Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

She heard his sigh. And quite frankly, Savayna didn’t seem to care. She wasn’t about to turn around. She knew he was feeling a certain way about her right now. And that was fine. Let him feel that. Savayna needed to focus. There were much more pressing matters than what Grant was feeling. The Brotherhood was here. And that meant only one thing: he was here.

Savayna, what is that I sense?

“It’s probably your stomach. You should really do something about that.” Savayna hissed.

I’m an esper. I don’t have those bodily functions like you Humes.

“Then I don’t know what to tell you."

It’s dread mixed with anxiety.

“You’re lying.”

I’m connected to you, idiot. I can sense it. Just tell me what it is. If you don’t, I’ll tell Zeromus, and he’ll probably tell Grant. Mateus threatened Savayna.

“You wouldn’t?”

Try me.

That bastard. Why couldn’t he just leave it be? Savayna sighed, letting it be known to Mateus that she was clearly annoyed with him. But she had no choice. And better she tell him than--and then she looked at Grant. It just hit her that he heard every word that she said. And the fact she was talking to herself and not him probably made it worse. “On second thought, Mateus, Grant will hear it from me. Feel free to listen in, you eavesdropping ass.”

Savayna heard a scowl, but there was no other vocal response.

She looked to Grant, stopping where she stood. They were about a hundred paces west of the entrance, but the tall towers of Omisace still within sight. “Grant, I apologize,” she said, “I know I’ve been less-than helpful this trip. My attitude about my family. And now this.” Savayna let out a sigh again. “The truth is that Omisace is now in the hands of a rogue Hunter’s Guild known as The Brotherhood. You probably heard of them. They were founded by a former Archadian General by the name of Glacier Frost. About ten years ago, he was planning to overthrow Emperor Simon Darcone, but was foiled by Vincent and Jackson--I mean Jaakuna,” she quipped, “after that, he was set to be hung for his crimes against the empire, but as he did, the whole ordeal of Simon’s death being blamed on Jaakuna allowed him to flee Archadia. I’ve kept tabs on him over the eyars, but lost track of him about a month ago, which was around the time I first met you when you were still a bit screwy,” she quipped again. She’s gotta stop doing that.

Savayna let her voice trail off, gripping her fist into a ball so tight that it drew blood, which she would then curse under her breath about. “Listen, this matters and relates to us because Glacier isn’t just some random guy that just so happens to be an Archadian.” Savayna paused on that note. “Glacier Frost isn’t just an exiled, former general of the Archaidan Army. Glacier Frost is the person —”As Savayna went to speak, out of nowhere an arrow of poisonous magic shot through her shoulder, sending her into Grant’s arms, sending both of them jerking backwards. Though her lips moved, no sound came. Savayna would soon lose consciousness not long afterwards.

---

Moments of complete silence passed since Lorenzo had asked him about Emiri. Since then, he had taken a seat at a nearby chair, inviting Lorenzo to do the same. Then he thought about what he was going to say. How was he going to tell Lorenzo when he himself hadn’t figured out why he didn’t tell Emiri the truth? Jaakuna knew he would have to think of something.

Looking at the prince, Jaakuna said, “It might be hard for someone who has a perfect relationship to understand, but I’m afraid.” That wasn’t something that a man like Jaakuna said lightly. “Ever since I met Emiri, I’ve caused her nothing but pain. Whether it was threatening to take her back to Grant when he was still a psycho-killer, or when I put her in harm’s way, or when I made a deal with the devil - there was always a time where I would hurt her.” Jaakuna spoke with sorrow and grief. “So, I guess I didn’t want to hurt her again. After what happened with Lola and how, once again thanks to my brilliant decision to opt for the dark side, she got hurt again.” JAakuna leaned against the arm chair. “It might’ve been cowardly, but she’s in Stigma. And she’s safe. I can live with that. I won’t feel guilty by putting her in harm’s way. I won’t have to worry about her getting hurt like before."

---

Without a warning, The Creature grasped Keiran’s throat so hard that it resulted in two things: a gagging noise and Keiran being lifted off his feet. “The Time Scion is to not be harmed in any physical manner.” The Creature’s eyes oozing out gooey, black liquid. It crawled onto Keiran’s arms, grasping them so tight that it threatened to tear them off. “Remember your place, Seed. Or you will return to the nothingness for which you came.”

And after that sound threat, Keiran had been lowered, left to gather himself. But only for a moment.

“Do as The Dark One has instructed. Nothing more. He will know if you have deterred, for you are a small part of him. Your role is nothing more than just a pebble that contributes to the ripple that He will send throughout Ivalice.” The Creature said, his form starting to fade away, leaving Keiran to choke upon the thought that, contrary to his arrogance, is expendable to The Dark One.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Amid the cheering and congratulatory roars, Savayna would hear Grant. He brought up a good point. And she was just about to do that before she caught something rather peculiar: one of the remains of the machines that she had demolished had a familiar symbol. It was a shield with a golden lining and a royal blue center. Over it, a sword of black and chrome overlapped with eagle wings, and a crown down the blade at the middle. Near the bottom of the blade, a ribbon covered a portion of it, with the words “The Brotherhood” right in the center.

Savayna would sigh rather deeply, leaning close to Grant, and said, “We don’t need to. I know what’s happening.” Savayna said, tightening up her hand into a fist.

In the next moment, Savayna paced away from Grant, away from the crowd, and walked several of those paces opposite of the entrance. No words -she simply walked, bearing no mind to what Grant was probably thinking. She knew what she was doing. She couldn’t be here for more than one reason.

---

Jaakuna’s head was throbbing. Worse than that, he knew it wasn’t going to get any better. This was true for two reasons. First of all, Lorenzo wanted the rest of the tour. And two, Reia wouldn’t be along for the ride on account that she wanted to rest, which in turn would leave Jaakuna alone with Lorenzo. Was this what Nadeline feared about her father? If so, then color me a sympathiser. I had no idea it was this bad for you.

With an exaggerated groan, Jaakuna approached the duo. “Very well.” Jaakuna said. He gave Reia a smile, then said, “Iris, if you would, please lead Empress Reia to the female dorms. Make sure she is given the best one available. I think the one with the bathroom should suffice. And please alert her when we arrive in Archadia.” Jaakuna said.

“Understood, Master Jaakuna.” Iris said.

A moment would pass. In that time, something akin to a hologram would appear. It was blue all around but with different shades. Hair was dark blue like navy, skin was cornflower blue, eyes had a bright, almost crystal blue shine to them. To the naked eye, her attire was nothing more than a one-piece suit that covered major parts of the breasts, shoulders, and just six inches below the waist. However, if one looked closely, there was more to it than that. There was an ever-flowing stream of computer data that made up its entirety. This data also formed faded navy pantyhose that went from mid-thigh to her feet, as well as on the arms from mid-bicep to her fingernails. There are odd, almost lifelike patterns along her thighs and calves.

“Empress Reia,” Iris’s voice came from the lifelike hologram, “if you would, please follow me.” Iris would gesture REia out the door, leaving Jaakuna and Lorenzo to their lonesome.

Before Lorenzo would have any chance of questioning what just happened, Jaakuna would force his frozen body out the door, and in the opposite direction of where Iris led Reia. In that direction, Jaakuna would be heading straight towards what Jaakuna liked to refer to Main Operations. It was a section of the ship that was dead center of the entire Ifrit. Unlike the engine room, main operations housed an even larger magicite core. While the engine has an impressive one for sure, the center of the Ifrit houses one twice as dense but nowhere nearly as large - it doesn’t need to. It’s a rotating, pulsating mass of pure magickal stone that sends out these pulses of magick every hour to enforce the Ifrit with its nearly-indestructible shield.

Walking into it, Jaakuna gleamed with pride. Surely Lorenzo was in awe. Jaakuna wasn’t surprised. Due to the spacious room where the core was hoisted at the ceiling, the crystal-like core of the Ifrit glowing with green Mist. But it wasn’t harmful Mist. This specific mist, while heavy on the magickal presence, gave a feeling of warmth and calmness, the only kind that was possible in a controlled environment.

The room itself, core aside, surrounded it. Several wires ran along the floors, tangling and crossed with each other, coiling to the contraption that held the core in place. Little, floating machines that were half machine, half magicite floated around, doing maintenance on the core, the wires, the coils, the cannons, and everything that required mechanical assistance.

“Ain’t she a beaut!” Jaakuna looked at the core with swelled-up pride. “This was the hardest part. It took me months just to find the right kind of magicite to use. Took a lot of bribing to get what I needed.” Jaakuna said, bragging about the accomplishment, “yessir, she can produce over seven dozen rounds of pure, magickal, photonic energy in three seconds, appearing as one singular beam of magick. On top of that, the little cannons you see have enough juice in them to shoot three times as much in just 50% of the time. Not as accurate, but boy do they make aerial battles a whole lot easier. And don’t even get me started on our shields,” Jaakuna once again looked up, “powered by this baby, the Ifrit is not only capable of withstanding most frontal assaults, but with the added bonus of having an extremely-powered shield, it can double as a battering ram. Though,” Jaakuna paused, “more than ten direct hits from a distance less than half of a mile, and the shields temporarily disable for about twenty seconds. Safe to say we don’t want to be within firing range of an enemy ship when that happens.” Jaakuna laughed nervously.

---

Ivalice was getting worse the more time Zodiark remained loose. Turbulences of mist were happening all over. All three major countries of Ivalice have reported these disturbances. Airships that woudl otherwise have near-perfect flights either were rendered in stasis for several minutes or had completely lost control and went down, resulting in dozens of deaths world-wide. They were reported going down near The Phon Coast, and the Dalmasca Wester and Estersands. In these reports, the last moments of every airship crash had video files saved. In them, they showed the figure of a black mass passing through the ship as it malfunctioned.

These reports have been happening for days. And yet no one was able to do anything. The worst of it all was it could only get worse from here on out. Deaths upon deaths piling up and only a black mass of mist was the closest anyone has gotten. What was even worse, this black mass was last seen hovering over Stigma.

---

Somewhere in Stigma, deep in the shadows, a figure comes out, oozing black, gooey mist. It walks appearing to be in a heavy-duty armor black like night and with red emblems of a snake looking up at the sky at darkness, through the halls of Stigma's Palace. It does not need to keep to the shadows for it no longer needs to. Years of feeding off of the evil energies that have gathered in every crevice of Stigma allowed it to become strong. These walls have experienced argument after argument, and now, after so many weeks of being in slumber, The Creature is ready.

But first, something must be done.

The Creature turned a right into the room of one Andre Inabi. He lay unconscious, most likely sleeping. In the room were guards who guard — correction, guarded — the Lord Inabi. They no longer were as they have since then succombed to an instant death thanks to the floating mist that had entered their systems as soon as The Creature had entered Andre's room. Not far off, The Creature noticed someone running their fingers through Andre's mane. "The energies tell The Creature that he was in a coma, but had awoken just hours prior. Apparently the good will of one Jaakuna Hinoko, combined with Emiri Inabi's special ability," The Creature said to the person. "The energies also tell The Creature that the Scion Who Controls the Wheels of Time has been silenced. His magicks are no longer felt among the mist."

The Creature walked up closer to those sinister hands. The hands that belonged to a person that The Creature knew very well. It was a man that looked to be the age of Andre's daughter, maybe slightly younger. Hair like the abyss, but silky like spider web. Skin pure like the void and eyes empty like it too. Clothes were of no importance as they were as average as anything else in Stigma. But the way his eyes looked at Andre. It was not that of concern. It was a sinister, vile feeling.

"Keiran, you know what you must do now." The Creature said, gooey, sticky hand on Keiran's shoulder, "The Dark One is nearing the final stages of his plan. And to achieve that, he needs The Scion of Time. He has instructed me with the following order.."

And so The Creature would tell Keiran what he must do. Show yourself to Emiri once more. Tell her that you found the one responsible for her mother's death. you have found where Lola is hiding out at. Tell her she's hiding in one of the oil refineries in the Sandsea. Tell her that she's injured, and that if you strike now, surely Lola will fall.

"Do you understand?"

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Stigma had not been that far from the Dalmascan Deserts. It was probably give or take five miles. On the way there, Grant had completely rounded Rabanastre, avoiding the Dalmascian capital altogether. They would make easy work of the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. They met some opposition from those that dwelled in the Sandsea, but it was nothing that a swing of Savayna’s sword couldn’t handle. She would tell him to keep driving, and she would handle any hostiles that came their way.

Once they moved out of the Sandsea, it was into the Dalmasca Westersand. A lot of ground to cover, but not as many hostiles. There were a few wolves that followed, but Savayna would lay waste to them with a simple blizzara spell that she found was as powerful as a weak Blizzaga spell due to the amount of visible, swirling mist in the area. It might’ve made the wolves twice as big, but with Savayna’s proficiency of Ice Magick, it wasn’t even a problem for her. She cleaned house as they would come.

Over the course of the next few hours, the Estersand proved similar ease. Some blizzaras here and there, and they were int he clear, Savayna would suggest pushing it into overdrive. Apparently he agreed with her, so much so by pressing a special button that warped them into ten times the speed, crossing so much land that Savayna wasn’t ready for it. Forward they went, trailing along the waves of mist that were visible as if it were homing on the essence of mist itself. Before Savayna knew, they were at Paramina’s Rift.

Savayna would gather herself before they continued at normal speed. If Jaakuna were here, he’d probably be puking, so that was one thing she had over him.

Finished gathering herself, Savayna gave Grant the signal, and he would continue along the journey. Not even ten minutes later, the duo arrived at Mt. Bur-Omisace, or to be percise, about twenty paces from the entrance to Mt. Bur-Omisace. They couldn’t go any further on account of two things: the people gathered outside of it - refugees - who were making an uproar to whoever was blocking the entrance.

Just ten seconds before Grant stopped the motorcycle, Savayna jumped, using the mist to guide her icy glide in the air. With her Ice Queen in hand, Savayna hovered over, the sight of the refugees of all make seeing her. As she came to the entrance, she saw five flying machines that noticed her. But just a moment too late. Savayna swung her sword forward, “Flow it out your ass!” Savayna shouted, “Blizzaga Wave!” She shouted once more, a wave of blizzaga extending from her sword, and freezing all five machines. In the next moment, Savayna would slice into each machine five times, and in the matter of moments, Savana would be on the snowy ground, and they owuld all explode into bits of frozen scrap metal, coming down behind her. There was a roar of cheers from the refugees.

As Savayna would spend a few moments giving the people a series of grins and smiles, she would look over to Grant’s direction, waving him over.

---

“Is he going to be alright?” Jaakuna asked. It surely wasn’t a good thing that Lorenzo was calling to the gods. “Oh, and don’t take him seriously, Belias. I’m sure he didn’t —”

“Don’t worry, we understand,” Belias said. A moment later, his head appeared out of nowhere, looking at the other two. JAakuna jolted to the left. Belias snickered. “Prince Lorenzo, please don’t make such claims. I may not take it seriously, but the other Scions aren’t as understanding of the Hume practice of overreacting. As a matter of fact —”

Another head popped in. “Belias, what do you are doing?” Ultima said. Not so much asking Belias, but stating as a matter of fact.

“I was simply explaining to your Hume’s father about his claim for us to take him."

“Oh,” Ultima looked at Lorenzo. She couldn’t help but share Reia’s scowling notion. “Carry on, then.” Ultima said, her white head disappearing in a portal of white.

“As I was saying, most of my brothers and sisters are not quite understanding of this overreacting. So, in the near future, won’t you try to calm down? Or as Jaakuna would say, ‘calm your tits, Princey.”

“I would not say that.”

“Yes you would.”

Jaakuna scowled. “Don’t you got some superior watching to do?” Jaakuna said to Belias, scowling once more.

Belias laughed. “I suppose,” he said, “oh, and Jaakuna.”

“Yeah?”

“Your fly is about to come undone.”

“What?”

Before Jaakuna could ask what Belias meant, he noticed his zipper was, in fact, undone, as if someone had done it to him.

“DAMN IT, BELIAS!”

“Wasn’t me! It was Adremmelech!”

Of course it was.

Jaakuna scowled, zipping up his zipper, and just looking at Reia and Lorenzo. Either they were freaked the fuck out or they were more annoyed. Well, there went Jaakuna’s hopes of a headache-free day.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Wesley remembered when he had proposed to Nadeline as if was yesterday. Okay, well maybe it was just a few days before yesterday. But still, he recalled it vividly. He wasn’t in the best of conditions, as they were just coming from one of their adventures. What exactly it was slipped Wesley’s mind, but he remembered being in the med bay of the Ifrit, nearly on injury’s doorstep, and looking at Nadeine and how worried she looked. He remembered how seeing her worry about him was what made him make an impromptu proposal. It wasn’t the most romantic of things to do. He didn’t even have a proper ring until much later, but Wesley knew he had to do it. It was worth it, though. To see the look on her face when he said those words “Nadeline will you marry me,” was all the proof that he needed.

And yet, Wesley was here feeling inadequate about the kind of man he was. He was feeling inferior as the kind of king his people would see him as, and worst of all, the kind of man that Nadeine would had seen him as. The latter was probably the worst of all because he hadn’t even expressed that vocally. And after hearing her words, he wasn’t going to, especially after hearing her words. They were proof enough that he needed to stop having this pity party he was throwing for himself. Even if he did feel like he wasn’t going to be as good of a king as his father was, it didn’t matter. As an Alexander, he didn’t have the time to feel bad about himself, much less continue it when he had someone who could help share the burden.

“I know not how you do it, but you always seem to make me to be captivated by your beautiful spirit more and more each, passing day.” Wesley said, holding Nadeline’s hands as tight as he could without causing her pain. He simply looked at her, then the skies. “I know this will be one of my last times seeing the skies of Ivalice from this height, so I want to savor it for as long as I can. Can we just...watch it together?” Wesley asked, his voice almost somber.

---

“Oh, right,” Jaakuna shook his head. “Right then way, then.”

Jaakuna would lead Reia and Lorenzo out of the Engine Room, and into various areas of the ship. Over the course of an hour, they would be shown the barracks, the kitchen, the armory, and the lounge. All of those got certain reactions from both Reia and Lorenzo. Reia had her musings from what Jaakuna could tell, but Lorenzo had more vocal reactions. By the end of it, Jaakuna had gotten three headaches.

Was this what Emiri was referring to when she told me about getitng headahces? Is this why Nadeline and Reia constantly berate Lorenzo? God, now I see why. It was fortunate for Jaakuna’s, as well as Lorenzo’s, well-being that they had just turned into the impressive Med Bay of the Ifrit, because Jaakuna was in some major need of aspirin. Or something that would quell his headache.

“And here is the Med Bay. Probably the most used portion of the ship,” Jaakuna said. “Fun fact: I was once in a several-hour coma on that very bed,” Jaakuna pointed to the one directly in front of him, “good times —” Jaakuna was inturrupted by the off-balance shaking of the Ifrit, it sending all three hurling to the left for about five paces or so. Jaakuna landed against the bed he was just pointing to neck-first. It didn’t cause any significant damage, but now Jaakuna had more than just a headache to worry about. “Iris, what’s going on?!” JAakuna shouted.

“My apologies, Master Jaakuna. We seemed to hit a bit of Mist Turbulence —” Iris was cut off by yet another round of Mist-infused turbulence, sending the trio on another rolling binge, this time in the opposite direction in almost twice the amount of paces. Mist Turbulence wasn’t always a big thing in Ivalice. From time to time, Jaakuna would encounter it, but it was never this bad. Perhaps, with Zodiark running amok and all the Espers gone, it was way worse than it had been in the past.

“That’s a thing?”

“It’s more than just a thing, Jaakuna. It’s the direct result of Zodiark meddling with the Mist Fields of Ivalice. It’s only a matter of time before it starts to cause world-wide disasters.” Belias said.

“Just fucking terrific.” Jaakuna muttered under his breath. “Hey, you two alright? Sorry about that. I guess Zodiark is dicking around.” Jaakuna cursed something else under his breath. This wa snot how he planned his trip back home.

By the time came that Jaakuna was back upright, the ship had passed whatever shitfest was that Mist Turbulence. Whatever had happened, they were closer to Archadia than they were before. “Good thing is that we’re in the Med Bay, so if either of y’all are feeling like shit, best to get it checked out here, lest you get fucked even worse.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

And that was why Wesley loved this woman next to him. Whenever she felt down, he picked her up, and whenever he felt down, she would return the favor. It didn’t matter how down he got, she was always there to raise him up, even if he didn’t feel like it was worth it. He had done that for her several times over, so perhaps this was the scions evening things out for the two of them.

On the thought of that, WEsley let out a low laugh, almost inaudible. “What did I do to deserve a queen as wonderful as you?” Wesley would ask her. He was also asking himself as if uncertain.

---

“Yeah, what Reia said.”

Jaakuna couldn’t believe he was in agreement with Reia. Grant must never know of this. He would surely have my head if he heard I agreed with Reia. Jaakuna looked at the two of them, seeing how their sibling dynamic was nothing compared to that of Jaakuna and Vincent’s. Maybe ROman and Jaakuna’s, but certainly not the former. Of course he seen it at Stigma, but seeing it in front of him at this close proximity, it brought soemthing to Jaakuna’s attention: Reia was the mature one.

Yup, definitely don’t let Grant find out about this.

Jaakuna shook his head as if shaking off whatever thoguht crept up on him. He then would respond to Lorenzo by saying, “when you’re running away from your homeland, a name change is paramount.” Jaakuna looked over to Reia with a half-grin, “sort of like Emiri did back in the good ole days.” Jaakuna was expecting a scowl, some remark, or both. "We even had our repsective, blonde hunter. I had Savayna, and Emiri had me, then Harris." Jaakuna stroked his imaginary beard, "ah those were the days."

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When he felt her arms around him, WEsley didn’t respond instantly. He was too focused on what was going to happen once they arrived in Dalmasca. That truly meant the end of his Ivalice-wide adventures. No more going around the world with his friends. No more going inn to inn. oNo more seeing the world for how it was. No more enjoying the hospitality of foreign lands. There was no more of that. This last commercial flight on an airship was all that was left of his adventure.

And therein lies the root of his distance from planet Ivalice.

As he looked at Nadeine, whose eyes were looking at him the whole time, he found himself lost in them, softly smiling. Once again, she was the one person who got him to smile. “It’s just, after these next hours, that’s it,” he said, “after these last hours on this commercial airship, my days as an adventurer is over. I knew it wasn’t going to last forever. I knew that it would eventually come to an end, but it never occurred to me that it would come this soon.” Wesley was distressed. His voice went from a shock of the realization to shaking ‘I refuse to believe it’. It was all over the spectrum. “But, what I am fearing the most is that my country wouldn’t want a king who flaked after his father’s death. They’ll see me as a coward; that they’ll see me as —” Wesley stopped himself. He knew what he was going to say. Instead, he shook his head, small drops of liquid possibly being shaken from his eyes.

He hated feeling like this. He hated it because Wesley Alexander of Dalmasca wasn’t this kind of guy. He wasn’t one to show his emotions in such a way.that were out of his control. Most of all, WEsley hated it because, deep down, he knew that he wasn’t fit to be king. He wasn’t a man like his father was. When the tough got going, Wesley of Dalmasca went along with it. He ran away. IT might not have seemed like that at the time. Sure, he told himself that there was a higher calling to go with Jaakuna and the others. But now that it was all said and done, Wesley had to face his choices. He was going to be a king. Or at least inform his mother, as well as his sister, Cassandra, and the rest of Dalmasca, that he wanted to assume his birthright as King of Dalmasca.

But they wouldn't accept me. Not after I ran. Not after I abandoned them after my father’s death. I left to go on an adventure. Pathetic. Pitiful.

“I fear they’ll see me as someone not worthy of their devotion. They need a strong king, Nadeline, not some weak prince who couldn’t even deliver on the oath he made to bring his father’s killer to justice.” Wesley, unbeknownst to him, was balling his fists up so tight that blood was drawn from his barely-cut fingernails. The pain probably hadn’t even registered with him.

---

“Did I ever say that? No, I didn’t,” Savayna retorted. “You want to meet my father and mother so bad, so instead of trying to give me reasons to change my mind, let's leave already." And that was the last thing Savayna would say about that. Even if Grant wanted to press further, the look in her eyes would show Grant that he would be fighting a losing battle. He could try if he wanted, but the more he would quesiton her, the worse it would get for him.

---

Jaakuna couldn’t help but snicker at Lorenzo. He asked who built the ship. Jaakuna didn’t know if he wanted to divulge that secret or not. Well, it wasn’t so much a secret, but Lorenzo didn’t know it, so maybe it could be considered a secret.

In actuality, a lot of people in Archadia knew of the mastermind who built The Ifrit. He wasn’t really one of those that built a lot of ships. Actually, the Ifrit was his one and only creation. He thought that, if he could create the most advanced warship that Archadia had ever knwon, then maybe he didn’t need to build a lot of insignificant ships. All he needed was that very one that would set his name in the record books.

And so it did. After he finished it, his name was placed in the history books. He gained recognition beyond anthing he had for things he’d done in the past.

“You know, the person that built this ship is an amazing man. He was not only a part-time engineer, but he was a soldier for the Archadian Army. Impressive man to say the least. He might not have been the kind of man to create loads of ships, but he made this beaut, so no doubt that he had a lot of potential for technology. After he completed the Ifrit, he received award after award from Archadia. Skip forward a few years , he was charged with the murder of his father, so he disappeared. But he wasn’t going to leave without his master invention,” Jaakuna shot both Reia and Lorenzo a grin, “that’s right! This ‘he’ I speak of is me, Jaakuna Darcone! I am the best engineer of all time!” JAakuna proudly boasted, looking directly at Lorenzo.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Unlike Jaakuna, Reia, and Lorenzo, WEsley and Nadeline didn’t have the Ifrit to take them to Dalmasca. And quite frankly, Wesley much preferred the leisure way of travelling that normal, commercial airships provided. It not only gave him plenty of time to spend with Nadeline before they arrived in Dalmasca, but it also gave WEsley more time to contemplate exactly what he was going to say to his family and how he came to this decision. But it was mainly the former.

As soon as the pair got their tickets, Wesley opted going to the cabins as soon as he could. While he would love to do some sightseeing, he has seen enough of Ivalice from the air to last a lifetime. Besides, he had to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen in just mere hours. It had been weighing heavily on his mind. There was no doubt in his mind that Nadeline caught onto that. He wasn’t his usual talkative self and didn’t seem to be observant of most things. Like, right as they had gotten their tickets, it took him a delayed moment to thank the front desk clerk.

And when he got into their cabin, Wesley had to force himself to smile outwardly despite the rest of him feeling all kinds of anxiety, something that Wesley was a stranger to. He didn’t know how to handle.

WEsley took a seat on one of the arm chairs spread in front of the window. He gazed out into the open skies as the clouds slowly passed. What seemed like minutes, Wesley was completely silent, seemingly deep in thought. Even if Nadeline were to say anything, he most definitely didn’t hear her. There was a large part of him that was muting most outside noise.

---

“Or maybe you should turn down your own.” Savayna retorted back. No matter what Grant tried to do or how he wanted to get her into a better mood, Savayna wasn’t going to pretend and seem excited for this trip. Her morale was at an all-time low. There was hardly anything that Grant could say or do that would make her change that. “Just drive. The quicker we get there, the quicker we can leave.” Savayna said, grabbing a hold of Grant’s waist.

She simply would wait for him to get them moving. She had nothing left to say on the matter.

---

“Whoa now, Lorenzo,” Jaakuna would interrupt Lorenzo halfway through his speech, “Iris is much more than a simple A.I. What you’re describing is the prototype version of what operates the ship in whole.” Jaakuna corrected Lorenzo, “yes indeed, she’s more than meets the eye. She’s not just an A.I. that the Archadians have developed, but she’s a member of this crew. Without her, I would have died several—”

Just as Jaakuna was about to recall something, he was interrupted by Reia. She suggested a tour. “A tour! That’s a great idea!” Jaakuna had said in unison with Lorenzo, prompting Jaakuna to look at Lorenzo. Did he just find his new best friend?

As the moment passed, Jaakuna coughed, clearing his throat. “Um, yes, well, I suppose we got a lot of time to kill,” Jaakuna said, “Iris, how soon until we get to Archadia?”

“In calculating the current windy weather conditions and airship regulations, we should arrive there in five hours.” Iris informed Jaakuna.

“Oh, then I suppose we have plenty of time for a tour.” Jaakuna said, snickering with a grin on his face. He turned to REia and Lorenzo. “Fine then, let’s begin the tour!” Jaakuna said, pointing to the first item on the list. It was a door just to the left of them.

As he would lead them through it, they would find themselves inside what Jaakuna considered to be one of the most impressive parts of the ship: the engine room. It was a massive room that had a few rows of monitors and tables, all of which that were facing the main engine. It was impressive to say the least. Each time Jaakuna came in here to run the daily tests, he forgotten how impressive it was. An engine that was one giant magicite. It was blue with hints of white, silver, and green. It was of circular nature and it oozed Mist. The amount of mist, if left constantly in check, was enough to destroy any large city ten times over. If one listened closely, they could probably hear the whispers of the mist echoing throughout the room.

“Well, here is the engine room. Any thoughts, questions, or compliments - please speak now or forever be in awe!”

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Now that my own Jackson has been accepted, like this post for relations talk!

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Jackson Torvald "Jax" Drake - The Mundane

“Luckily, common sense had never been a strong suit of mine and my feet moved
faster than my brain.” ― Katherine McIntyre, An Airship Named Desire

Headstrong — Trapt | You're Going Down — Sick Puppies | All Star — Smash Mouth


"What? I have a name and shit, yeah, but if you dare use THAt name, you're gonna regret it, I promise you."

● N A M E ●

Jackson Torvald Drake

✔ Jack or Jax - call him this if you're a friend or acquaintance.
✔ Jackie-boy - only call him this if Jackson is your best bro or you'll regret it
☠ Torvald - under no circumstance are you to address him by this name. Only his mother can use this name and even then he despises her for giving him such a lame middle name.

● A G E ●

18

● G E N D E R ●

Male

● O C C U P A T I O N ●

Student at Lincoln Memorial High School and part-time Mechanic at Drake Automobile Repair Shop

● L O O K S ●

It’s hard to place if Jackson is a slob intentionally or does it unknowingly. The fact remains that, despite awareness or not, Jackson looks, acts, and more importantly, presents himself as a slob. His strawberry blonde hair is often unkempt. He sees washing it daily and tidying it up as a chore. He has much more important things to do, like sleeping or eating food. Because of that, you will often see him with messy hair. Odds are that, when you see him strolling through the streets of Verona, backpacking through The Wilderness, or just doing whatever the frick that Jackson Drake wants to do, you’ll see his hair be an utter and complete mess. Only on a rare occasion will you see this juvenile with combed hair. And that’s only in those instances when he’s trying to impress someone who has caught his eye. Speaking of eyes, Jackson’s are some weird brown, blue mix.

Despite how active he could be and how much he likes to walk, Jackson doesn’t maintain a healthy diet long enough for it to make any difference. If you were to ask him, he’d probably something like, “I might work out, but I enjoy food too much.” So, based off of that by itself, it wouldn’t be hard to give an estimation of why Jackson never achieved anything passed a low lean build. His body isn’t to the point of emo skinny; that’s reserved for his other family members. But don’t count on seeing Jackson flex for you. He won’t do it. And what’s more on that, he doesn’t have anything to show. He’s a person of above-average height and average weight too. They are respectively 5’11 and 150lbs. Pretty much the opposite of a bodybuilder.

Inside Jackson’s closet are the clothes of someone who doesn’t know how to diversify his fashion sense. Too many shirts that are a mix of band merch, video game merch, anime merch, and generic skater logos. And his pants seem to not know the meaning of bright colors, or anything other than blue and black. Seriously, just look at it! A decent amount of jeans and shorts, but they all look like someone pulled a bruised face, and plastered them over some jeans. You would think with how his mother made her living in her youth that he would have at least some grasp on color variety. But nope, there is nothing to be had with Jackson. At least his style is his own. When someone hears about a little pest named dressed in blue jeans and wearing some fandom-related merch, it’s ninety-nine percent likely that it’s Jackson Drake.

“I will not bow for any reason. If you got a problem, we can settle this with our fists.”

● P E R S O N A L I T Y ●

Jackson is a man of passion. He’s a hot-headed mess with horrible sense of direction. And he’s thick as all hell. Not very bright either. There are few redeeming, intelligent qualities about Jackson. But he tries to make up for it. He wants to show people that he’s not just foolhardy. He wants them to see his passion. Whether it's through his action to show those that doubt him not to do that or if it’s putting in extra effort in whatever he does. One thing you can count on Jackson is that he's a man that refuses to give up. Perhaps this is tied to his stubbornness. He will never ever bow out unless he is physically unable to.

Jackson is vocal. His bravado knows no bounds. He doesn’t exactly adhere to subtlety, and picking up on sarcasm has never been one of his strengths. Despite that, he says what feels and feels what says. Some say that he has an aggressive nature, often unpredictable and explosive. What could Jackson say about that? He just can't contain himself. He's a man that's blessed with an explosive curse.

● R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S ●

Jackson Drake doesn’t believe in labels. It doesn’t suit him. That being said, he does have eyes for the female gender. He’s not shy about that. But again, he won’t label himself heterosexual or pansexual or anything with -sexual at the end of it. That just isn’t how he rolls. Again, with that being said, for what he looks in someone is to be absolutely chill. He can’t have someone overreacting over something he might say or do. God-forbid they cry because he got his ass kicked by the resident bad boy, or they get angry because he might’ve said something about how he never makes wise life decisions.

That’s the dream, at least. Jackson would indeed like someone as perfect as that, but he knows that life isn’t a fairy tale. This isn’t some Disney movie or RomCom. He knows that someone like that doesn’t notice someone like him. So Jackson doesn’t spend time hopelessly fantasizing about it. Still, a person who could see beyond the rough exterior wouldn’t be so bad. If they could just look at the man behind the front he may or may not do for show, then that wouldn’t be so bad.

If only, right?

● O R I G I N S T O R Y ●

The first third of Jackson’s life was spent in Seattle, Washington. Then, after a death in his family, his parents, Leonidas Theodore Drake and Riley Johanna Drake, with his sister Jade Riley Drake, packed up what they could, and relocated to Verona. After spending a few months going from apartment to apartment, Leo’s auto repair shop took off. That allowed them to move into a decent house in New Town. It wasn’t far from the schools and where Riley found work, which was The Salem Diner, where she is a waitress.

Spending the rest of his adolescent and upcoming teen years in Verona, Jackson was one of those boys who discarded safety and opted for recklessness. Over the course of his preteens, Jackson was high on energy. He got into more physical altercations than he did verbal ones.He didn’t know how to walk away. And maybe that’s what his main problem was. All of that pent-up energy with no idea how to use it positively. It was then, by the time Jackson was thirteen, he was put into some off-the-record boxing classes by a neighbor.

Over the course of the next couple of years, Jackson learned some valuable lessons from that neighbor. He was taught how to properly punch and when the right moment was to walk away.. He found that he really enjoyed boxing. Not just the hitting, but the sport itself. It gave him an outlet that wasn’t some poor kid’s face.. Granted, he gained other hobbies like skateboarding and working on cars.

When he turned eighteen, Jackson had given up on Boxing, feeling that he didn’t need it anymore. Instead, he focused on skating at the nearby skatepark, and working part-time at Drake Automobile Repair, which brought him great joy in doing. It brought a sense of purpose to his life.

Jackson felt weird. He experienced it first-hand when he was working on a car for one his father’s clients. It began with a headache, which Jackson wasn’t a stranger to. Working in a auto repair shop, those were bound to happen. But, as he would continue working on it, Jackson started to feel weak, almost as if nauseous.

When Jackson proceeded one pace forward, his head hit the car, making a small dent into the front bumper, and landed face-first onto the cold, concrete floor. His father, who was just a few paces away, heard and saw him. He rushed over as soon as his legs would allow.

Over the span of the next three days, Jackson would occasionally wake up in his room. He had a bad cough and had a killer headache. When the second day came to an end, Jackson had taken a turn for the worse: his headache was twice as painful and his nose was bleeding, to which his family had him on his side. That seemed to help. There was nothing that they could do aside from praying that he would get better.

The third day had came, and something miraculous happened: Jackson was up and walking, completely without the symptoms of the illness. He had no headache, no dizziness, not even that feeling of nausea. At some point during that day, Jackson had went near some open flame. In his case, it was the flame from the stovetop. In front of that, something bizarre happened. Jackson placed his hand over the flame, and it responded to it. The flame rose as Jackson had pulled his hand away. It didn’t seem normal, which was obvious. Jackson would simply ignore that for the time being, and get to making his sandwich because he was starving, and he was holding up the line in their small kitchen.

“Okay, ass flowers, this is the end of The Jackson Road Trip! Please don’t let the door hit you where the good lord decided to split you.”

● S U P E R P O W E R ●

Fire Manipulation
-Fire manipulation is the ability to manipulate fire.

● P O W E R C L A S S I F I C A T I O N ●

Ascendant

● A B I L I T I E S ●

• Manipulation is limited to hands.
• Existing sources is both the minimum of Jackson's potential and maximum at the current moment.
• He can will them into small constructs, balls of fire, and a small wall of flame.

● W E A K N E S S E S ●

• Control of fire depends on size of the source of fire manipulated
• Emotional state plays a large factor into Jackson's control.
  
  • Anger will make his manipulated flames erratic and out of his control.
  • Happy will make them more in his control but not as strong;
  • Sad will be the same as happy, but they will be stubborn like Jackson, and not want to respond to him immediately.
• Only of of his three capabilities can be used and there is a small time window in-between each use before he can use it again.
• Extended use of his ability will result in automatic fatigue, and possibly the inability to use it for a short amount of time.
• While heat resistance is a given, complete immunity is not. Jackson will get hurt by fire.
• If any existing source is doused in water, Jackson will be useless. Period.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

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