FicWad

Aralius nearly pushed Madison down the stairs,. Tripping on a strap to the saddlebags he was carrying as the two made a dash for the door. Stumbling into the lobby and dining area, all eyes turned to them as Aralius slammed into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Aralius nervously stood up and composed himself, waving hesitantly to the other people. Then out of the corner of his eye Aralius saw three men in armor talking to the innkeeper, who then turned towards Aralius and pointed.
"Wrong direction." He exclaimed, grabbing Madison around the waist and taking off towards the kitchen. They burst through the kitchen doors, and inside they found several women who looked at Aralius and shrieked.
"Kidnapper!" she screamed as she picked up a small knife. Aralius' eyes grew large in surprise. Then he felt something...rather someone writhe its way out from under his arm. It was only then that he remembered picking up Madison. Blushing furiously, he tried to calm the women who proceeded to shriek even louder and began to throw things at him. Finally he sighed and admitting to himself that these crazy people weren't going to stop, he decided that he would cut his losses and just play the part.
Ducking under one projectile after another, Aralius got to the closest woman and grabbed her shoulders. "Is there a back way out of here?" he shouted. The woman shook her head. Aralius sighed again.
"Come on, tell me or...or...please?" he asked again. The woman looked at Aralius in surprise at his choice of words. Then, as she looked over his shoulder, her eyes grew large as she yelped and ducked her head. Aralius let go of the woman in shock and turned right in time to receive an iron-cast pan to the face. Aralius shouted in pain and kicked the pan across the kitchen in anger.
As he clutched his face, Aralius heard Madison's voice from across the room. Looking up to see what she was shouting about, Aralius saw the kitchen doors opening and three large, armored men walk in. Aralius' pain suddenly vanished as he frantically began looking for an escape route.
"Over here!" Madison screamed. Aralius turned his head to see Madison bouncing up and down pointing to something behind a few large shelves. Turning again, Aralius saw the knights closing in.
"Stop in the name of the King!" said one of the men, the only one with a cape, which Aralius took to mean that he was the one in charge. Aralius readied himself to run, grabbed a nearby pan shelf and as he took off he pulled the shelf down behind him. Aralius thought his ears would burst from all the noise created by the maids' screams, the falling pan shelf, and the shouts of the soldiers.
In a manner of seconds they were out the door and sprinting towards the stable, but when they got there Boco was gone. Madison looked around frantically.
"Where could he be? You don't think..." she was then cut off by a loud stomp and the bark of a familiar chocobo. Aralius looked to the opposite end of the stable and there, next to the second exit stood Boco. Aralius stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Boco obediently trotted up to Aralius and Madison. Aralius ran to the back of Boco's stable and retrieved the saddle, quickly throwing it onto Boco's back and strapping it as Madison climbed on. Once that was done he threw the saddle bags over the front of the saddle, they didn't have time to put them on properly right now, and jumped on and with a snap of the reigns they were off.

Boco skidded out of the alleyway and sprinted through the crowds towards the city gates. Aralius urged the chocobo on while Madison screamed and clung to Aralius for dear life. Behind them, three chocobos and their riders screamed for the lone chocobo to stop, but to no avail. Merchants and customers alike also screamed, but because they were nearly trampled by the stampede.
Aralius looked above the gates to see the city guard clambering about. None, however, tried to reach the switch to shut the gates. Instead, they picked up bows and readied them for the runaways.
"Duck!" Aralius yelled to Madison as the guards unleashed the first volley. Aralius removed his left hand from the reigns and extended it towards the arrows. "Precious light, be our armor to protect us - Protect!" As the arrows closed in on them Aralius closed his eyes in a brief moment of fear but relaxed when sure enough they struck a green barrier which deflected them away from the chocobo and its riders. Aralius sighed in relief as they sped out of the city, but when he turned around he saw that their chocobo riding friends were still in pursuit.
"What now?" Madison said, tightening her already tight grip around Aralius' midsection.
"We should be able to lose them in the swamp." he replied as he turned and grabbed the reigns with his left hand again. "Come on boy," he urged with a light snap on the reigns.
The group rode like this for hours before they finally seemed to get some separation between themselves and their armored pursuers. Aralius tugged on the reigns, bringing Boco to a slow trot. As he did this, the bird's adrenaline wore off as he began to move at a slow walking pace.
"We should be able to take it easy for awhile." Aralius said. They went for a few more hours before their pursuers came within eyesight.
"Who are these guys?" Madison asked as she turned around for a better look.
"If I had a guess, they're probably some of the cities soldiers, I told you that he looked right at me." Aralius replied, snapping the reigns in an attempt to get Boco going again. No luck. "Come on boy, you're in just as much trouble as we are if they catch us." The chocobo barked something in reply and they were off again, slowly at first but gradually building up speed and the chocobo's adrenaline began to flow again. Looking back, Aralius counted three riders, all on armored chocobos. He nodded, the swamp was defiantly their best bet, the riders would have to stop and strip the armor from their chocobos before trying to wade through the swamp muck. As they closed on the swamp's entrance, Aralius saw another, narrower path to the right that they could use to their advantage. So he pulled on the reigns and steered them off the trail and into the Zigolas Swamps.

The three Royal Guard slowed their chocobos to a halt where they had just witnessed their prey veer from the trail. The middle rider cursed his luck, the Prince would not be happy about this.
"Shall we follow Sir Kleis?" the man to his right asked.
"No, the Zigolas Swamps have taken three patrols in the last month, and we aren't adequately prepared for travel through the swamps. Let the monsters have them." he nodded as to either emphasize his words or help out the swamp. He then gathered up his reigns and turned back towards Goug. Kleis was most defiantly not looking forward to his coming encounter with Prince Kane.

Zigolas Swamp was the most unusual place Aralius had ever been. The foliage was dense, but the water that flowed freely took up even more space, forcing Aralius to steer Boco through shallow water to dry patches and directing jumps between the occasional dry patch within the chocobo's leaping range. With all the navigation he had done in order to stay somewhat dry, Aralius looked at their surroundings and wondered if they had gone anywhere at all. Sighing, he coaxed Boco into stopping on a large, fallen tree which sat above the water. Hopping off the chocobo he walked to the end of the tree and looked all around in a futile attempt to make some sense of where they were.
"We're lost aren't we?" Madison said as she slid from Boco's back.
"No," Aralius lied. "I just thought it would be good for Boco to get a little rest." Madison rolled her eyes. As she approached Aralius, he still stood at the end of the fallen tree, trying to find some bearing as the where they were.
There was then a high-pitch whistle off in the swamp, and a splash as something fell from a tree to their right. Aralius only saw a blur of the falling object but shrugged it off. Madison, however, was frightened by the sudden activity within the forest and leapt towards Aralius, throwing her arms around them and nearly sending both into the water. Aralius yelped in surprise as she hit him, but when he regained his balance he peeled Madison's arms from his sides and laughed.
"It's just the wind." he said still laughing. Madison opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. Frowning, she hit Aralius in the arm.
"It was not the wind." she said as she turned and stomped her way back to where Boco lay waiting for them. Aralius blinked a few times in surprise as he rubbed his now throbbing arm. Shaking his head he was now convinced that he would never understand that woman...she did have a good right hook though he thought with a smile. Aralius then began to walk back towards Madison and Boco who were fighting over whether or not Boco would stand to be mounted. Madison pulled and tugged on the reigns and screamed and shouted, but Boco just sat there oblivious to her attempts to make him stand. Aralius grin grew even larger as he struggled to hold back his laughter. As he approached the two he began watching them more instead of where he was going, causing him to step with his right foot onto something slippery, sending his right leg plunging into the waist-deep water.
Cursing, Aralius looked at the log so he could figure out what it was that he had slipped on. There, on the side of the log was a thick, green slimy substance; it was some type of moss. Aralius' anger immediately turned to joy. He pulled his leg from the water laughing as he shook his leg in an attempt to rid it of some of the water. He then pushed himself to his feet and ran to where Boco and Madison were staring at him like he had just gone insane.
"I told you I knew where we were." he said, still laughing. Madison stared at him in awe for a few moments before remembering that she was still angry. She frowned and stomped her foot, bringing Aralius' laughter to a quick stop.
"Well that's great, but this stupid bird won't..." Madison's jaw dropped when Aralius walked up to Boco and said something to the bird which made it stand instantly. Aralius turned to the dumbfounded Madison and snickered as he pulled himself into the two person saddle.
"Coming?" he asked, extending a hand out towards Madison who nodded and slowly approached. As she got beside Boco, the chocobo whipped its head towards her and snorted. Madison screeched and quickly grabbed Aralius' hand and hopped into the saddle. Aralius smiled and patted the chocobo's neck as the bird cackled proudly about his prank.
Laughing, Aralius picked the reigns from their resting place on Boco's neck. Now that he found some moss, and in the process finding the directing north, he could direct them in the correct direction. Turning to the East, all it took was a quick snap of the reigns and they were off once more. It was by no means a quick process, hopping around in that attempt to stay from the swamp waters. After a few miles, however, they came to an impasse. Halted on the remnants of an ancient tree stump, Aralius looked around.
"What's wrong?" Madison asked as she tried to lean around Aralius and look around.
"We're going to get a bit wet." he said as he readjusted his position in the saddle. Madison opened her mouth to complain but it was too late. Boco jumped from the stump and into the water with a giant splash, sending swamp water into the still open mouth of Madison.
Madison spit the foul tasting water out furiously and wiped her tongue with the sleeve of her cloak in an attempt to get rid of the foul taste. At the same time Boco cackled in its odd laughter. Aralius smiled and wiped the water from his face.
"Not as deep as I thought." he said as he looked to see the water up to the lower portion of the chocobo's body, leaving Aralius and Madison only in the water up to their knees. Madison cursed, still trying to get the taste of the swamp water from her mouth. Aralius stifled his laughter and urged Boco to begin trudging through the swamp.
Boco waded through the swamp for nearly an hour before Aralius stopped them to get somewhat of a bearing on their location. As they looked around there was a splash followed by a high pitch whistle. Madison jolted in fright and tightened her grip on Aralius who wheezed, his ability to breath suddenly limited by Madison's arms. He peeled her arms off and breathed deeply.
"Would you stop that?" he said annoyed. "It's just the..." he was cut off when suddenly a dozen figures exploded from beneath the water. Aralius reached for his sword but stopped when he saw that each of the figures appeared to be armed with bows and crossbows, and they were all pointed at him. He raised his hands slowly into the air above his head, hoping to talk his way out of this one.
"What are you doing?" Madison hissed.
"I'd be dead before I drew my sword." he replied. One of the figures then approached them. It was a man with black hair and a long, black goatee clothed in a tight brown cloak covered in bits of moss and tree branches that served as very good camouflage.
"Down from the chocobo." the man demanded. Aralius nodded and kicked his leg over the saddle and jumped into the water. The man gestured to Madison with his crossbow to do the same. She hesitated rebelliously for a moment but she finally relented. When they were both down two more of the men approached and took everything but their clothes. The man searching Madison grinned mercilessly as he searched her, which was in reality just a rough groping of her. Aralius stepped towards her and opened his mouth to protest but stopped when Madison shot him a glare that clearly told him to shut his mouth. She stood there, head rose defiantly, staring straight ahead with her teeth clenched. The man then stopped, suddenly not getting any pleasure from the lack of attention.
"Bind their hands." the first man said. The men pulled some long strands of rope from their cloaks and tightly tied the hands of Aralius and Madison together. Once that was done the first man drew the hood of his cloak over his head.
"Come, the master will decide what to do with them." the man said as he turned to face the other direction. As he turned, Aralius saw the back of the man's cloak and gasped because there, on the back of that man, was the black symbol of Lucavi.

Apparently wandering from the main road was Aralius' big mistake, as they had wandered deep into the swamps and close to their capturer's camp. Aralius trudged solemnly behind the man who was apparently in charge, face downcast in an attempt to avoid the sight of the black symbol on the man's back. This, however, proved to be useless as the symbol seemed to be burnt into his vision. At first, Aralius had tried to convince himself that he was mistaken, but no, he had seen that symbol before, in the Holy Scriptures in Ordallia.
Behind him, Aralius could hear the struggles of the many men set with the task of pulling Boco with them. As for Madison, well Aralius couldn't hear her, but he could feel her eyes burning through him like an ant under a magnifying glass.
The noise behind him worsened, and Aralius stopped as one of the men was thrown in front of him. The lead man turned towards the ruckus. Aralius turned his head to see that all but the lead man and the man behind Madison were now attempting to reign the fighting chocobo in. This was their chance.
Aralius whipped around and dove at the man behind Madison. He and Aralius went underwater for a moment and returned to the surface, except now Aralius stood behind the disoriented man. Aralius took his bound arms and threw them over the man's head and around his neck. As the man began to cough he drew a dagger, but before he could use it Aralius locked his hands and pulled as hard as he could. There was a crunch as the man's windpipe crushed and he fell into the water. Aralius grabbed the dagger and ran to Madison.
"Hold still," he said, he then brought his magic to focus and burnt through Madison's bindings.
"Why didn't you..." she began.
"Not a good time, cut my bindings will you?" he said handing Madison the dagger. After his bindings were cut Aralius turned to see a man charging. Madison screamed as the man lifted his weapon, a giant battleaxe, and closed in. Aralius calmly raised his hands so they pointed towards the man and closed his eyes. "Strip away the ground with glistening blades! - Bolt!"
As the last word left his lips energy surged from Aralius' palms and into the attacker, sending the man flying. Aralius looked to his right to see Boco still struggling with the men. Before he could take a step towards his friend, however, an ear-piercing shriek sounded, followed by an eerie silence and then the booming voice of the man in charge of their capture.
"Leave the bird to the monsters of the swamp," the voice commanded. "But bring me the other two!"
Aralius turned to grab Madison and run but it was too late. The men had already regrouped, and along with a few that Aralius swore hadn't been there before, had he and Madison completely surrounded.
"This would be a good time for another one of your tricks." Madison hissed.
"It would be," Aralius agreed. "If I had another trick to use, that is." Aralius sighed and rose his hands and placed them on his head.
In a matter of moments they were bound and on the move again, but this time it was silent as the prisoners were one fewer thanks to the release of Boco. "What they don't know though, is that Boco is no ordinary chocobo." Aralius thought. "And instead of it looking like we were eaten by the monsters or some such thing, he'll find help." Or so he hoped.
It wasn't much longer before they reached their captures hideaway. It was a lone piece of desolate ground, raised just above the water that stretched for perhaps a thousand feet at most. The land was covered by hundreds of tents, each marked by the dark symbol of Lucavi. There was little activity at this part of the camp, but as they neared the middle the more activity there became. Men and women, young and old, each marked somewhere with the symbol of Lucavi.
In the center of the camp was a large bonfire, in the center of which stood a metal sculpture of the demon Lucavi. The head of which was the skull of a dragon, the body of a bull demon, the arms of goblins, the legs of a human, and a panther's tail. It was a gruesome thing to behold, and Aralius quickly shifted his attention from the idol to a large figure in a hooded dark green, silk cloak.
"Master." the man said with a bow.
"Brother Frendrick, what have you for me today?" the figure asked.
"These two were found nearby in the swamps." The hooded figure nodded and turned its head towards Aralius. As the figure set eyes upon him, Aralius could feel that something wasn't right. As the head of the figure met his gaze Aralius went cold. Then, from beneath his cloak came a sparkle of light.
"Fate. What twisted webs she weaves, isn't that right Mr. Beoulve?" the hooded figure said, reaching into Aralius' cloak and pulling out a small satchel...that which contained the last of the Holy Stones. As the figure drew its arm back Aralius saw a blood red glow from within the hood. Looking down, he saw that the man's arm was not a man's arm at all, instead it was reptilian.
"Indeed Beoulve, I am no human." the figure said. Then using its arms the figure drew back its cloak to reveal the head of a dragon to a much smaller scale. "I am Inoptet, one of the last of my kind that lost the war centuries ago with you humans. Now, with the power of the stones and Lucavi I will have my revenge upon those who destroyed my race." The boy holding the stones glimmered again, and a sickening grin crept onto Inoptet's reptilian face. "Take the Beoulve to the prisoner tent." he ordered.
"And the woman?" Frendrick replied. Inoptet licked his lips.
"She goes into the servants' tent, and see to it that she isn't touched until I say so."
"As you command." Frendrick said, bowing deeply. He then turned and motioned to the guards who roughly pushed Aralius towards his prison. The then which would be his prison sat at the far side of the camp. Once there, Aralius was shove inside, finding that within was only a cot and a set of shackles. The rope binding on his wrist were cut by one man while another picked up the shackles and locked them around Aralius' arms. The man then locked the shackles to a chain that was buried in the center of the tent and left, followed by his companion.
Aralius stood there blankly for a few minutes after the men left before finally staggering over to his cot and sitting on it. Staring at the ground, Aralius lifted his hands, causing the chains to jungle. Running his hands through his hair, all he could think was "What now?"


Fate, what a twisted web she weaves, words too true for the Beoulves as once again a cruel twist of fate takes control once more. But the Holy Stones are only one of many problems as the mighty, newly unified armies of Ivalice prepare for a King's dream, the conquering of the last few rival nations and the creation of a world empire.

Coming Soon! Chapter 2: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Part 1