Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

On the very instant that Emiri would ask if Trish was his woman, Jaakuna looked back at her. "Oh gods no. This tramp isn't my woman." Jaakuna said as he suddenly heard the words of Trish.

"What do you mean Tramp? I have all the dignity in the world!" She proclaimed.

"No you don't. You have slept with everyone in this bar." Jaakuna responded harshly.

After they went a few rounds of verbal insults, Nadeline would attempt to go at them, but that's when Grant would swoop in and not allow her to do as such. Jaakuna noticed that this was a big mess and he knew it was Kaleb's fault. That guy was always starting up trouble for the females. Fortuneately for everyone, Grant calmed down Nadeline, only to see that she was not entirely pleased. Jaakuna sighed and he just looked at everyone around. "What are you all gawking at!? The show's over. Go back to your drinking." Jaakuna ordered as he would yell at the top of his voice, and everyone would do as they were told, even Trish; though based on her mannerisms, she wasn't happy at all.

Turning to Emiri, Jaakuna spoke. "You're the only one for me, Emiri. Trish over there is not my woman and Nadeline here is definitely not my woman; too high-maintenance." JAakuna joked lightly.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When the trio would arrive at White Cap, they would be stopped as a guy came flying out and landed right in front of them. Of course this alarmed them and as both Emiri and Grant would ask the guy what exactly was happened, he would respond by saying that it was a bar fight of course. Jaakuna shook his head at that, but the man also would make a mention about a blonde woman. On that note, Jaakuna thought of Savayna. She was the only one who would openly start a bar fight. Then, he said something that Jaakuna nearly lost it on. He mentioned Kaleb. Jaakuna knew Kaleb all too well and if he was mixed in this, then he must’ve made the wrong move.

Grant would look at Emiri telling her stay outside while he went in. Jaakuna knew that was a bad idea. A guy like Grant doesn’t stand a chance. As Jaakuna would go inside, he would pull Emiri’s arm with him. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me, but Grant, on the other hand..” Jaakuna said to Emiri as he was really worried that Grant wouldn’t be able to handle himself.

As Jaakuna with Emiri went inside, instantly everyone gave him a look. It took a few seconds for them to realize who he was and they instantly stepped aside. Jaakuna would see that Grant forced himself through the crowd. Jaakuna would simply walk to the crowd. Unlike Grant who had to force himself through, Jaakuna just walked up and everyone would gasp in surprise and step aside, making way for Jaakuna and Emiri. Jaakuna, however, was surprised to see, as was Grant, Nadeline fighting a brown-haired woman. Jaakuna just shook his head.

Jaakuna stepped forward, only to release Emiri’s hand right when she was beside Grant, and he would pull off the woman that was on top of Nadeline. “Seriously Trish..” Jaakuna said as he had the brown-haired woman shirt, raising her up off the ground and he would gently toss her a foot to the other direction.

“Who fucking dares to thr--” Trish said as she shook her head and saw Jaakuna. “Oh, Jaakuna, I had no idea you were in town. Is this woman yours?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Just as Nadeline had done, Wesley too said nothing. However, unlike her, he stayed where he was. He would just see her storm off. Obviously she wasn’t happy at what Wesley had said. Or perhaps she decided to call it quits in fear that one of them might say something that they probably would regret saying.

Wesley would then walk out of the lair and instantly was confronted by Savayna, Lannit, and Wendy, all with eyes of curiosity. Wesley just sighed. “Not now guys.” Wesley simply said.

Savayna let out a comedic gasp as if insulted(not really). “C’mon Wesley, we heard it all.” Savayna said trying to persuade Wesley to tell her.

“I SAID NOT NOW!” Wesley instantly snapped back.

Savayna stepped back. She knew that Wesley and Nadeline had a huge argument. She just didn’t know that it was that bad. She knew that Wesley only snapped in such a way that he just did when things were dire. At least, that’s what she would imagine from a guy like him.

Lannit and Wendy just looked as Wesley just went along his way. “I hope that they can work it out.” Wendy would state as she looked at Lannit. “Me too honey, me too.”

---

As the trio went about their way in Balfonheim, Jaakuna would notice quite a few familiar faces as they would just say hello to him. Obviously Jaakuna was a well-known name around in Balfonheim. He did visit Balfonheim a lot back when he was a teenager, so it was no surprise that he would be instantly recognized. Thankfully for Jaakuna, the pirates could care less on whether or not he was a former disgraced prince or whatever.

“We should go to White Cap. If anything, we’ll be able to get some intel of the latest rumors around town.” Jaakuna said as he would lead Emiri and Grant to the port’s local bar.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

She did not just say what I think she did? Wesley was completely taken back by Nadeline’s comparison of Wesley to Levi. No, that wasn’t even the worst part of it all. She could compare him to whoever she wanted to and Wesley would have at least accepted that. No, it was the fact that she said that Levi never lied to her. That was pretty much saying that everything that had happened between the two of them, from the good, the great, and even the slightly bad, that just cause of this one lie — granted it was a huge one — it was all thrown out of the window. That was what got Wesley a little more annoyed than he was beforehand.

Wesley just looked at her. He clearly had an irritated expression on his face, not even sure what he could say that wouldn’t make things worse than they already were, but he was going to at least try. “You really think that I had any choice in the matter? Actually, don’t answer that, cause I did.” Wesley said in raised voice. “I chose not to tell you cause my honor code demanded me to do so, but I can’t expect you to understand that. No, you can’t even begin to understand it.” It was Wesley’s turn to let off some of his own frustration. “You want to know how I felt when Jaakuna not only told us about Emiri’s condition, but about what he did back in Nabudis?” Wesley would rhetorically ask her. “I wanted to refuse right then and there even after I promised. I wanted to tell him that despite my honor as a Dalmascan man, that I wouldn’t keep his secret, but I didn’t. Instead, I suffered in my own silence.” Wesley said as his voice was damn well near the levels that Nadeline’s had taken.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Emiri asked what Balfonheim was like, Grant would explain that it pretty much a pirate town, which she was right. Jaakuna has always ventured to Balfonheim when he had the time. It always brought him back to a place where he wasn’t judged for being the crown prince of Archades. Plus, since two of his oldest friends had very strong ties to Balfonheim, it really made it easy for him to have reasons to come to that place. Emiri would state that she didn’t need protection as she could handle herself. Jaakuna just smiled at her. Her old self was coming back.

“Well, then let’s go.” Jaakuna said as he would lead both of them to the Beaming Station.

---

In the past, Wesley adored when Nadeline would let her anger take control. He always loved seeing her show that she had a backbone, but some day he knew that it would come back to bite him in the ass and it seemed that the day had arrived as it was the current one. “I wasn’t even trying to do that.” Wesley would respond, trying to keep what little calmness he had left. He just looked at her. “What is this all about, really? I find it hard to believe that this is just about me not telling you about the promise that I made to Jaakuna.” Wesley asked as he knew he was already treading on thin ice. “This couldn’t perhaps also be about the fact that, only by marriage, Levi is my aunt, could it?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

“So, what you thought was admirable is now corrupted?” Wesley just didn’t understand where Nadeline’s logic was coming from. He understood that she was angry at him and she had all the rights to be, but one thing she failed to realize was that Wesley, no matter how hard he would try, he can never turn off his honor. Or as she called it, his corrupted honor. He is a man that will always live by his word. If a man doesn’t have his word, he has nothing.

“So, what would you rather me do? Break every single promise I have gave my word to keep? I’m sorry Nadeline, but I just can’t do that. To break my word, to go against my honor would to go against everything that I stand for.” Wesley said with raised voice and arms moving around in representation of his raised voice. “You’re absolutely right. I did keep the truth from you, but it was on the request of a dear friend who was in so much guilt-ridden pain.” Wesley told her. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the original reason why you fell for me cause I kept my word and didn’t break it no matter what the circumstances were? Or has that changed?“ Wesley would ask, as he was trying to make his case.

---

“MAster Jaakuna, Master Grant, and Lady Emiri! We have arrived at Balfonheim Port!”

“Thank you IRIS!” As Jaakuna thanked Iris, he would look and Emiri and Grant. They had arrived at their destination and now all they needed to do was to find the others.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Yup, he knew that she would get mad. Actually, Wesley was counting on it. He wouldn’t even say anything while she let him have it. He would let her finish as she chewed him out for not telling her any of it. Still, Wesley wasn’t the one to blame here. Sure, he should have told Nadeline, but he was bound by his word to a friend. Everything that makes Wesley the kind of guy that he is all revolved around him keeping his word to people he makes promises to. Once Nadeline finished, Wesley would speak.

“You think that I wanted to keep this a secret from you? I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.” Wesley was at least going to try and get her to understand why he couldn’t tell her. “I made a promise to Jaakuna. I know it might not seem like it justifies of not telling you, but something that I know you know about me is that my word is my bond.” Wesley said reminding her about..well his honor. “Remember when I swore to not only your father, your mother, but also Grant that I would protect you from any harm? Hell, I made that very same promise to you.” Wesley said reminding her, “I have kept that promise even until this day. I swore to Jaakuna that I would not tell until he would give the go-ahead.” Wesley continued. “Now, granted, I see that it was a mistake as Emiri is even worse off, but I just couldn’t break my word.” Wesley told her.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As he would hear out Grant, Jaakuna agreed. Until Emiri at least got her base memories back and she was able to get to a place where she understood everything, it would be best not to tell her about everything. When Grant would finish up that bit, he would look at Jaakuna sternly in the eyes, and he would ask — or maybe it was confirmation of his thoughts — that Jaakuna blamed Grant for Emiri losing her memory. Jaakuna would think about it. He was torn on that. On one side, he definitely did blame Grant, but after Grant had told him that Emiri nearly had a panic attack, he just knew that she bribed him in some way to make him go with her to find Jaakuna. So, if Jaakuna was to say that he blamed Grant entirely, that would be entirely unfair of him.

“I will admit, there is a part of me that wants to put the entire blame on you.” JAakuna admitted, “you were left to care for her and make sure nothing bad happened and now here we are, she has little memory and it was on your watch, but..” Jaakuna would pause, looking at Grant, “I cannot act as if I am not to blame for this. Cause of my reckless and selfish actions, a domino effect of sorts was put in place. Cause I left, Emiri was left alone and obviously went to go look for me with you by her side. I don’t know what happened that would warrant Chaos to wipe her memory clean or if you were even with her at the time.” Jaakuna continued. “Regardless of that, the important thing is that she’s safe with us, and--” Jaakuna would look back at Emiri as he would turn around and saw her carefully putting the flowers together as Vlyn had instructed her. “--I can make sure nothing else bad happens to her. I will never leave her side again.” Jaakuna said simply walking back to the dining room. He didn’t know what Grant would do with what he just told him, but for the time being, Jaakuna wanted to focus on helping Emiri in any way that he could.

---

As Nadeline would ask such the question that he wasn’t ready for, Wendy instantly knew this was a discussion they needed to have in private. So, without even saying anything, she would guide Savayna and Lannit away. Lannit would go voluntarily, but Savayna would refuse at first, but Wendy gave her the death glare and she would pout, but would also go as well, leaving Wesley and Nadeline to discuss whatever they would in private.

Wesley knew that this would come up, but he surely didn’t prepare for it. “It’s not as simple as saying yes or no.” Wesley said scratching the back of his head. “Yes, I knew about it. Jaakuna told Grant and I yesterday.” Wesley admitted. “JAakuna made us promise not to tell you nor Savayna until he could work his way to confront Emiri about it himself.” Wesley said. He knew that there wasn’t anything he could say that would justify him keeping it from Nadeline. “I intended to tell you before you would find out about it from other means. It was just things kept on happening that delayed me from doing so. Gods know that I didn’t want you to hear it from Levi of all people.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When Jaakuna had finished telling Grant — and Emiri, though she was more focused on the flowers that Vlyn had given her — the Rozarrian prince would just thank him for telling him. Though, he would stress that he wished that Jaakuna would have gave them some kind of warning or something of the sort. Jaakuna felt really bad about not leaving more than that recorded message. Grant would also mention that he nearly gave Emiri a panic attack. That much he assumed and while he felt so bad about not leaving anything more, it was hard enough for him to leave the recording. Plus, Jaakuna didn’t even know where he was going, so there’s that too.

As Jaakuna would just stay silent, but nod, he noticed that Grant would look at some paper that was in the basket that Vlyn gave to Emiri. He didn’t know what it was, but it seemed that after a few minutes of looking at it, Grant asked Jaakuna if he could ask him something. Jaakuna didn’t know what this was about or if it had anything to do with the paper he just looked at, but he nod to Grant and look at Emiri. “We’ll be back.” He said to her as he got up and walked to the hallway with Grant.

When Jaakuna was in the hallway, Grant would hand him the piece of paper he was looking at beforehand. “Okay..“ Opening it, Jaakuna looked at the names, and instantly he recognized two names — Lady Justine and Lord Andre. He wasn’t sure what it meant, whether or not the fact that her name was crossed off meant that she was dead or that she was safe and that her name was crossed off cause she wasn’t a casualty. “So, is this supposed to be a list of casualties — the names crossed off I mean? — Or are the names crossed off the ones who aren’t dead?” Jaakuna was hoping that it was the latter, if not for his sake, then for Emiri’s. For when she regains her memories, this’ll hit her hard.

---

Eventually, Wesley and the others arrived at Clyde’s underground lair, to which they would be on the wood platforms. Wesley just didn’t know what to make of any of what had just happened. It was like as soon as he got Hashmaal, the explosion happened. Was it Levi that was behind it and if so, was she just waiting until Wesley got Hashmaal? If so, then what was her plans? Wesley just didn’t know and damn it, he needed to know.

“I really don’t know what happened back there.” WEsley said as he ran his hands through his hair rather aggressively. “The explosion was one thing, but when we were leaving, I could have sworn I saw a shape of a giant snake head for a brief second.” Wesley said, revealing what he might have or might have not seen.

Lannit and Wendy looked at Wesley with expressions that suggested that they were confused. “Giant Snake Head? What is that supposed to mean?” Lannit asked.

“Wesley, you don’t think…”

“I don’t know, Savayna, but if it is, then we might just have more worries than Zodiark and that group of assassins.” Wesley didn’t want to be right. The snake head could be a number of things, but given the timing, Wesley had a strong suspicion that Levi was behind it, but the question remained on why and how. If she truly was behind it, then why did she have black tendrils coming from her body when Wesley attacked her back at The Pharos and even more so, who was her master that she spoke of? These were just questions that Wesley was asking himself.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Along the way of getting out of The Pharos, the trio reunited with Lannit and Wendy, to which both of them were surprised to see that the place was coming down. They didn’t have time to explain in account of the building slowly becoming a big cloud of black and blue. So, the five of them would run as fast as they could, going down the floors one by one. It seemed that with the possibility of dying, one runs faster than usual. The entire group found that to be true as within a half of an hour, they nearly escaped death and by the last minute of the hour came, they were out of The Pharos and they just kept on running. They wanted to at least get to the edge of Ridorana to get away from the explosion. Thankfully, there was the Hoverboards still where they left them.

When they got to the hoverboards, none of them thought about any of it. They just got on and would ride it back to Balfonheim. If anything, they needed to get the hell away from the explosion, but Wesley looked back and saw, for just a brief second, the head of a giant snake. What was that? Wesley thought as whatever he saw, he knew it couldn’t be good, not in the very least.

---

By the time that they had decided, the trio were already back on the Ifrit and the course had already been set for Balfonheim. Jaakuna was hoping that what Vlyn and Karolina told Emiri as well as what the viera told Grant and Jaakuna back in Eruyt would indeed make the recovery of her memory go a lot quicker. Hweover, as Jaakuna and the other two sat at the table, he knew that there was so much to discuss and not only the information that they just found out. Jaakuna had yet to tell Grant about his soul-searching journey.

As they sat at the dining room table, Jaakuna knew he had to say it now or forever hold his peace. “I think while we have this time, I should tell you two why I left.” Jaakuna said, not even knowing where to begin. “I know I shouldn’t have left, but I wasn’t right in my mind. As you know, everything that happened last night put me in a bad place and when I went to sleep that night, I knew I couldn’t face any of you, not Wesley, not Nadeline — none of you. So, I left and went to go find my reason. It took me to Rabanastre, at least at first. I got some advice, so I went to The Garif village of Jahara. They helped me and the Elder of the village told me to go see Aloa.” Jaakuna said as he looked at Emiri. Of course he would cause it revolved solely around her. “I told her my case and while I was very…well rude to her and the other two — Ryua and Mtra — she still decided to help me. She did so by means of what she called The Cleansing, which pretty much was having me face every tragic thing that happened to me.”

“I went pretty far into it. Actually, it was at the last step that I found my inner-peace with everything. Maybe I was scared cause the last step required me to give myself away from earthly attachments and in a sense, become like the viera who themselves deserted the world and chose to live in isolation. “ Jaakuna looked down and smiled. “I almost did it and I’m still considering it. I don’t know if I will end up on doing it, but I thought that both of you should know.” Jaakuna said as he finished.

---

As Roman told Hamut to continue to find the new judges he would just nod as acknowledgement and agreement of sorts to Roman. He would state that he would send a team to the Pharos, but as Hamut was thinking, Roman was right in saying that by the time that they would get there, it would probably be too late for that. The concerns of Roman for Ivalice was apparent. “I don’t know, Roman. She can only do so much, but it’s up to her children to make sure she is protected.” Hamut would offer as he would depart and leave his grandson to his duties.

As Hamut exited Roman’s office, he felt a sudden chill-like feeling and suddenly was transported to what seemed like a courtroom. It was odd, but it had a woodsy-like appearance to it. As he would look around, he saw none other than the Judge-Sal sitting at the Judge’s bench. “Well, this is a surprise, Exodus. Last time you presented yourself to me was when I met The Scion of Time for the first time.”

Exodus smiled. “It indeed has been a while, but dire times befall us all.”

Hamut raised an eyebrow. “So even the great espers feel it huh?” Hamut lightly joked.

“Aye, that we do and soon every race upon Ivalice’s land, sea, and skies will feel it.” Exodus would state.

“So, Judge-Sal, what reason do you have for calling me to your court? Surely I am not under trial, am I?” Hamut asked curiously.

Exodus chuckled. “No, you are not, Hamut. Quite the opposite. The Espers have more-or-less been ordered to hasten our efforts.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“We, at our own pace, will give our Owners The Seed.”

“Ah, so it is that time already, huh?”

“You don’t seem shocked.”

“Please, do not take me for a fool, Exodus. You know why you chose me. I am the only one who shares your views on the world and you know as well as anyone that I am deeply versed in the history of you Scions of Darkness.”

Exodus had to admit, he was actually shocked that Hamut knew so much. He knew that the Head Judge of Archadia was one of the few that fully-comprehended the dire state of affairs that Ivalice herself was enduring. He just wasn’t sure if Hamut could handle both The Dragon Seal and The Aether Seal. “Indeed, you are well-versed in every aspect of our history, but are you truly ready is what I’m trying to decide.” Exodus said.

Hamut smiled at Exodus. “It is your decision, but while you ponder and wait, Zodiark continues to plunge the world further in his darkness.” Hamut would state.

“It is settled then.” He said as the scales on his desk would spin and magicks of ethereal orange and gold would begin to surround Hamut. “Brandon Hamut Darcone, you are the father of Simon Darcone, grandfather of Vincent Darcone, Jackson Darcone, and Roman Darcone. You are the Head Judge of the Archaidan Imperial Court, and I, Exodus the Judge-Sal find you worthy of the title Chosen One. May it bring you strength for whenever you need it.”

As Hamut heard all of the words that Exodus said, he would feel his body to react funny to the new power he was given. First, he would feel overwhelmed, but after the initial feeling went away, he suddenly felt a calmness overtake him and within the seconds that followed he was back in the hallways of the Emperor’s Building and it was with that Hamut was graduated to Chosen One status.