Chapter 10: Psychic Knight Versus Summoners

Chapter 10: Psychic Knight Versus Summoners

Beastly roars and thunderous explosions could be heard throughout the Tarutaru city as the dark ferry pulled into the dock. Aura, Ken and the Moogle quickly walked down the ferry steps, across the deck and down the ramp onto the pier in Port Windurst. The Elvaan man looked up to the towering Tree in the center of the city. "Do you guys see what I see?" he asked his comrades. "Could it be, kupo?" Moogle replied. A fiery-purple energy was being emitted from a tiny point above the top of the gigantic tree.

Aura could hear Tarutaru voices echoing in the distance, all he could make out was the fact that it was some kind of magical chant, some-what similar to those he heard back in his home city as it was being destroyed. "Look, kupo!" the Moogle squeaked. Aura focused in on the distant movements far above them, hovering over the tree. A yellowish-green woman with wings and talons, half-bird it looked like to Aura. This bird-woman screamed fiercly before slashing at the air in front of her with her dangling talons. As her claws pierced the air, spiraling and swirling blades of wind formed in front of her. With another scream, her Wind Blades shot forward and sliced through the purple energy above the tree, streaking a line of the energy across the sky, opposite of where the bird-woman floated.

Suddenly, a head-pounding pulse burst from the fiery-purple ball, instantly ripping the bird-woman apart, molecule by molecule. Fear could be heard in the Tarutaru screams that followed the womans destruction. However, the chanting did not stop. It echo'd across the port as Aura, Ken and the Moogle made their way through the grass covered pathes leading toward the tree. "That must be Raven up there." Aura said aloud. "How... can we.. get up there...?" Ken asked questioningly. "We're in Windurst, kupo!" the Moogle quickly replied. "Home of the most powerful magic users in all of the world! We can ask for their help, kupo!" Aura nodded to the Moogle, and began running toward the tree once again.

The familiar beastly roar from when the ferry pulled into the dock had just sounded once again, like a siren warning of a fire. With this roar, a blazing fireball shot into the sky from the grounds of Windurst Woods. This fireball spiraled around the gigantic tree before slowing to a stop at the top. With a furious howl, the fireball burst into an explosion and a magmatic beast was revealed. This roaring beast had two demonic horns, and a face lit with the fires of magma. It's skin was red with glowing cracks all over it, much like cooling lava. This creature resembled something that would live beneath a volcano.

The fiery beast rose one burning arm into the sky above it, with its three ash-colored claws gripping a core of fire energy. As its claw loosened, the core floated into the sky and released a wave of red energy, with a sphere of infernal flames following. This ball of inferno emitted sorching fires straight from the hells beneath the surface of the world. It could be seen in its strangely colored flames. Dark brick-red with yellow-orange highlights spewing out from the infernal core. With the beast's arm still in the air, it began to howl once again as it directed the fiery meteor-like ball down onto the purple energy. It's arm rushing forward with what looked like all of the beast's strength, causing the Inferno to slam into the tiny point of purple energy like a Meteor Strike. As the Inferno crashed into the purple energy, it hit a small purple barrier, causing the ball of fire to explode across the dark cloud covered sky, illuminating it for what seemed like forever.

As the fire in the sky disappeared, an orb of black nothingness bubbled up in the heavens from a distorted nowhere. Aura and Ken suddenly stopped to look up as they entered Windurst Waters. Without warning, an updraft of wind attempted to pull everything into the sky. As Aura and Ken held onto the poles of the Windurst Waters archway, they realized the ball of black nothingness was pulling the magmatic demon-beast into it. It began sucking the flames from the beasts body, as the beast itself fought to stay out of the nothingness. It finally let off one last rumbling roar before being engulfed in the black ball. With the beast gone, the ball of nothingness shunk into oblivion and disappeared. The winds stopped and all became quiet, except for the continual chants in the distance. Aura and Ken mushed onward toward the great tree, without noticing the Moogle had gone ahead.

Ken suddenly stopped and jerked its metallic head up and to the side. Staring at the dark sky, the automaton says to its master "Look... something... is happening." Aura stopped, and looked up to the top of the tree. A beam of radiant violet light shot into the clouds from the pinnacle of the massive tree. The earth beneath began to shake furiously and the frantic childish screams of the Tarutaru citizens and warlocks flowed over Aura and Ken like thunder.

The violet light above them began to shine brilliantly, illuminating the entire city and the sky above it. Suddenly, all noise ceased. Not even a whisper could be heard. The dead silence was followed by a burst of light rolling outward from the radiant violet pillar above the giant tree in the center of the city. With the silence still eerily sufficating Aura, he realized the child and Raven had just turned onto the offensive.

The expanding ring slowly faded as it reached the edge of the city. Whips made of bright white light with violet edges started to dance around the pillar of energy. Ken took a step forward and mumbled to himself "There is... nothing... we can do..." Just then, the whips bust into intimidatingly enormous wings in the sky. A giant beak made of energy emerged from the pillar until an entire radiant bird was formed. With one flap of its wings several sonic pulses tore through the city, ripping every living thing to shreds. It crushed homes and demolished buildings. Trees were uprooted and flung great distances.

Aura and Ken ducked instinctively as the pulses passed over them. They quickly realized they were somehow unharmed. As Aura lifted his head, he noticed a shimmering bubble-like force-field around them and the Moogle standing bravely in front of them. Aura's attention was quicly drawn back up to Raven only to see the gigantic bird shrink into the top of the now heavily damaged giant tree. Aura thought to himself... "Raven is gone... Why is that child still using her?"

The Moogle Magic shield faded and the Moogle turned to look at his master. "That is one scary woman, kupo." It said, calmly. Ken stood up and looked around at the destroyed city. Tarutaru bodies lay amess around them. The automaton walked forward a few steps and announced "This... this is not... right. We... have to... do something." The Moogle, floating there, nodded to the automaton. Aura kneeled down with his fists on the ground before whispering "I'll stop you... whoever you are... My sister is not a tool of war..."

Chapter 9: Spirit of the Sea

Chapter 9: Spirit of the Sea

The Elvaan man and the Automaton slept quietly on the soft thick bed covered in silk sheets adorned with intricate Mithran patterns. Aura slowly woke up, but still laid silently with his eyes closed, thinking to himself about the Animator the Moogle kept in its little brown shoulder bag, "What is its purpose if the Automata are able to think and move on their own -- why restrict their capabilities to a masters control?" With this thought, he opened his eyes, and rolled his head to the side across the pillow. He looked at the hibernating Automaton, peacefully sitting there with its systems on standby. "This tiny machine conjured up a blizzard in my Mog House? It seems impossible..." he thought to himself. 

Suddenly without warning, the entire ship shook furiously, as if the ocean beneath were solid land under the influence of an earthquake. Aura quickly sat up, and said aloud "What was that!?", his voice and the shaking caused Kenbishi's systems to start back up. The Automaton looked up at Aura with its shadowy face and said to his master "We... must be... there." Aura nodded to Ken and stood up, but nearly lost his balance as the ship continued to shake. After regaining his balance, he ran out of the cabin room door, down the short hall and up the stairs leading to the ship deck. Ken hopped off of the bed and followed.

"H-heeelp, kupo!" The Moogle screamed as he held onto the steering wheel for dear life. Aura shouted to him as he ran up the stairs leading to the control room "What's going on, Moogle?" "In front of us! It's... a giant snake, kupo!" Aura looked out over the deck of the ship from the top of the stairs. The ship shook once more, as a gargantuas blue and white serpent with large flowing scale-covered wings launched itself from the ocean over the front of the ship. As it passed overhead, its wet body dripped onto the deck as if it were raining, and its huge figure blocked out the dim light of the sun, giving the feel of a sudden storm. 

Aura followed the serpent with his eyes as it crashed back into the water behind the ship. Ken ran up the stairs, his natural clanking footsteps silenced out by the thunderous sounds of the crashing water engulfing the serpents body as it slithering into the ocean. Ken shouted "Where... did that.. come from!?" Aura looked out over the ocean and saw a towering tree on the land in the distance. "That must be Windurst!" He said before turning around and running into the control room. "We wont make it to the shore if this snake-thing sinks us first, kupo!" the Moogle cried while still tightly hugging the steeling wheel. Aura's face was overcome by a sudden serious look. He quickly reached into the Moogles bag and pulled out the animator. The Moogle looked back at Aura questioningly, but Aura turned around and ran out of the small room before the Moogle could speak.

Ken stood on the stairs in a solid stance to keep his balance from the raging ocean knocking around the ship. Aura walked to the end of the stairs and looked down to Ken, Ken looked up to Aura and saw the animator in his hands. They knew what they had to do if there wanted to survive. Aura and Ken nodded to eachother in sync. The small metal Automaton jumped off of the stairs, into the air and landed in the middle of the ship deck. Aura pressed the green button on the animator, the button with a tiny tornado symbol. The ship shook again, this time the serpent emerged from the ocean on the left side of the ship. As the creature flew over the ship, swells of ocean water crashed into the fragile ferry. Ken, now radianting a pine-colored aura, shot into the air off of the deck. As the Automaton pierced through the air, a vortex of wind spiraled quickly around its frame. Like a bullet, the tiny metal doll slammed into the body of the serpent overhead. It then fell back to the deck, landing on its feet much like a cat.

The now angry serpent turned around in mid-air, with its glowing red eyes looking out of place on its nearly neon blue colored body. The enormous serpent coiled up its extremely long body and tail in the sky over the ship. Aura and Ken looked up as the beast let out a horrifying screech. You could see the fear in Aura's eyes. The Automaton however, held its fighting stance, awaiting its next command. Aura, not expecting a response, screamed at the serpent, "What do you want from us!?", the serpent looked down at the Elvaan man, and spoke in a scratchy, echoing near-whisper of a voice "I am Leviathan... Ssserpent of the sssea. I wasss sssummoned to dessstroy." Without hesitation, the creature screeched again and slithering higher into the sky before diving at high speed down toward the ocean. As the beast crashed into the surface of the ocean, it let off a surge of energy that caused a rumble in the water, unlike the furious crashing waves of before. Aura and Ken looked around, but the serpent was no where in sight. Above the water at least.

The Moogle finally pryed itself from the steering wheel, and floated out of the control room with its wings fluttering frantically. The pink flying mole floated up behind Aura and asked "I-is it gone, kupo?" Aura turned around to reply to the Moogle, but he saw something behind the furry little creature out in the ocean at a distance. "I don't think that thing is done yet..." Aura mumbled. The Moogle turned around and saw the gigantic serpent slithering through the air above the ocean surface at extreme speeds, a tidal wave twice as high as the beasts distance from the ocean, trailed behind it. "Oh no, kupo!!" the Moogle cried. Aura looked down at the animator as Ken walked up the stairs and stood next to him, the metal doll now without the green aura from before. "How can we stop this creature?" Aura asked. Ken looked up to his master, and tilted its head. "I... can do... it..." the Automaton's voice echoed. "You... can give me... the strength..."

The Automaton set its tiny black hand on its masters pant leg, as if telling the Elvaan that there is always hope. Aura closed his eyes, and slid his finger over a randomly chosen button on the animator. As he pressed it in, the Automaton burst into a radiant white light. Ken's voice rang throughout the area in a sharp deep voice. "Strength of the Warrior... Faith of the Paladin... Soul of the Dark Knight... I can feel the tune-up taking effect." The Automaton, engulfed in a ball of white energy, floated into the air. "Valoredge." Ken said gallantly as he broke apart the ball of light with his limbs, sending beams of energy shooting into the ocean and others into the sky. With the light gone, Kenbishi's new form was revealed as it drifted slowly down onto the roof of the control room. Heavy-looking peach-colored armor, with golden designs and patterns adorning the metal frame. A heavy knight's helmet sporting the same theme as the frame, with a fluffy crimson feather on top. The feather fluttered in the wind as it hung behind the Automaton's helmet. It's arms had become weapons, two sharp blades on the left hand that doubled as scissors, and a thick small shield on the right hand.

Leviathan's screech could be heard once more, as it closed in on the ship and the city of Windurst with the gigantic ocean wave following behind. "Aura." Ken said, in a solid low toned voice. Aura looked up at the Automaton. "Endow me with the esscence of earth." it said. Aura nodded, looked down at the animator and moved his finger from the Light maneuver button to the Earth maneuver button. As he pressed it in, the Automaton, still atop the control room, began to glow a nearly transluscent yellow color. "Thank you, master." the Automaton graciously said as it watched the serpent came up on the ship. Ken suddenly dropped into a low stance and launched itself straight through the air at the creature once more. With its shield extended in front of it, Ken slammed into Leviathan's face, causing the serpent to coil up again. The wave slowly fell back into the ocean as it sped along right under the ship. The ship rolled over the former tidal wave the same way it did over a normal ocean swell.

Ken shouted back to Aura as the Automaton's metal frame dropped towards the ocean surface and the serpent regained focus as it had overcome the stun of the shield bash. "I need offense! Try a combination!" Aura felt like a student and his teacher was a puppet as he did what the doll commanded of him. The Elvaan man pressed in the button adorned with a Lightning bolt, and then the button with the tornado. Ken's aura spiraled with purple and green energy as the Automaton's descent toward the ocean slowed and it began to float upwards toward Leviathan. 

"You cannot defeat me. I am the God of the sssea." the creature hissed at the tiny mechanical doll as its glowing red eyes pulsed. Heavy black clouds suddenly formed overhead, and rain began to fall around them. The serpentine creature let out another horrifying screech that seemed to summon giant pillars of water from the ocean surface below. These rising pillars slithered just like the creature who had summoned them. Ken, still rising toward Leviathan, hadn't noticed the towers of water rising from behind. "Look out, kupo!" the Moogle shouted. Ken turned around in mid-air but it was too late, one of the pillars of water crashed into the automaton with destructive force. As the water enveloped Ken's metal frame, another pillar slammed into it from the side of the first pillar. The two jet-streams of water now crossing through eachother, held the automaton in a current while the third pillar of water rushed upwards, crushing Ken in between it and the other two. An echoing cry rang across the moist rainy air. Aura could feel Ken's pain, yet the question of how an Automaton could feel pain lingering in the back of his mind as he cringed, with the animator still in hand. 

Aura suddenly fell to his knees, and let out a pain-filled scream up into the sky. The Moogle turned around to look at Aura, seeing his overwhelming pain confused the Moogle. Aura dropped the animator in front of him and fell forward onto his hands, with his head down and his eyes tightly shut. "Insssignificant creatures. You ssshall not harm Windurssst." Leviathan hissed. The Moogle looked up at the serpent, "Harm, kupo!?" it said questioningly, "We're here to save Windurst, kupo!" Leviathan looked down to the small pink floating mole and screeched. "Decept-sss-ion." the Serpent said as it lifted its massive tail high above its dragon-like head. "I have wasssted enough time here. My duty callsss." it said before whipping its tail downward into the center of the three water jets. The tail slammed into the automaton, knocking it forcefully into the sruface of the ocean.

Aura fell onto his stomach with the animator laying on the wooden floor in front of his face. His eyes opened as he heard the serpent speak once more, "You ssshall be destroyed along with thossse trying to harm Windurssst." Aura sat up, and grabbed a hold of the animator. The giant blue creature uncoiled and slithered high into the sky, before diving swiftly into the ocean. Aura looked up to see the long tail disappear into the surface of the water. He looked down at the animator, slid his finger over the purple lightning bolt button, and pressed it once... then twice... then a third time. He stood up, looked out over the ocean behind the ship and whispered to himself "I... feel your pain..."

The ocean suddenly sank downward, and an enormous pillar of sea water towered over the small ship. The tower of water reached high into the black clouds and doubled the heavy rain. Leviathan emerged from the side of the tower, and wrapped itself around the watery pillar as if it were solid. It let out yet another piercing screech to signal its final attack. 

Aura closed his eyes and whispered in a short breath "Now," A beam of radiant purple light shot up from beneath the ocean and slammed into the serpent, knocking it away and taking a huge chunk out of the pillar of water. The tower began to collapse on itself, the water rained to back to the ocean and high in the sky Aura and the Moogle could see Kenbishi slashing at Leviathan with unbelievable speed. The Automaton's scissor-blade hand was slicing through the so-called "God of the Sea" with electrifying energy trailing behind each slash. 

Ken suddenly stopped, looked into the glowing red eyes of the tore-up serpent, and said in an echoing voice "Be gone..." The Automaton stabbed its dual blades into the serpents body as a chain of lightning bolts fell from the black clouds above and struck the creature multiple times. Leviathan let out one last screech as its body burst into scattering cyan spheres of light. 

Ken began to fall from the sky while the black clouds above the ocean faded away. The automaton leaned forward into the fall to build up speed. As it closed in on the ship, it leaned forward again and rolled over, landing on its feet on the deck of the ship in an impact just soft enough to leave the wooden floor intact. Aura walked down the steps onto the deck and smiled at the Automaton. Ken looked up at Aura and held the scissor-blade hand up to his helmet to salute him. The Automaton's helmet feathers rustled in the breeze emanating from the direction of Windurst, which made both Aura and Ken turn to look at the city. "We're almost there, kupo." The Moogle said from the top of the stairs. "I think we're ready." Aura said. The three of them looked out over the water at the giant tree in the center of the city, as the ship brought them closer and closer to the port. With the silence invoking thought, and the breeze filled with righteousness, Aura said to himself in his head... "Raven... We'll get you back. I promise you."

Chapter 8: Hell Hath No Fury

Chapter 8: Hell Hath No Fury

Black clouds gathered above the destroyed city and a cold heavy rain began to fall. Aura and Ken ran swiftly through the ruins leading to the guardless gates of the city. As they passed through the gateway, the Moogle, lagging behind the Elvaan and the Automaton, began to flutter its small wings as fast and as hard as it could to give itself a short quick boost, before its speed fell to even slower than before.

As Aura and Ken stood outside the city gates, they saw lightning flash in the distance over the woodlands, followed soon after by a faint sound of thunder. Ken looked up to Aura, and speaking over the sound of the downpour and thunder the Automaton asked "Where... do you think... they went?" Aura simply dropped his head down and closed his eyes with the water running from his drenched blond hair, down his face and onto his wet clothes. Just then, the Moogle finally caught up and exclaimed "I know where they went, kupo!" The Automaton's head flicked to the side to look at the incoming Moogle, as Aura raised his head and turned as well. "Where...and... how?" Ken said questioningly, as if expressing Aura's own thoughts for him.

The Moogle looked to the sky and pointed to the dark clouds which filled it. The black heavens looked as if they were being pulled to some far-off point over the horizon. The Moogle announced with a heave in its squeaky little voice "The sky is quickly moving toward Windurst, kupo!" Aura looked to the ground with frustration before tightening his fists at his sides and saying in a near-whisper of a voice "Raven...what has come over you..." Ken suddenly looked up to the sky and tugged on Aura's sleeve before saying to him "The clouds... are getting... faster..." "We should get moving, kupo." the Moogle added. Aura let out a sigh, unclenched his fists and began walking along the outside of the mostly demolished city walls with Ken and the Moogle following him closely.

As they approached the harbor, they had noticed the broken down and burning ships that were scattered across the port. Aura looked out over the ocean, but only saw the dark sky being compressed into a single point far out of his sight through the heavy rain. Ken looked up at Aura and noticed the look across his face, a look depicting the sorrow he felt for all of the death he had come to know of. As the Elvaan man stood there spacing off, the Moogle shouted "Look! There's a whole Ferry over there, kupo!" pointing to small untouched ship. Aura and Ken both looked in that direction simultaneously with their now blank visage.

The Moogle began to hover down the pier leading to the small crewless Ferry with Aura and Ken running quickly behind. The three of them slowed to a walk as they approached the edge of the long drenched wooden platform over the dark navy blue ocean water. They came to the docking ramp of the chocolate colored ferry, and the moogle hovered there before floating up onboard the ship. Aura looked down at Ken and jestered him onboard as he said casually "After you." The wet Automaton tilted its head while looking up at Aura, but suddenly proceeded to march clankily up the wooden ramp with the tall Elvaan man following directly behind. Aura pulled the soaked ramp up onto the Ferry deck and continued to follow Ken up a short flight of stairs leading to the cockpit.

When Ken and Aura entered the small window-filled room from the cold rain falling outside, they noticed the Moogle floating around pressing buttons and spinning the steering wheel randomly before turning around and announcing "It wont go, kupo!" Ken and Aura looked at eachother and then back to the Moogle. The Automaton stepped forward and pulled a lever as the Moogle watched curiously. When the Automaton turned around, the entire ship shook and rumbled before a loud bang explosively sounded beneath them. "What did you do, kupo!?" The moogle shouted at Ken. The Automaton tilted its head and suddenly the entire ship pushed forward out of the ruined city's dock. The Moogle looked out the window to see the cloudy dark ocean and thick rainfall speeding past. "We're moving, kupo." it said while Ken walked over to Aura and looked up at him. Aura looked down to the Automaton and smiled before noting "It may take a few hours to get to Windurst from here, we should probably get some sleep." The Automaton nodded as Aura turned around to walk out of the room and down the stairs that led to the deck. The Moogle squeakily shouted as loud as it could from back in the control room "I'll keep an eye on our course from here, kupo!" 

Aura and Ken stepped into the doors on the main deck of the small ferry and walked down the solid wooden stairs leading to the crew quarters below. Aura walked down the hall and looked into the first room he saw. It had a long soft bed in the back, "It's just like the one back home." he thought to himself before he realized his Mog House was no more. The depression of the thought didn't last long in his head as he watched Ken walk over to the bed and climb up as if trying to scale up the edge of a cliff. The Automaton pulled itself up and sat on the bed with its legs hanging off and its hands on the bed as if bracing itself from falling to the floor. Ken looked up to Aura as the tall man walked over and sat down on the bed next to the metal puppet. "What...do you think...happened to...her...?" Ken slowly asked. "I'm... not sure." Aura replied hesitantly. 

Moments later he began to speak his thoughts "That little girl seemed familiar... and I got the feeling all of that rage was coming from her..." Ken tilted his head as he looked at Aura and listened carefully. "Wait..." Aura suddenly said. "Being a Psychic Knight, Raven has the abilities of an empath... ...I should have realized what was going on before now..." Aura leaned over forward and laid his face in his hands with his elbows on his knees. "What... does that... mean?" Ken asked. Aura slid his hands over his face and ran his fingers through his hair before straightening his posture and looking toward the Automaton sitting next to him. "Ken. Empathy is when a person with a highly developed mind has the ability to directly feel whatever those around them are feeling. That is what made Raven such a powerful fighter. She could use the battle spirit of her opponents against them." Aura set his hand on top of the Automatons metal head and continued "She can usually control it, but if that little girl is who I think she is...her anger and rage must have overwhelmed Raven's control of her empathy. Thus allowing the girl control over Raven through her own emotions."

Aura stood up and kept talking while Ken simply listened intently to his Master. "We need to get through to that little girl before she destroys Windurst with Raven as her weapon. The only way to do that, would be to convince her that the destruction of her city wasn't the fault of the Tarutaru nation." Aura walked over to a mirror near the nightstand next to the bed. As he gazed into the reflection of himself, he mumbled "But how...?" With this thought searing his mind, he sat back down on the bed. "We should really get some rest, Ken." he said as he rolled backward onto the bed, swinging his legs over the Automaton to lay on the side of the bed near the wall. Ken looked at the Elvaan man laying there, tilted its head, then began to crawl up onto the pillow next to Aura. The Automaton sat up straight, but slowly leaned downward as his systems went into hibernation.

Chapter 7: Contagious Rage

Chapter 7: Contagious Rage

Smoke billowed from the scorched rubble around the once beautiful city as Aura sat looking over the ruins, perched atop what was left of the stone walls. The lack of wind, and the dull light of the sun from behind the smoke and clouds overhead made the moment even more depressing for the Elvaan man. 

Soft clanking footsteps sounded on the stairs behind Aura. He turned around to see who it could have been when a small metal head popped up from the floor above the one-sided stairwell. As Kenbishi took step after step, Aura looked at the small Automaton with a blank expression on his face. Ken noisily walked over to Aura and plopped down next to him, both of them sat there looking over the destroyed city. The Automaton slowly turned and looked to Aura with its shadowy hole of a face. Aura caught this out of the corner of his eye, but leaned his head down and sighed. With the depression woven into his voice, he said to Ken "I don't know what to do now." The Automaton tilted its head and replied "Continue... what you... were already... doing?" Aura looked to the Automaton and nodded. "First I need to find Raven. I have no doubt she survived the attack on the city. She was always able to defend herself, even when we were younger." The tall Elvaan man said assertively while he stood up, towering over the small Automaton. "Let's go." he continued. The Automaton popped up onto its feet as if controlled by invisible strings and nodded to the tall man. 

The two walked down the stairs and into what was left of the city square. The Automaton noticed something in the distance and said to Aura "Look..." extending its thin stringy black arm outward, pointing a tiny finger toward the fountain fragments. Aura walked over with Ken following behind and saw something reflecting the dim sunlight from within the dust and rubble. He began digging with his hands, throwing stones out of the way. The Automaton looked at the now revealed Animator and sighed dejectedly while he let out an unenthusiastic echoing "...oh..." 

Aura pulled the Animator out of the rubble and dusted it off with his hand. "Ken, we're going to need this and I am going to need your help." he said as he looked at the Automaton standing next to him with its back hunched over and its stringy arms dangling downward from its metal body. "I... understand..." It said, lowering its head. "Let's keep going. Raven would likely be in the Imperial Palace protecting the Empress." Aura said before continuing to walk toward the alley leading in the opposite direction of what used to be the markets. Ken kicked a puff of dust into the air and followed behind Aura reluctantly.

The two of them walked through the alley and into the Imperial Court. Stepping over the debris that littered the area, they heard a familiar noise. "...pu...po..!" it said, muffled by the rocks they stood on. The Automaton asked curiously "...Moogle..?" Aura shrugged and replied bluntly "I don't know. Perhaps." Ken then suddenly whipped his thin arms around a large boulder-like chunk of stone, and tugged on it until it rolled down off of the small pile of rubble under their feet. As the stone rolled away, a small pink furry Moogle bottom was revealed, fluffy bunny-tail and all. One of its tiny back paws wiggled free from the rubble and began kicking the air frantically as the Moogles muffled voice came from the debris again "pu... poooo!!" Ken and Aura both began digging away the small rocks and pebbles until finally the Moogle was free. "Thank you, thank you, kupo!" the Moogle said gleefully as it started to shake the dust from its body much like a dog would shake off water. Aura smiled at the Moogle and asked "You've been down there all night?" the Moogle stopped shaking and fluttered its wings in a short spurt, stopped, then began again, carrying itself into the air before it said "Yes! I was sure I had met my demise, but then you showed up and saved me, kupo!" The Automaton leaned back with its hands held together behind its back, while Aura comically scratched the back of his head and smiled with closed eyes as he stood there blushing.

The Moogle floated in front of Aura and informed him "I was following Miss Raven when I was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning. Apparently fire wasn't their only weapon, but my Moogle Magic Shield took most of the damage. I landed here and was buried before I realized it, kupo." Aura's smile drooped into a frown and suddenly turned his head toward the prodigious palace across the court. "The entrance to the palace foyer is over there. Hopefully Raven is inside, I don't know where else she would have gone." He said. "...shall we... then...?" the Automaton followed-up, completely forgetting about his earlier reluctance. Aura and the Moogle nodded in sync and the three of them walked toward the Imperial Palace.

The great doors slowly creaked open as the Moogle, Automaton and Elvaan all pushed the two large golden structures as hard as they could. With the enormous doors fully opened, a cloud of dust flowed outward from the palace foyer into the Imperial Court. Aura covered his face with his sleeve and walked deeper into the aphotic antechamber before entering the foyer. The three of them entered the beautifully decorated archway leading into the room beyond where they found a young girl crying among the rubble and large chunks of stone whose color matched that of the palace dome.

The young girl's cries were soft and quiet, echoing in the deep dark foyer. The skirt of her dress, enormous and violet-colored, sat with fullness up around her body. Her small pale arms were propped up with her hands covering her face as her long wavey strawberry blond hair laid veiled over her near-snow white skin. With the dull sunlight streaming down from the hole in the high ceiling, the dust around the young girl stirred slightly, letting her know someone was behind her.

Aura stood there with Ken next to him and the Moogle quietly hovering over his shoulder. Before he could take a step, he heard something from the other side of the room. A resonating sound pulsed through the rubble and walls, originating from the pitch black shadows on the other side of the young girl. As they all stared at the darkness in wait, a womans pale white hand emerged from the shadows. The hand began to swim upward through the dusty air, falling back wrist-first into the shadows while a beautiful woman stepped forth into the dim light. Her body was covered in silky black ribbons and sashes, with her moist light skin showing from underneath the openings in the many pieces of drapped cloth.

The woman's steps were gentle and fluent. Her body swayed with grace as she lightly slid each hidden foot in front of the other. With the back of her wrist resting on her forehead and the inside of her other sitting on the gown at her waist, she flowed flawlessly onward from the shadows. With her jet black hair set in loops and silver ornaments holding it loosely, Aura realized she looked so very familiar. She reached the young girl in the middle of the dark foyer and set her risen arm to her waist with the other. With her head held high, the dark lined eye lashes opened slowly, revealing those ever potent emerald eyes. 

Aura felt a sense of shock as he realized this antimonious woman was his own sister. He had never seen her act like this before, thus the feeling that something was wrong flooded over all of his senses. With his gaze locked on Raven and this anonymous young girl, he finally took his delayed step forward, and said quietly "..Raven..." but a sepulchral voice stopped him from taking another step toward the matron of the empire. It's low tone and familiar resonating pulse washed over Aura as it spoke soft yet furious words.. "Our city... was destroyed... ...so many lives... were lost. Someone... must pay." 

Aura looked onward, trying to subdue his intimidation as he repeated himself, "...Raven..." the hollow voice replied once again "Someone... must pay." With the final echo fading into the shadows, Raven's eyes became engulfed in a blazing red light, with this energy looking almost as if her eyes were emitting fiercely burning flames. She rose her head to the broken dome and her long black hair fell from its silver restraints. Her hair began to once again defy gravity as it once had before. Each strand rose individually into the air, and with them, the young girl in front of her. The small pale body unfolded and outstretched. As her eyes opened, the same fiery light from Raven's were revealed within them. The Elvaan man braced himself on the ground, as the two radiant creatures ascended to the dark foyers ceiling. A crimson semblance of light spiraled around the two of them as they exited through the largest hole in the structure. 

With the two of them gone, the dark room became still and silent. Ken turned to Aura and tugged on his shirt while it said "Shouldn't we... stop... her?" "Something is wrong, she wouldn't act like that, kupo." The Moogle added. Aura turned around toward the entrance from which they entered, and stood there quietly for a moment. "That isn't her." he finally deducted, "But we do have to stop them." he continued as he jolted out of the dark empty room and back into the still dull sunlight with the Automaton and Moogle following behind.

As the dust settled in the foyer, the wind of outside pulled the entrance doors shut. Now with no other way out or in, the wind poured from the holes in the ceiling, kicking up the dust once more. But something else was swept up in the wind with the dust. A beautiful white scrap of cloth swayed in the the gust before setting down on a pile of rubble. The cloth, stained with blood and tears, read simply "Nashmeira II".

Chapter 6: Transformation

Chapter 6: Transformation

The night was mid and all was harmonious, until a sudden thunderous explosion ripped through the silent veil over the peaceful city. Aura jumped out of bed in a panic, the Moogle laid in its hammock still sound asleep. With his long Elvaan arms, Aura whipped open the closet doors and pulled out a personal robe which he had obviously neglected to wear even once. Breaking in the robe, he threw it on and ran out the Mog House door.

Fiery balls rained from the sky, crashing into the city streets and decimating everything in their path. Aura could hear chanting all around him, a meld of thousands of soft voices all speaking the same words. At the end of each sequence of words, a new ball of inferno crashed to the ground. Suddenly, through the flames and heat of a recently fallen fireball, the distorted image of the city's citizens running for cover was made visable. When Aura finally realized what was going on, he ran back inside the Mog House and rushed to put on his clothes while screaming "Moogle! Get up!" When the Moogle sat up, the sight of the blazing city outside caught its eye through the Mog House door. The Moogle's eyes widened and its wings kicked into overdrive, quickly fluttering to lift the small pink furry create into the air.

Aura finished pulling his shirt onto his body and ran out through the door. With the Moogle zipping along behind him, the Elvaan man's long legs swiftly carried him through the burning city. As he was running as fast as he could, he thought to himself "Another war... for what? King's and Emperor's greed...?" he lowered his head in anger, still looking forward as he ran, when a wall of flames exploded upward in front of him. He stopped running and looked around. With no other way to his destination, he, without hesitation, ran fullspeed toward the wall of fire. But before he could get to it, he noticed something happening. A sphere of distorted light appeared between him and the flames. He looked at it, then looked around him to notice two more spheres, the three together creating a triangle around him.

The spheres became so distorted, that they turned black, completely void of light. The Moogle fluttered up behind Aura, finally catching up to him. Aura turned to the Moogle and asks "What to you think they are?" but the Moogle replied "I have never seen anything like that, kupo." Just then, pulses of distorted light were emitted from all three black spheres. The pulses got bigger and bigger, until finally, the fiery wall was being bent inward to the dark core in front of it. The fire from outside of these mysterious phenomena spiraled to their centers, to disappear. The Moogle looked to the sky as yet another fireball flew through the air, but this time, it looked as if it were heading straight for the two of them. The Moogle yelled "Look out, kupo!" and pushed Aura as hard as it could, but barely affected the tall Elvaan's balance. Aura looked up and ducked, while putting his arms over his lowered head. The Moogle flew behind Aura, cowardly using him as a shield. But the sound of the burning fireball flying past them suddenly stopped. Aura looked up, and he could see the fireball being sucked into one of the three dark spheres. It spiraled to its center, just as the flames did from before. The young man let out a quiet "whoooah..." as he marveled at the sight.

He looked around, wondering why they were there, when a quiet voice echoed from above him. He looked up and the Moogle peaked around Aura's leg to look to the sky in curiousity with him. A radiant violet ball of light slowly drifted downward right on top of the Elvaan man and his Moogle. When the violet light got closer, its shape became more and more clear, until Aura realized who it was. 

Raven gently floated to the ground, landing softly on her feet next to him, her violet light now faded. Aura immediately asked "What are you doing here?" and her reply hastily followed "Saving your butt, brother." She lifted her hand with a satin piece of cloth drapped over it, matching the rest of her witch-looking robe. Suddenly the black spheres light distorting nature quickly vanished leaving no trace behind. 

Aura lowered his head and mumbled "Thanks..." before rising it back again to ask "What is going on anyway?" Raven's emerald eyes seemed to grow softer as she spoke "A band of terrorist black mages are attacking the empire. But we can't fight back, we don't know where they are casting from." Aura looked to the sky, as magically generated fireballs shot back and forth above them, shaking the ground on impact. "I need to go to the workshop." he said, as he stepped around Raven, and briskly walked through the area where the fiery wall once was. Raven shouted to him as he entered an alley "I need to help defend the city, I'll catch up with you later!". She floated off of the ground and shot through the sky above, stopping fireballs mid-air, and crushing them inside psychic sphere-shaped barriers. The Moogle sat there on the ground and said aloud to itself "I guess I'll help defend the city too, kupo." It's little wings once again fluttered, carrying it into the sky in pursuit of the Imperial Guard, Raven. 

Aura had climbed over fallen pillars and navigated through other rubble while avoiding the fiery patches spread about, when a ball of fire crashed down barely missing him, but he continued around it and to the workshop. When he arrived at the workshop, a large piece of stone was blocking the doorway, however the door itself was no longer there. He pushed the stone as hard as he could, but it would not budge. He kept trying, finding different positions and hoping one would work, until he eventually lodged himself between the wall and the stone. With a motivated push, the stone rolled over, opening up the doorway. He ran inside, the small workshop was full of thick smoke, but it was just sparse enough to make out the Automaton's silouette, showing that it was sitting on the counter next to the register. Aura scrambled over fallen boxes to get to it. As he reached for it, the Automaton's power flipped on, and its system had began loading the newly implemented technology. The still limp puppet felt much heavier to Aura, but he did not dwell on that thought long because the back of the shop bursted into flames. He kicked the boxes out of the way as he carried the heavy Automaton out of the door and down the path to the city center square.

As Aura rushed through the city square past the fountain, an unusually large fireball fell near him, kicking up dust and launching fire and stone fountain fragments everywhere. The Elvaan man lugged the Automaton over the debris from the demolished fountain, but tripped causing the Automaton to fly from his arms and onto the ground a few feet from him, while he fell head-first onto a large chunk of stone, knocking him unconscious.

The chilly wind rushed over the young mans dust-covered body, waking him up. As he sat up, a drop of dark red blood mixed with dust and dirt dripped down his face from his hairline. He calmly thought to himself "Everything is so quiet now, much different from last night." He stood up, causing rubble to fall from his pants. As he walked up the stone staircase to the upper levels of the city walls, the view became painfully visable to the Elvaan man. The city laid in ruin, nothing left but scattered stones and burned shops and homes. Even the Imperial Palace had holes in the gigantic drop-shaped domes.

So many thoughts ran through his head, too many to pick just one. He stared out over the decimated city, and wondered who would go this far, how someone could have been wronged so much that they were driven to do something like this. Realizing his new home had been through a destructive transformation as his previous one did, he sat there on the ledge of the only section of the tall city walls still standing, sorting through his thoughts after this overwhelming experience.

Chapter 5: Tune-up and Tune-in

Chapter 5: Tune-up and Tune-in

The bell jingled on the workshop door, as Aura walked in with Ken in his arms. He stepped up to the Galkan man at the counter, and said to him "It says it needs a Tune-up..." The Galkan nodded to Aura and motioned for him to hand over the Automaton. With the Automaton in hand, the Galka examined it carefully before looking back to Aura briefly. The large beast began scribbling furiously on a piece of paper, and handed it to Aura just before saying "Bring me everything on this list and I will do what I can. This is an old model, the Automatons today are much more advanced. After the Tune-up I will try to implement the latest technology into this model, but it will be difficult. No gaurentees, understood?" Aura looked down to the Automaton, laying there limp and silent, then looked back up to the Galka, nodded and took the list. 

Aura walked out of the workshop and down the path at a brisk pace, it seemed as if he knew exactly where he was headed. He passed through the city center square and turned into the markets. Walking up to the shopkeeper he waved to every day, he slapped the piece of paper onto his short, small counter made of wood. The shopkeeper looked at him, confused. Aura belted aloud, "I need everything on this list, right now." The thin, almost skeleton-looking shopkeeper looked at the young man and nodded, took the list, and began digging through baskets behind his counter.

"Aura..." a voice said from behind. Aura turned around and Raven was standing there, without her turban, and wearing a strange outfit, somewhat resembling the garb of a witchdoctor. The bones around her neck, and strings of beads that were flowing down from her body gave fullness to the simple leather patches that covered her body as a two-piece bikini would. With so much skin showing, the ink drawings all over her body were completely revealed. The intricate tatooed designs woven within one another were complimented by her long streaming black hair. She spoke again, "Aura, I have been thinking." The young man stood there with a look of question over his face. "About my situation, Raven? ...I already told you, I have to do this. It is the only way." Raven shook her head slightly, leaving her long shining black hair still perfectly placed. "Aura, I want to help you. She was my Mother too. I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't help." Raven stated bluntly.

Aura sighed dejectedly and pursuededly remarked "Alright Raven. But only if you promise me one thing..." She looked at him and smiled, "Anything, Brother." He held back his smile to communicate his seriousness, and commanded "When the time comes, I need to do what I need to, no matter what it is. Promise me you will let me go." Raven's smile faded into a sorrowful look, knowing exactly what her brother was saying. Her eyes, glittered an emerald green, thus revealing her understanding to him before she let out a solid confirmation, "Yes, I understand." Aura smiled, hoping for the same in return. Raven lowered her head, but moments later, she looked up to her brother with a smirk and belted out "So where is the doll you are going to use?" Aura's smile turned into a large grin across his face as he tilted his head back and to the side, shifting his weight to his right foot. With his arms crossed, still smiling, he informed her "We had a little accident, so I left it at the workshop near the northern seaport. Its getting a Tune-up, whatever that is." 

Just then, the shopkeeper dropped a box of materials on the counter, which grabbed Aura's attention. The shopkeeper announced "Everything is here, take a look if you'd like." but Aura shook his head, and the shopkeeper replied to it with "Alright then, that'll be fourty thousand gil." as he pushes the box forward. Aura reaches into his jacket pocket and threw a bunch of coins on the counter before picking up the box and reminding the shopkeeper "You still owe me fifteen thousand." Before the shopkeeper could reply, Aura turned around and began walking back to the workshop with the materials in hand and Raven following closely behind him.

When they arrived at the Workshop, the siblings entered causing the bell to sound that familiar jingle. Aura walked up to the Galka at the counter and set the box down in front of him. "Ahem." the Galkan man said before continuing with, "I have finished the Tune-up and mapped out the advancements for your Automaton, but if I am to work with such an old model, it will cost a bit more than normal. I will have to charge five Imperial Gold Pieces." Aura, without hesitation, nodded and set five gold pieces on the counter. Raven, standing behind Aura, looked curious, and thought to herself "Where... is he getting all of this mo...?" but before she could finish her thought, the Galkan workshop owner interrupted with "I will start adding on the upgrades immediately, I should be finished with the end result by tomorrow morning. Come back then." Aura nodded and turned around, walking out of the workshop. Raven looked to the box of materials, then to the Galka briefly before turning around to follow Aura out.

Chapter 4: Souls Intertwined

Chapter 4: Souls Intertwined

Children were at play in the streets as the sun beat down, warming up the inside of the city. Shop keepers were shouting to passer-bys, hoping to peak an interest in their wares, while birds chirped and the sky hovered over the city in the most beautiful light blue to ever be seen. Aura, Ken and the Moogle all sat at the fountain in the city center square. After finishing up their small picnic, the Moogle packed everything up and floated into the air with the basket. The Automaton hopped off of the fountain edge, down onto its scrawny legs, while Aura stood up and began walking toward the markets. "So, Ken, how exactly does that remote control work?" Ken marched on and simply announced "It is... an Animator." Aura looked up at the Moogle and smiled to which he recieved a smile back, then he continued his chat with the Automaton. "So then, how exactly does the Animator work? I understand it has something to do with elements, but why?" The Automaton, without hesitation, pumped out the information, "The Animator..is a device..used to Activate.., Deactivate.., Retrieve.., Deploy.., and..recommend fighting styles..called..Maneuvers.., to us.., the Automaton's.., from afar..or without..the use..of verbal..or visual..commands. It makes..the Automaton..a highly effective..weapon..for war. We..Automaton..were developed..for war..based on..Marionettes..which were used.. for entertainment, but..we later..we seen..as tools for..entertainment..more than..effective weapons..for war. When..the Empress..fell in love..with..the original..model, ...named... ...Mnejing." Ken stops and does a little twirl, "My... Hero~!" Aura laughs as Ken then continues marching. "Her love..initiated..our fall..as weapons..and rise..as entertainment..like our..ancestors. Our..memories..give us..control..over our..actions. Our..emotions..amplify..our power. The maneuvers..give us..access to..a fighting form. Snowflake..initiates..Black..Magic. Tornado..initiates..Evasive..and Ranged styles. Flame..initiates..Warrior..strategies. There..are..eight elements.., eight..Maneuvers..,eight..forms of fighting." 

Aura, looking intrigued, held his smile while gazing at Ken, as they entered the markets area and walked passed the familiar shop keeper on the way to his Mog House. Aura waved towards the small wooden stand and the shop keeper waved back right before Aura, Ken and the Moogle disppeared into the alley leading to the residential area. The three of them continued down the path to the Mog House, and Aura asked Ken another question, "So, do you still know how to fight after being in that box for so many years?" Ken replied "We... do not forget... what... has been programmed... into... our memory." Aura retorts, "So you can still fight then." "Y-yes... I can... fight." "Are you any good?" "I... I don't... know." "May I see?" "See... me fight?" "Yeah." "...How?" "Moogle can fight pretty well. Wanna see if you can beat it?" Ken stopped on the path in front of Aura and the Moogle and turned around. "I.. I don't know...", Aura looked at him and said pursuesively "Remember the man who tortured you, and made you fight? I'm not like that. You don't have to fight if you don't want to. I was just curious what you had in you. But if you ever want to show me, just let me know." Ken looked down as his own tiny feet with his similarly small hands held together. Ken innocently replied "I... I suppose... I could... show you." Aura excitedly grabbed the basket from the Moogle and said "Alright! Go ahead!" with a big smile on his face. 

The Moogles eyes widened and it looked very afraid. "B-but Master! I don't want to fight a puppet!" Aura grined and corrected the Moogle, "I believe it is an Automaton, Moogle." Ken hopped backward and 'put up it dukes', "C-come.. on!" The Moogle fluttered its little wings and zipped behind Aura, peaking out over his shoulder. Ken put his hands down and looked up at Aura, "I... I can't..." Aura looked at Ken and sighed "How come?" "B-because... I... n-need... commands." "The Animator?" "Y-yes..." "Moogle brought it, it said it didn't feel safe leaving it at home." Aura reached into the basket sitting on the stone path and pulled out the tan colored Animator decorated with a rainbow of colored buttons across it. Ken nodded to him as Aura stepped out from in front of the quivering Moogle. "So what do I press?" Aura asked. "The... button... with... an upward... arrow..., that is... to Deploy. To tell me... my target. Point... the Animator... and press... the button." Ken informatively announced while getting back into his fighting stance. 

The Moogle slowly floated to the ground in a quivering ball, while unaware of what is going on. Aura aimed the Animator at the Moogle, and gently pressed down the button with the upward arrow on it. The Animator beeped and Ken suddenly and forcefully dropped his stance closer to the ground, creating a small cloud of dust flowing outward. The Automaton launched itself forward with one leg and readied a swing with its whip-like arm. The Moogle, hearing the air whistle through the Automatons steel frame, realized it had started. It looked up and jumped in a panic, but suddenly ducked down and covered its little head with its paws, with only its maroon Pom-pom and purple bat-like wings protruding from the pink ball of fur. Ken, rocketing toward the Moogle, sliced it's arm forward in front of it but it slammed into an invisible bubble-like barrier that surrounded the Moogle. Ken stopped and tilted his head to the side while standing there over the quiving Moogle. It hopped back and belted in a strong and steady voice "Relay a Maneuver command!", Aura realized the Automaton was talking to him and pushed a random button. 

Ken was suddenly engulfed in a shimmering crimson light with bright glowing red eyes that appeared inside the dark opening in his metal head. The Automatons echoing voice dropped to a deeper tone, as it said to itself, "Fire Maneuver. Now this brings back memories." the words still completely absent of any hesitation or stutter in its voice. The Automaton lifted up its arm and whipped it down onto the bubble surrounding the fearful Moogle. The arm connected with the bubble, but it didn't stop. The bubble shattered into fragments of almost transparent violet light as the whip-like arm continued down and hit the Moogle, with the impact sending it flying back in a puff of dust, the Moogle cries "Kupoooo!" as it shot backward through the air, slamming into a wall and fell to the ground. With its face in the dirt, it's small bat wings twitched, signifying to Ken that he has won. "Is that any good?" Ken said boastfully, still glowing crimson. Aura smiled at the Automaton and said with confidence, "Moogle doesn't go down that easily."

Just then, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a golden light flowing downward from the air over the Moogle. The Moogle, engulfed in this light rose upward into the air and lifted its head. The Moogle, now completely void of any cowardice, began to spin and glow a rainbow of colors. "Moogle Beam, kupo!" an orb of light built up around the Moogle's pom-pom as if about to unleash some monstrous force. Ken looked back to Aura, and shouted "Earth Maneuver, use it!" Aura scrambled through the buttons, looking for the familiar brown button that was adorned with a stone. The Moogle hollered now without any modesty "You're no match for Moogle Magic, this is why we don't even bother fighting, kupo!" as the orb of light grew so luminous that the entire residential area was lit with a rainbow of colors.

Aura finally found the right button, and quickly pressed it in. Ken's crimson aura transformed into a milk chocolate color, and its stance moved to one arm in front of its body with its legs bent and its body close to the ground for stability on impact, much like a football player. The Moogle rose its paws into the air as the beam was launched forward out of the orb of light that engulfed the pom-pom. Ken's now brown glowing eyes, looked scared but the Automaton held its stance. The beam shot passed the Automaton, the power so great, that it tore the grass up from the ground in chunks. The wind generated from the beam, blew Auras hair in all directions as he squinted his eyes. He lifted his arm and put it across his forhead, attempting to keep his hair back and the wind out of his eyes, just in time to see something amazing. The Automaton used its stringy arms to slice through the energy beam, and its low stance to hold its ground. The chocolate brown light that enveloped the Automaton seemed to protect its metallic body from any physical damage, but obviously the beam still took its toll. The Beam dissipated and Ken dropped down onto all of its hands and knees with its head hanging low as the light fades away and the Moogle floats over to Aura. "Are you alright, Ken?" the young man said as he stepped forward and kneeled down next to the Automaton. "I... I am... in need... of a... tune-up." The Automaton said as it falls face-first onto the ground. Aura picked up the Automaton, and walked to the Mog House with the lifeless looking puppet in one hand, the Animator in the other, and the Moogle floating behind him with the basket.

Chapter 3: Waking The Storm

Chapter 3: Waking The Storm

The sound of rain faded in and out across the rooftop of the Mog House as Aura laid sound asleep in his bed, with his arm wrapped around the Automaton's frame. A pulsing clap of thunderous noise traveled through the Mog House, yet the vibrations only caused a slight rustle in the Moogles hammock. Aura laid in a deep slumber, but the Automaton regained consciousness. It sat up, moving Aura's heavy Elvaan limb with its small stringy arms. It then slid down off of the bed and onto its long thin legs and tiny feet. It walked around and looked at the furniture, then at the fireplace with photographs sitting on top of the mantle piece. 

The Automaton climbed up the side of the fireplace to get a better look at the photographs, it then saw one that it felt paticularly interested in. It was a photo of a very young Elvaan boy and a beautiful Elvaan woman with long platinum colored hair complimented by shimmering blue eyes. The woman was kneeled down, hugging the boy and they were both looking toward the camera with smiles on their faces. The Automaton stared at the photograph for awhile, and noticed the left edge near the boy was ripped. The Automaton tilted its head, and jumped down off of the fireplace. It walked over to the door and reached up to the handle, but before opening it, the Automaton turned around and looked at the Elvaan man still asleep on the bed. It turned the knob and continued through the door to the outside world. 

The rain had died down but the thunder was still sounding quietly off in the distance. The Automaton took one step off the stone-covered ground in front of the Mog House, and its little black foot sank into the damp soil under the grass. It turned around once more, to look at the doorway of the small one room Mog House. The fire was flickering off of the walls, creating a cozy feeling that flowed through the door and over the Automaton. Even if it couldn't feel the heat, it still knew what it meant to feel safe. The Automaton felt this coming from the house and its inhabitants despite its better judgment. Its artificial mind was confusing itself. Did it want to leave and be free from the malice inflicted upon it, the commands that it despised so much, or stay and feel safe from the world and its evil? It sat down in the wet grass to think, but it dozed off, shutting down into system hibernation to conserve the power of its unique energy source.

The clouds cleared and the sun rose from beyond the seemingly endless ocean. The warm light illuminated the small Mog House, waking the Elvaan man. He pulled the covers down and stretched out his arms and legs before standing up and walking over to the Moogle in its hammock. He poked the Moogles little pink tummy causing the startled, once sleeping Moogle to flip over and out of the Hammock onto the floor. A familiar "Plop" noise sounded in the small Mog House and Aura grined as the Moogles wings twitched while it laid face-down on the floor. 

He continued preparing for the new day by getting dressed while his Moogle prepared a small breakfast for the two of them. After pushing the last strip of Bugard Bacon into his mouth, his eyes got wide before he began looking around quickly. He then began rambling with a mouth full of food "Mhers... ..mhr..." He swallowed then continued, "Where is the Automaton!?" "I figured you locked it up this time, kupo." The Moogle replied. Aura stood up and dropped to his knees, and crawled over to look under the bed. He then jumped up and swung the closet door open before sighing and thinking to himself "Since when do puppets have the ability to hide themselves...?" He looked around and moaned, "Uuuggh..." then walked to the front door, opened it and started to take a step outside before suddenly stopping. 

The Moogle looked over to Aura, then floated passed him and landed next to the Automaton still sitting on the grass, asleep. Aura continued out and picked up the silent Automaton, its limbs limp like a rag-doll. The Moogle floated over to the doorway and watched as Aura hugged the Automaton. This confused the Moogle, it wasn't like Aura to do something like that. Feeling the Moogles eyes on him, Aura turned around and glared at the moogle before stepping further out into the grass. Just then, the Automaton started moving, its arms and legs, even its head began rattling. Aura panicked a little but still held the Automaton close to him. It's head tilted upward so that its shadowy face was looking at the Elvaan man. Aura felt a shiver run down his spine, but never let go of the cold metal frame of the puppet.

The Automaton suddenly spoke in an echoing voice "Who... is that woman... in the picture... atop... your fireplace?" Aura looked slightly shocked, then a sad expression overcame all others on his face. "It is... ...or rather, was my Mother before the war in my homeland." The Automaton tilted its head then asked another personal question without any regards for his feelings "Why... is the picture... ripped?" Aura kneeled down and set the Automaton on its tiny black feet in front of him. "The General of the Bastokan army was to the left of me in that photo." A sudden tear ran down Aura's face as it changed to an angry look. He continued, "My Father..." he said with frustration in his voice. "He was always giving me orders, he made my Mother move from her San d'Orian homeland to Bastok... so he could continue serving his own country as their General." The Automaton leaned in closer, to get a better look at the drop of liquid running down the man's face. "My Mother didn't want to move away, but she also didn't want to live without my Father. Shortly after she had arrived in Bastok, she gave birth to me. That is when Bastok suddenly went to war with San d'Oria. The San d'Orian King ordered a migration of all of its women and children to it's ally nation at the time, Windurst, for safety. They used only Elvaan archers, warriors and their borrowed Windurstian mages, while Bastok recruited not only the women to fight, but the Galkans for their frontlines in battle as well. My Mother would still be alive if she had stayed in San d'Oria, but I would not have be given a chance to exist. My Father could have gone to San d'Oria and we would all be living together, happily." With the frustrated look still on his face, Aura picks the Automaton back up and turns to the Moogle.

The Moogle looked at Aura. "Master, I don't think the Automaton comprehends anything you are saying, kupo." it said as Aura's sorrow-filled eyes began to dry of tears. Aura looked to the Moogle and replied, "It is nice to get it out, even if no one else understands my pain." The Moogle nodded and turned around, floating back into the Mog House, with Aura following a few steps behind. 

The Automaton clanked as it turned its head up a little more. It spoke in an echoing voice again "I... do understand." Aura stopped right before entering the doorway. "You mean... you understood everything I said?" "Yes, I know... what you are feeling." the Automaton assured him. "Emotions... give us our power... Automatons... use sadness... anger... joy... to control our abilities... and magic" Aura looked deep into the dark oblivion that made up the Automatons face, and smiled to it. "Automatons and I are much alike then." he said. "I... am sorry... for the blizzard... in your home. I... I was angry. I lived... ...existed... with a man... who controlled me... he used... the Animator... to make me... do... very... very horrible... things. I could not... run away... if I refused... to cooperate... he threw... me... into... a battle... arena... I had... to fight... all day... all night... for fourty ...seven... years." The Automatons head moved twitchingly up and down, as if scanning Aura's face, while it told him the story. "We... Automaton... get angry... and sad... I stopped... taking commands...from him... then this man... became... mad..., I disobeyed... and... he found... new ways... to punish... me..., in time... he forgot...about me... he died... I was free..., new people... found me... and sold me... I sat... in a box... for years... now... you found me..." Aura smiled, and the Automaton tilted its head to one side. "We are a lot a like, Automaton. ...Automaton... do you have a name?" Aura asked. "My name... my name is... ...it is... ...Kenbishi." "Kenbishi? Can I call you Ken?" The Automaton tilted its head to the other side. "You... you may." Aura finally continued into the warm cozy Mog House and slowly closed the door behind him.

Chapter 2: Elemental Properties

Chapter 2: Elemental Properties

Bright sunlight fell in streams between navy colored curtains. The light hit the sleeping Moogle's pink fur and spread throughout the room. The Moogle strained to open its sleepy little eyes, and then squinted in the light under no control of its own, causing it to lose its balance and fall out of its hammock onto the floor. The loud "Plop" noise initiated the new day for the young man laying in his bed.

The blankets rustled a bit, then a yawn was emitted from underneath. Off flew the blankets, and the young man stood up wearing only his under bottoms. The Moogle's wings twitched as it laid on the floor. They began to flutter, carrying the Moogle into the air. The ball of pink fuzz said almost excitedly "Master, would you like me to make some breakfast, kupo?" The young man, still drowsy, opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt. He then replied "I'm not hungry, Moogle. Thanks though." He pulled up his pants and slid his arms into his shirt. The Moogle hovered over to the dresser to push the drawer shut while the young man walked to the bed. He looked down at the puppet that sat on top of the closed box next to the wall near his bed. He snatched up the controller which sat on the floor and walked outside in his bare feet. As the door closed behind him, he began walking down the path from his Mog House and emerged in the city itself. He looked around at the great empire, and wondered "How did I get so far away from my homeland without getting homesick..." He made his way through the alley and into the markets. Walking over to the first shop on his left, he waved to the shop keeper while tightly grasping the remote control in his other hand. The shop keeper waved back and he yelled "Hey there, how are you today?" the young man belted back "I'm great, how about you?", the shop keeper grined to him as the young man walked passed and said "Couldn't be better! -- We just got a whole new variety of stock in this morning!" The young man continued walking as he finished the chat up with "Good, then maybe you can pay me back that fifteen thousand gil you owe me!" with a slight chuckle in his voice. The shop keeper blushed and went back to helping a customer.

The man arrived at the city guard, still barefoot. He walked up to the guard and asked "Excuse me sir, do you know when Raven will be on duty?" the guard looked angry and pushed the young man in the chest, he stumbled back on one foot and the guard shouted "I am no..'sir'..!" the young man laughed and assured the guard "Oh come on, you know I was just playing." The guard removed the wrap of her turban and twirled it around her arm. With the turban gone, her long black hair flowed downward and her green eyes shown so vivid that it made the grass in the great plateau of La Theine look dull. The young man smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then he asked "Raven, I was wondering if you could help me. I have this remote control, but I'm not quite sure how to work it, and I don't want to break it before I even get to use it." Raven looked at him hesitantly, but eventually asked in a soft quiet voice "Aura, is this what I think it is?" she continued to glare, as he answered "Raven... I have to. I promised." She looked down to the sand colored stone ground beneath them and sighs. "Raven... please help me." the man almost begged. Raven then looked up to the sky, trying to avoid eye contact with Aura, but gave in and extended her free hand with a sighful expression on her face. Aura smiled and handed over the controller.

She ran her fingers over the symbols covering each button, and suddenly her head shot up, with her eyes at the sky once more. Her pupils began to dialate, but they didn't stop... they vanished into an endless white abyss, leaving nothing behind. Her radiant eyes, now void of green, glowed of sheer white and the pebbles on the ground around them started to rattle and rumble, signifying what was to come... her hair lost all sense of gravity and each individual strand rose into the air seemingly on its own. The ground shook in the vicinity, and a violet light pulsed from her body with a fiery looking aura of the same hugue around her. Raven's voice whispered, without her lips moving... "I see it... I... see... the divine one... ...destiny... linked... I see... a wheel.... a wheel of power... terrestrial elements... I feel it... two intertwined souls... the greatest power... to ever exist..."

A final pulse of energy was emitted from Ravens glowing body in the form of a violet wave and her vivid green eyes begin to fade back in. The earth calmed, and the light around her body dissipated. Aura looked at her with fear in his eyes, but not fear of her power, only of the power she had spoken of. She looked down at the controller and thrusted it into Aura's hands. "My visions are never wrong. But this time... I... ... ...Even I don't believe in my own power this time. What I saw... it just doesn't seem possible, Aura." He looked at her and then to the controller. "I'm sorry Aura, that is all the help I can give." Raven informed him before he replied with "I understand, thank you Raven. I think you were more help than either of us realize." "Take care of yourself, Brother." Raven said while rewrapping her turban.

Aura continued to stare at the different colored symbols on the controller as he walked down the path to his Mog House. He thought to himself "Wheel of power... Terrestrial elements... why do these words stand out to me?" He came to his Mog House door and began to reach for the knob, but just then, the words made sense, as did the symbols. "Wheel of power... Terrestrial elements... Power of the Elemental Wheel?" He ran his fingers over the symbols again... "Red... Flame... Fire..." he said as he continued to the next button... "Cobalt... Droplet... Water..." It made more and more sense to him as he continued. "Yellow... Bolt... Lightning... I understand now." He slid his finger over the symbol resembling a snowflake. He gently pressed down on the Cyan colored button. Aura smiled and began to turn the Mog House door knob but suddenly stopped... "Why does the knob feel so cold?" He thought to himself before he continued turning it. He pushed the door open, but it got jammed and a frigid gust of air was exhaled through the opening from the small one room Mog House. Squinting his eyes, he forced his way into the tiny opening and finds himself in a foot of snow. The roaring sounds of a blizzard were almost painful to his ears. He shouted for his Moogle, but not even he could hear his own voice. He dug through the snow while fighting against the icy winds being generated from nowhere. Finally he found a bubble of warm air in the middle of the snow. He reaches in the white powder and pulls out his Moogle, curled up in a ball with a sphere of Moogle Magic protecting him from the harsh blizzard swirling about in the Mog House. Aura made his way back to the front door with the Moogle Magic sphere in hand, forcing his way back outside. He fell to the ground shivering with his now sphere-less Moogle in his arms as the door slammed shut behind him. 

Aura opened his eyes and the night had taken over, "How long have I been asleep?" he thought to himself. He looked around and noticed he was no longer shivering. He stood up and looked around and noticed his Moogle and the controller were both no where in sight. He stepped up to his Mog House door, still fearful of whatever had happened earlier that day. Slowly reaching for the door knob, attempting to anticipate what he may find inside... he began to turn the knob, but the door swung open, startling Aura. The Moogle hovered in the doorway with the fireplace flames warmly flickering behind it.

"Master! It's about time you woke up. You've been sleeping out there all day, kupo!" the furry pink mole announced. Aura walked into the Mog House and noticed it looked exactly as it did before he left that morning, or so he thought. The Moogle zipped through the air right passed Aura and landed in front of the fire, it picked up a pan that had been sitting in the flames and began throwing all kinds of food on it, using no apparent recipe. "Master, are you hungry? I'm sure you're starved, kupo." "Maybe a little something. Thanks Moogle." 

He sat on his bed, with his hands covering his face. He ran his fingers over his forehead and through his hair before opening his eyes. Looking down at the floor, he caught something different out of the corner of his eye. "Moogle... where is the puppet?" The Moogle stopped his cooking and floated over to Aura. "Master.." The Moogle began. "Look in the closet, kupo." 

Aura stared at the Moogle, confused. He stood up and walked over to the small closet door, he opened it and there the puppet was, sitting on a small box. "Moogle, why is it in the clos..." Before he could finish, the puppet's head sprang upward, and its body popped up and onto its feet as if controlled by some other force. Aura jumpped backward and looked shocked. The Moogle floated up behind Aura and peaked over his shoulder "It's been doing weird stuff all day. I finally had to use Moogle Magic to lock it in the closet, kupo." The puppet began to take a step forward but Aura slammed the closet door shut and took a step back. "Where is the controller, Moogle?" "I haven't seen it anywhere, Master. Do you think it got lost in the blizzard, kupo?" "If it had gotten lost in the blizzard, it would still be in the house then." "Maybe it is still in the house then, kupo."

Aura started to dig through shelves and drawers, into boxes and under furniture. "I can't find it anywhere, Moogle." "Did you check in the closet, kupo?" Aura turned from looking at the moogle to glaring at the closet door. He thought to himself "It's just a puppet... I should be able to control it, like she did." He stood up and walked over to the closet door. Slowly, he opened the door, and he saw the puppet still standing there with one foot out as if about to take a step. Aura kneeled down and looked at the puppet. Its metallic shell and long stringy arms and legs made it look like anything but a threat. 

Aura reached for it and picked it up. It felt as stiff as a statue to him. He turned to the Moogle but before he could say anything, the puppet started squirming and kicking. In an echoing voice the puppet yelled "Put me down, you... you... YOU! I said get your hands... off me!" Aura held the puppet as far away from himself as possible and took a few steps back as if he were trying to evade the kicks. "Moogle, help me out here!" Aura shouted. The Moogle floated from the fireplace up to the puppet, pulled out a pan and bonked it on the head. Suddenly the puppet fell lifeless. "What is wrong with this thing, Moogle!?" Aura screamed. "Puppets are not supposed to move on their own, are they!?" The Moogle grabbed the puppet from Aura's extended arms and floated over to the bed, carrying it from the metal rings that were conveniently attached to the back of its metal collar. "Master, I believe this is an Automaton, kupo." "What's the difference?" Aura asks. "Marionettes require a puppeteer to control it with strings. I believe Automaton's have a mechanical core and memory chip that allows them their own artificial intelligence, kupo."

The Moogle now on the bed with the puppet in front of it, tapped the metal head of the Automaton with its ear up against it in order to hear the clanking echo inside the puppets frame. Aura walked over and sat on the bed next to it. "Moogle, if they can move and think on their own, why did it come with a controller?" "You got me there, kupo!" Aura walked to the bed and lifted up the Automaton before he shook it a little, its frail looking arms and legs swayed back and forth. "What a curious object. I wonder how people came to build and control something so... mysterious." Aura said while laying the Automaton down on the floor. 

He turned around and walked back to the closet, then began rustling through the boxes on the floor. "Aha!" he exclaims as he pulled something out from between two small boxes. "The Automaton must have grabbed it while I was out cold." He held up the controller in front of him and walked back over to the bed. After sitting down, he looked at the symbols once more. "Master, what if that device you have, gives the Automaton orders much like a General gives his armymen, kupo?" Aura continued off of the Moogles thought "...and it can choose to obey the orders or not, just like a real person. Moogle, you're a genius." The Moogle blushed and floated down to the Automaton on the floor. "Maybe it took the device to prevent anyone from giving it orders again, kupo." Aura looked down at the Automaton, and thought to him silently "I understand how you feel, Automaton."