already struck once.”

Her voice cracked on the last part, but she turned and faced him.  Her tears had already started to fall, but she ignored them as she finished.  “I was engaged once.  I knew better than to ignore this, but I fell in love.  I couldn’t stop the feeling, and Paul was insistent.  He didn’t care.  Or so he said.”

“I don’t know why things changed, but a month before we were to be married, he ran off to elope with one of my friends.  I didn’t know anything about it until I got the news that all three of them were killed in a car crash.”

“Three?”  Despite how horrified he was to hear all this, Setzer’s curiosity pushed the word from his mouth before his mind could stop it.

She nodded absently as she wiped off her tears finally.  “Yes, both my fiancé and my friend, as well as their unborn child.”

Setzer could not seem to find any words.  If he were honest with himself, he could not quite wrap his head around all of it.  When his silence held, Alia continued.  “That was the reason I had locked myself up for more than half a year.  My friends begged me more than once to come out, but it wasn’t until my grandmother told me I couldn’t let the curse rule me that I finally listened and went with them.  The day before I ended up here.”

She then sighed and turned toward the stairs.  She didn’t move for a few moments before she spoke again.  “That is the reason I can’t allow myself to care for you.  At all.  I ask that you let me stay so I can help the Returners like I said I would, but I won’t bother you again.  It’s for the best.”

She started to walk toward the stairs, but before she could take more than a couple of steps, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her.  One on her middle and the other on her shoulders.  She froze as Setzer pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.  “I have gambled my life away once already on something I care far less about.  This is no reason for me to walk away, nor should you.”

Alia turned in his grasp and gave him a pained look.  “Did you listen to me at all?!  This is no joke!”

He cupped her chin as he looked down with the serious gaze he rarely used.  “I do believe you, but I also believe you were brought here for a reason.  Perhaps it was not just to help balance this world once more.  Did you ever consider there might be more to you being the specific one pulled from your world to this one?”

Alia opened her mouth to rebuke him but snapped it shut again as she considered his words.  Could it be that she was here to break the curse?  She wasn’t sure how it could be possible, but the thought still infected her.  It wasn’t impossible.  Even if that wasn’t the reason, there was still the possibility that she could use something she found here to break it.  Magic was strong in this world, unlike her own.

Her hope shined in her eyes as she looked up at Setzer.  He smiled slightly when he noticed it.  His lips brushed across hers softly before he pulled back and grinned.  “I am a gambler by nature, and since it is my life, I will choose what to wager it on.”

Alia sighed, but finally relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder.  Her voice was low.  “I can’t say that I’m not still worried.  For more than one reason.  Even if I could break the curse, I still have to go home.  I can’t give up trying to find a way, no matter how I feel.  I am the last living female of our line.  Everything we have built as a family will fall to me to manage.  Everyone is dependent on me to keep up the businesses and everything else.”

He lifted her chin, and he was once more serious.  “Have no fear that I will try to stop you.  I may not understand the burden.  Nor do I have a name for what this is, not yet.  However, I do know that I am not tired of you yet.  Call me selfish.”

Alia made a frustrated noise, but she was still trying not to grin.  “Oh, I will.  Trust me.”

Setzer chuckled at her jab, which caused her grin to form finally.  He stepped back and pulled her toward his quarters.  She allowed it with one last sigh.  She knew she should have been stronger and insisted, but he had instilled hope where she had lost it.  Plus, she still held onto the sliver of doubt that the curse might not work in this world.  The damage to the Blackjack could have been coincidental, sine Setzer hadn’t been injured.  Plus, she would be leaving him behind.  No matter what she thought, in the end, they would forever be separated.  That thought caused a brief flash of pain, but she pushed it away as the door closed behind them. 

Neither of them noticed there had been a shadow at the top of the stairs.  Edgar had noticed how Alia was acting and held back to make sure she was alright.  He had not meant to listen to their conversation, but once she started, he could not pull away.  He let loose a frustrated noise as he turned to finally find his room.  He understood her much better now, and he could only hope the gambler was right.  If only for Alia’s sake.  She did not deserve such a horrible burden.