FicWad

Auron had never seen an Al Bhed before. He'd never really believed the stories he'd been told as a child -cautionary fright tales designed to keep Yevonite children pious and silent. It was said they wore goggles to hide the two feline toothed mouths they had in place of eyes. He'd like to say he never really believed those stories, but all the same his stomach tightened as Father Ikvan removed the captive's dark goggles.

The Al Bhed's panicked, tearful eyes darted from Ikvan to Auron to Kinoc and back again and Auron felt an unexpected pang of empathy. Their prisoner might be a heathen but he didn't seem like any more of a monster than himself or Kinoc. Wasn't much older than them, either.

"My Lord, what is his crime?"

Father Ikvan regarded Auron with a sharp-eyed look of annoyance. "Being there. He was found in Luca during non-tournament time without any permissions. Most likely a terrorist. At the very least, a spy sent from the Al Bhed headquarters." Ikvan paused study to his captive's reactions. "Probably both, from the looks of it."

"Yevonite authorities detained him before he could do anything." Kinoc said, punctuating his comment with a satisfied grin. "Machina has nothing on good old fashioned Yevonite instinct."

"Don't be over-confident," Ikvan snapped. "The first rule of interrogation is to never underestimate the enemy. Or you'll end up with a knife in your back the moment you turn it. On that end, when interrogating the prisoner, always remember to keep a sphere record of your conversation. A recording protects both your reputation and assures your safety. Kinoc, if you'd prepare the sphere?"

Moments later, the unmistakable static whine of a recording sphere thickened the air.

"Father Ikvan reporting," the priest dictated for the sphere, his eyes to the ceiling. "assisted by cadet-class Warrior Monks Auron and Kinoc of the Bevellian Brotherhood. Interrogating suspected Al Bhed terrorist. Arrested in Luca." Ikvan squinted. "Young male, approximatively fifteen to seventeen years of age. Does the suspect care to identify himself?"

The boy shifted slightly, lowering his head.

"Very well. The suspect refuses to identify himself. Tell me, what were you doing in Luca without permissions?"

The boy did not move.

"I asked you, what were you doing in Luca?" Ikvan spoke louder and slower, giving each word its own sentence.

"He doesn't understand...." Auron kept his tone small and neutral.

Ikvan shifted his glare from the captive to Auron. "Observant, are we? Very well, we'll do this in the savage's tongue. Kinoc?"

Kinoc handed a small leather volume to Ikvan.

Ikvan paged through the small dictionary, slowly translating his words into heavily accented Al Bhed. "Fryd...fana oui...tuehk eh Luca?"

At the sound of words he recognized, the boy's face shifted quickly from obvious surprised to rage. Cheeks reddened, he bared his teeth slightly.

"Fryd fana oui tuehk eh Luca?" Ikvan demanded again, his voice noticeably raised. "Answer me!"

The boy tilted his head upward and spat directly into Ikvan's face. Auron started, and saw Kinoc do the same. Ikvan wasted no time in landing a hard punch to the boy's stomach. The boy gave a clenched cry and lurched against his restraints.

When Auron's gaze caught the Al Bhed's eyes --spiraling and lolling with such fierce humanity, it broke him and the training that kept him in him in check. "The rules--"

"Pardon, cadet?"

"Yevon has had no official diplomatic relations with the Al Bhed tribe for over fifty years. Those rules were written by Yevon and agreed upon by no-one."

Ikvan paused, his face cool. Kinoc's eye twitched, a nervous tic that always made his anxiety plain. The silence fell thick between them. Still maintaining vice like eye-contact with Auron, the priest grabbed a fistful of the prisoner's blonde hair and forced the boy's face upward, into the light. "This is the face of the man who killed your parents, Auron."

Kinoc shifted his glance to his fellow cadet, his eye wide and trembling.

"If it weren't for the transgressions of his people, they would not be dead. Many dead mothers and fathers would still be alive if all of Spira would follow the teachings Yevon so gifted upon us." Ikvan forcibly pushed the boy's head downward. "Unfortunately he and his kind do not see fit to do so."

Ikvan turned his attention to Auron. "If you are unable to comprehend the importance of universal atonement, you are most certainly not fit to be a Warrior Monk. Kinoc, have you the same difficulties with this concept?"

"No, my Lord." Kinoc coughed his words and stared at the floor between his feet.

"There's a good boy. I trust your influence will set Brother Auron back on the right path."

Kinoc nodded and Auron stared silently at the blank wall.

In twenty years time Auron would be dead but they would call him a hero.