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********* (I Love You) Aki XXXIV: Setsuyu-A FFXI Love StoryFollow

#1 Aug 05 2005 at 8:25 AM Rating: Excellent
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is Aki XXXIV of my love story ************ (I Love You)[/I]. Okay, from here on out, there are gonna be spoilers for a particular nation’s storyline, but nothing TOO major...I hope. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Comments are always appreciated!

Previous chapters, aki, and Interludes

Part I - Connection (Enishi)

Kasho II - Kodoku (Solitude)

Part III - Reunion (Saikai)

Kasho IV- Suriyoru (Closer)
---
(Aki XXX)
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=35&mid=112238583589703268&num=3

(Chapter XXXI)
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=35&mid=1122559673284936731

(Interlude IV)
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=1122641776503699968

(Aki XXXII)
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=1122987452126376636

(Chapter XXXIII)
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=1123084567810865644

Don't own anything FFXI related, so SE...don't sue!
***
Aki XXXIV: Setsuyu
***
"...You are after the Eruntalon Code...aren't you? Well, you can't have it, so good day to you."

With that Isacio stood up and was half-way to the door before I could even rise out of my seat to try to stop him, with Hitomi's arms clasped around my neck.

"Wait!," I said desperately as I grasped the corner of his shirt sleeve trying to stop him, "Why won't you help me?!"

Isacio paused with mid-stride, and then turned around to face me, allowing his features to turn harsh as he did so. "Because, the secret of the crystals is meant to be just that...a secret. The Eruntalon Code, if misused...can spell the destruction of Vana'diel and make it so that the drea-" He cut himself off there, as if he realized that he had said too much.

Drea-?

Dream?...

Where have I heard something about dreams before?...

He then tugged his arm away from me, the cotton cloth slipping between my fingertips and he started to make his way out once more, breaking my thought process as he did so.

Suddenly, a desperate idea seized a hold of me, and I quickly shouted out at Isacio's retreating form as it touched the doors.

"Isacio, you know that you and I are both the same! We both want what's best for Jeuno..." I strained out of my mouth, as Hitomi's weight forced me to slump over slightly.

"Hmph," he replied...but I could plainly see that he stopped moving.

"Think about it! I want to help the Grand Duchy, not hurt it! You of all people should realize this...look at you now, the Hero of Selbina, training Jeuno's finest in order to defend the motherland?!" My words bounced throughout the air between us, ricocheting off of the walls and filling up both of our ears. I stood up fully into an alert military pose, forcing Hitomi's feet to dangle in the air, her body dripping blood down her legs and onto the floor below. "I am Commander Dimitri of the Ducal Guard, and despite the false charges of treason...there is not a single soldier who served under me that would dare accuse me of NOT loving Jeuno."

I held that pose as best as I could, silently hoping Isacio would listen to me and reason...but it was only moments later that Hitomi soundlessly slipped off from around my neck, and crumpled down to the ground in an ever growing puddle of blood.

I had forgotten about how badly she must have been bleeding!

I knelt over her fallen body, and I could see that her chest had stopped rising and falling in time with what she was supposed to breathing. Suddenly, she coughed up a smattering of blood with a deep hacking sound that scattered across my boots. She then opened up her eyes, those great green orbs silently pleading with me to do something...before closing them again in obvious pain.

"Hitomi!" I screamed, starting to panic, wishing desperately that there was something I could do. If I stayed, she would surely die, but if I left, she would be alone...and I can’t leave her when she’s looking at me like that...

Isacio without warning calmly came back to where I was, and then knelt down beside me.

"Hmmm..." he said thoughtfully. He then reached out a hand, and slowly stroked the spot on her face where the soldier had smacked her earlier with his fingertips. As he did so, the spot started to glow a delicate golden color, and I could slowly see the blood start to stop dripping out of her mouth until it stopped completely. After a couple more moments passed, and then Hitomi’s eyes fluttered open once more to look out upon us.

"There!" Isacio said triumphantly, and I could see an evident grin on his face as he then wiped the now dried blood off of Hitomi’s face with a black silk handkerchief that she had had tied around her neck. "Nice to know those lessons with the Order of the White Robes weren’t in waste! You almost died there, you know."

Hitomi slowly touched her hand to her forehead, and then carefully sat up.

"Thank you..." she said quietly as Isacio handed her dirty handkerchief back to her.

Isacio paused for a moment, then turned his head towards me and stared directly into my eyes. "I have to admit tho, its nice to see that there are still some REAL soldiers out there...the new recruits that I’ve been trying to train are all more idiotic and uncaring about those that they are supposed to be protecting than a bunch of Rabaoians." He chuckled softly at his joke, and then got up to go sit down at the table once more.

I was too wrapped up in getting the information from him to notice Hitomi...and she almost died because of it.

The guilt swallowed me whole, and try as I might, I couldn’t push it away.

"Come, sit!" Isacio commanded of me, trying to wave me in his direction over the wrecked bar. I helped Hitomi up, and then together we sat down opposite of Isacio once more, Hitomi’s hands tightly grasping mine. Once we were comfortable, Isacio drummed his fingers along the tabletop for a moment before speaking.

"Okay, first of all...don’t worry about the Jeuno Guard. A friend of mine, a girl by the name of Aoi" -at the mention of her name, I felt Hitomi’s hands grasp mine tightly- "radioed me via linkpearl and told me that you would be coming via the ferry that was supposed to arrive earlier today, and asked if I would please ensure that there was no Ducal Guard to meet you at the port when you arrived a bit late, due to the ferry's engine having broken down. I thought it was a strange request, but I complied with it...with all available able bodies off fighting the war...I have pretty much direct control over the guard forces of Mhuara."

With that, he dropped his voice a couple of notches in tone as he turned quite somber. "...I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but despite the papers, the war hasn’t been going too well for our side. At the Battle of Konschtat Highlands, the forces of Bastok were only just barely able to defeat the beastman troops, but at the expense of losing almost all of their own troops."

Isacio licked his dried lips before continuing. "...And there are now rumors coming out of a massive slaughter deep within the bowels of Garlaige Citadel of San d’ Orian troops that were supposed to go reinforce the failing Windurstian war warlock forces. Not to mention that people are starting to call for the Archduke’s resignation even within the innermost walls of the Grand Duchy..."

This news hit me like cockatrice, and I felt my heart start to give out.

We’re losing...

The beastmen are winning the war...dammit all!

"Isacio...tell me where the Eruntalon Code is. The beastmen are after it also and would stop at nothing to get it. They even attacked the goldsmithing guild in the heart of Bastok in an attempt to find it, and there are ruins of experiments in the Necropolis of them trying to replicate the formula from a man who they had driven to the brink of insanity’s faint memories of who might have held it’s location mind, but didn’t." I said this in desperation, as the importance of securing the secret to the perfect synthesis suddenly became even more important before. If we had the best equipment and supplies, we could easily turn this war around...

Isacio opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times like a black-eyed bubble fish, before finally speaking again.

"Alright...I’ll help you."

"Then talk."

Surprisingly, that came from Hitomi, who had been sitting quietly at my side since the exchange began. Isacio looked at her for a moment, then gave her a smirk that only belied his youthful face.

"Alright little lady. The Eruntalon Code...lies within one of the avatars that protect Vana’diel..." he said, "if you want it, you have to get it from there."

He then paused for a moment, and tapped his forefinger against his chin while staring up at the ceiling.

"Hmm...this is highly classified information that I am about to tell you but...there are rumors of a hidden ministry of Windurst, that is dedicated to researching the avatars. It is also apparently rumored that it was established by the Star Sibyl herself. If I was going to start anywhere, I would look there, if it actually exists of course."

With that, Isacio politely excused himself from the table and strolled out the pub without another word, leaving Hitomi and I alone in the ruined bar.

"Then...to Windurst?" Hitomi finally said.

I only nodded.

-fin Aki XXXIV: Setsuyu

Edited, Fri Aug 5 13:00:11 2005 by Nightsintdreams

Edited, Thu Aug 11 11:49:45 2005 by Nightsintdreams
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#2 Aug 05 2005 at 9:47 AM Rating: Excellent
**
649 posts
um Nights? Just how much of a wuss is Hitomi?!!?

She almost dies from a punch in the mouth?

What is she? Level 2, no sub?
#3 Aug 05 2005 at 10:48 AM Rating: Good
GaranTheElvaan wrote:
um Nights? Just how much of a wuss is Hitomi?!!?

She almost dies from a punch in the mouth?

What is she? Level 2, no sub?


Hitomi's a pretty strong girl who can hold her own when she needs to and can probably blast anything she wished to into dust...

And yet here, she is about to die by a single punch.

I must say though, its quite likely that if Hitomi hadn't knelt over and pretty much died on the spot, Isacio wouldn't have helped them out in finding the Eruntalon Code, forcing them to lose the only lead they had to finding it and most probably force them to give up the quest.

It's quite odd, and also...quite lucky...

Isn't it?

Edited, Fri Aug 5 12:12:26 2005 by Nightsintdreams
____________________________
Proud citizen of Miranda.

-Currently on Pochacco Server of Hello Kitty Online.
#4 Aug 05 2005 at 11:05 AM Rating: Good
**
649 posts
I sense a trick up someone's sleeve...
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