[center][color=0054a6][u][h2]Arte Firaga[/h2][/u][/color][/center]
[center]Road to Crystal Palace | Somewhere between the arena, the slums, and the grand market[/center]

	[color=0054a6]"For the last time, grandpa, that combination ALWAYS creates an explosion, and we don't want to blow up the city, do we?"[/color] Arte couldn't believe that he had to remind his grandfather of this... and, given the old man's senility, it was becoming a daily thing. In fact, this time, just to make sure, Arte had to take one of the two mixtures away from his grandfather, hide it, and hope that he doesn't find it again later. While he was hiding the mixture, Arte noticed something... [color=0054a6][i]Looks like we're out of food, again. I hope I have enough gil to get food at least until next week.[/i][/color] Frustrated, Arte closed the pantry door, and checked coin bag. Apparently, that caught the attention of his grandfather, who requested [color=557b55]"Eh? You goin' shopping again, son? Could you get me some more of that... eh... what was it? Moogle Brew? Confu Ale? You get the point, get me something like that,"[/color] Arte shook his head, and responded with [color=0054a6]"You don't remember the last time you tried to invent while drunk, do you? I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to be drunk, again, grandpa,"[/color] Arte honestly wondered how the old man wasn't facing a life sentence for his 'invention', or what said invention did to a poor, helpless orphanage, but Arte's refusal to get his grandpa some booze had the old man shouting at him, probably loud enough that most people would think the tower exploded, again... Arte didn't want to hear much more than he had to, so he just ran out the door, and headed for the only safe road in this place, the road to the Crystal Palace.

	Once he got to the road, he seemed to drop by a scene involving two bangaa, one with the usual orange scales, and one with rather nice-looking white scales, and a few hume guards, and a few chocobos. Arte tried to figure out the best way to approach the situation, but it seemed like the bangaa were a little riled up, already, and his presence alone might be enough to anger them... of course, he ended up just standing there while they continued on with their day, with the situation resolving itself, at least for now. [i][color=0054a6]Maybe they'll calm down later... or maybe they're heading somewhere past the grand market...[/i] Arte thought as he finally headed down the road, now followed by a merchant selling some odd-looking trinkets, and off-brand, possibly fake ribbons. While they walked, the merchant recounted a few tales about how he got ambushed by monsters on the road, only to be saved by some random bystander on a chocobo, and how he traveled so very far just to get here, the big city, to sell his wares... after that, he tried to sell Arte a ribbon for fifty gil, but... Arte knew, from the price alone, that it wouldn't work very well, if at all, and even if that weren't the case, Arte needed every gil he had for food, so, he had to decline the merchant's offer... no matter how many times the merchant made the offer.

	On his way to the market, Arte came across someone who appeared to be a blue mage talking to children about the daily lives of the average goblin. The children seemed confused as to why anyone would CHOOSE to spend time with monsters, but, it didn't take too long for Arte to figure it out. Before he could approach her, Vincent walked up to the children, and started throwing his money around, supposedly, his next greatest invention was a big enough hit for him to be mister moneybags for a day. [color=#4169E1]“I feel generous Kupo. I hope you kids can enjoy the festival.”[/color] Vincent said to the children with a hint of excitement and joy. Arte chuckled to himself, and walked over to his moogle friend. [color=0054a6]"Well, look who's mister moneybags, today. I'm guessing your latest invention sold well, huh?"[/color] Arte asked his friend, and, after remembering how empty his own coin bag was, he added [color=0054a6]"Unfortunately, I don't have much to spare, today... grandpa found out that I was selling his special potions and ether at the market, and he didn't like it one bit... said something about 'not selling out', or 'keeping it a family secret', I can't remember which, though, because I went temporarily deaf halfway through the conversation, heh, you know how he gets," Arte then noticed that the blue mage was still there, and, from the look on her face, it seemed like she was going to hug Vincent, and, for some reason, Arte didn't really feel like warning him about it.