“And then, and then…” a cheery voice called out from the abyss of emerald green fields, and a sudden shudder erupted through the pit of the black knight’s soul as he waited in reserved anticipation to hear the conclusion of the younger, blue robed mage’s tale, as she hurried to keep pace with her stoic companion.  “And then, you know what happened?  Mr. Pesmerga wanted that last cherry so badly, he tried to swallow the entire jar, but sadly, he only succeeded in getting his face stuck.  It was quite an amusing sight, of course Mr. Mathiu didn’t think so, because he did have dibs on the cherry, but that was Mr. Mathiu’s problem.”

“Really?”  Asked the young girl named Hope, nearly running to keep pace with her story weaving friend Viki, and the shadowy man named Pesmerga.  Yet, despite her tragic life, she seemed genuinely to enjoy every moment of existence, a paradigm of confusion, as she has suffered directly by the twisted hand of war.  Even despite the loss of her father, she held a genuine hope that seemed to radiate a love of divine passion for life.

Though, this did not create favor with the dark warrior, as life itself was but a breeding ground for suffering and pain.  No happiness existed within its callous bosom that would create any means by which one could express the genuine expectation of optimistic purpose within the festering humanity of life.  And yet, despite his greatest attempts to ward off the building concern he felt for both Hope and Viki, he could not help but wish that perhaps there was meaning to life.

“Miss Viki, could you tell me another story?”  Hope asked as they continued to hurry along the path to Muse.  It was now nearing sunset, and it was becoming a dangerous time for which to be on the roads, thus they would need to hurry.

“Hmm…another story.  Let’s see,” Viki responded, staring into the darkening sky as she continued her hurried march.  “Well, there was the time that Mr. Sansuke, he was the person that made really big aquariums for the castle, wanted something nice for his fish tank and spoke to Mr. Gen, who liked making toy boats, about building a boat made out of ice so everyone could attack the castle of the Dragon Knights.  But then, just as we were about to attack on the ice cube boats, Mr. Fuma, who was a really big practical joker, disappeared, snuck up behind Mr. Gen, and grabbing his nose said, ‘I got your snout.’  Ha Ha, he was so funny.  I wonder what happened to Mr. Fuma.”

Pesmerga, however seemed not to concern himself with memories of past companions, for he knew not whether the world he even chose to bare witness to existed or if it be a fabrication of his tortured psyche.  Thus, dwelling on the past that never occurred was but his only escape of madness that had become his life, for it was only recently, that he understood that the Yuber, the blond haired lord of sin himself that he so long pursued, was not the true Yuber, but the black haired man-wolf, the mad prince of destruction, was whom he needed to destroy.  And as such, time and fate would soon pit him against the killer of the innocent, who slaughtered women as they screamed and children while they slept in their cribs.  Yes, death would come to the bastard he had so long pursued, even if it was not the same Yuber he remembered.

“Mr. Pesmerga!”  Viki screamed over the howling winds that seemed to suddenly rip across the dim fields of Muse, shattering Pesmerga’s silent tirade of his hated foe.  Turning slightly, the dark warrior noticed Viki and Hope standing some distance from him.  “Mr. Pesmerga, we have to slow down.  Hope isn’t feeling well.”  Viki called out, bouncing up and down hoping to gain his attention and convince him of her plea.

“It’s my med’cine.  I forgot it at home when I ran away from the fire.”  Hope said again, pausing as she covered her mouth to cough.  And it seemed the recollection of the horror of seeing her hometown of Ryube succumb to the thirsty flames of destruction caused her to moan in saddened memory as she stood shivering in the chilling evening air.

“Hey, that’s a nice necklace you have Hope.”  Viki cheerfully stated, as she looked at the small, heart-shaped amulet Hope wore, hoping a change of subject would take the young child’s mind off her tragedy.

“My daddy gave me this.  It has a picture of my mommy on it.  He said, as long as I wear this, my mommy would always be in my heart.”  Hope answered.  Though she seemed to cheer up slightly by discussing the amulet with Viki, the memory of her father saddened even more.

“Well, I think it’s a very nice necklace you have Miss Hope.”  Viki smiled, as she reached to the under folds of her robe and pulled a necklace that hung around her neck.  “Though, I don’t have a necklace as nice as that, I was given this by my father too.”  Viki held Hope close to show her the pendant she wore, but kept her own worries about her father silent, of how
her father had disowned her, again, and how everything she did always seemed wrong.  And in the night that crept to comfort the three companions, Viki wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robe.  Though, such feelings of failure always nagged at her heart, Viki couldn’t really be sad, because she did have Hope.  She would be strong, for Hope’s sake.

Yet, a towering shadow loomed over the two chattering friends as they both looked up to see Pesmerga standing over them, looking down at the small child and Viki.  Unfastening his cape that hung about his shoulders, Pesmerga drew the cape around Hope and lifted her easily into his arms.  Pesmerga shifted uncomfortably as she squirmed in his arms, snuggling against his heavy armor.

Without so much as a word, Pesmerga began once again to walk toward the city of Muse, which had now come into view over the distant hill, flanked closely by Viki.

“You know what Mr. Pesmerga, I think you’d make a very good father.”  Viki said, watching approvingly as Pesmerga continued carrying Hope yet didn’t seem to truly enjoy his position.  The remainder of the journey was continued in relative silence, and Viki could not help but notice how oddly cold the world seemed in the dark.  She much preferred the warm comforting sun of a bright morning, and understood Hope’s reasoning behind wishing to see every sunrise of every day.  It was far more comforting than this sterile darkness.

Hope had drifted to sleep shortly after Pesmerga began carrying her, and she seemed to have pleasant dreams of cherries and ice castles.  It disturbed Pesmerga slightly how much influence Viki was having on this young girl’s imagination.  Perhaps, if they were fortunate, they may find her father in Muse and she would no longer be subjected to Viki’s sense of logic.

Upon arriving at the gates of Muse, Pesmerga and Viki were forced to stop, as the city gates were barred from entry.  It seemed peculiar to Pesmerga why such measures were being taken when still an hour of daylight existed before the world was swallowed by twilight.

“Hmm...”  Viki said, walking to the city gate and tapping her staff against a statue that stood outside the city walls.  It was really an ugly statue, with a great big, crooked nose and beady eyes that reflected only briefly in the flickering torchlight that burned in the mounts upon the gates.  “I wonder if there’s a secret switch to open this gate.”  Viki continued, tapping the statue as she said so.

“STOP POKING ME!”  Screamed the statue, which was quite startling, as Viki jumped nearly a foot in the air and caught herself before casting what would have been a tragic, self-defense blinking spell.

“Oh, the statues talk, great.  Um...maybe you can tell us how to get in the city?”  Viki continued.

“Wha?... Get in the city?  I’m not telling you how to get in the city, especially since you kept poking me with the stupid stick of yours!”  Not only was the statue able to talk, but also seemed quite irritable.

“I believe the young lady requested entry into your city.  I suggest, for your own well-being, that you comply.”  Pesmerga said, stepping into the flashing torchlight and appearing as if a demon from the depths of human fear had come to take these guarding men to Hell.

“Uh...uh...uh...” The first man stammered as he gazed at the towering black knight before stealing a glance at his fellow guarding officer for some means of support, however his companion seemed beyond the capacity for speech.

“Mr. Pesmerga, we can’t go around threatening statues.  That’s a bad example for Hope.”  Viki corrected the larger knight as she took him by the arm and led him away from the gate, seemingly failing to notice that Hope was still asleep.

“They would have let us in.”  Pesmerga said simply, turning as if preparing to return to the gate and threaten the ignorant of society more.

“No, no, no, we have to make a good example for Hope.  She can’t simply think that it’s okay to threaten statues to get what you want.”

“Why not, it would have worked?”

Viki however seemed to ignore this final statement of Pesmerga’s and pulled her map of Greenhill from her robe, examining it in the flickering light.  “Hmm...let’s see, I wonder if I can make this work.”  Viki said, speaking in a most sagely voice that did not suit her at all.  “Well, I’ve never tried teleporting to a city I haven’t been to before but I guess there’s a first time for everything huh?  Now, if I can just figure out where we are on the map and where Greenhill is, then I can make a pretty good guess.”

Pesmerga however was not overly concerned regarding Viki’s sudden stroke of brilliance, and simply decided to examine the sturdiness of the town’s wall.

“Oh, um...okay, let’s see.  I think I have it figured out.  Well, at least I hope I do.  Ready?  Good.”  Viki continued, grabbing Pesmerga by the arm and raising her wand.  “Deadly Fingertips!”  Again, nothing happened, and Viki stared quizzically at her wand before slapping herself on the forehead, nearly knocking herself out.  “Oh, silly me, that’s not even my spell.  Hmm...let’s see.”  Viki screwed up her face as she thought of her proper spell.  “Oh, that’s right...hee hee.”  Grabbing Pesmerga by the arm yet again, Viki raised her wand and uttered her magic word, “Huh?”

In a sudden flash of light, the three companions had successfully disappeared, teleported deftly inside the gates of Greenhill, that looked oddly like the City of Muse as listed in the brochure. But, this had to be Greenhill, though Viki thought the promotion of the great learning center was grossly over exaggerated, for there was no sign of any school, much less a great learning center as advertised in the brochure.

“Aah...stupid false advertising.”  Viki said allowed, folding the pamphlet up and returning it to a pocket in her robe.  “Well, anyway, we’re here.  Nice isn’t it?  I never thought Greenhill would be so big.”  Viki continued, ignoring the strange looks of people who overheard her proclamation, for Viki always seemed to get strange looks from people, but then again, how many had ever seen someone who looked like Pesmerga.  It was only natural, she assumed, but still felt sorry for the large warrior for being singled out so much.

“Well, now that we’re here, we should leave.”  Viki stated happily, looking about the city to search for the main gate.

Pesmerga opened his mouth to ask what Viki was thinking, but decided better of it.  Viki, however, seemed to see the expression on Pesmerga’s face, and much to his chagrin, proceeded to explain her logic.  “Mr. Pesmerga, we have to set a good example for Hope.  We can’t let her think that it’s okay to just go blinking about wherever we want to go.  Proper people use the door.  We have to show Hope the way we should enter the city and to do that, we have to leave and reenter.”

The logic, though rather obscure, made no sense to Pesmerga at all, because apparently Viki still hadn’t realized Hope was still sleeping and it didn’t make much difference.  But in the understanding of her peculiar reasoning, Pesmerga found it best not to argue or even talk to her for that matter, and simply handed the bundle that was Hope to Viki.

“I’ll wait here.”  Pesmerga stated simply.

“Oh well fine, but if Hope grows up to threaten statues, then don’t complain to me when it happens.”  Viki said, walking toward the gate.

Pesmerga watched as she departed, shaking his head slightly as Viki’s explanations had actually made some sense to him, and thus worried him the most.  Yet a small, elderly man that simply bounced up and down in front of Pesmerga, attempting to gain his attention suddenly obscured his view.

“Hiya”, the man stated, disappearing from sight as gravity took hold and he again met the downward progression of his leap.

* * *

Viki had made her way to the city gates and asked to be permitted to leave.  There seemed to be no problems with that, as she was already in the city, and the gates were opened.

Viki stepped out into the night air, took three steps, and looked down at the sleeping girl in her arms.  “See Hope, I’m really sorry that you had to see me blink us into the city, but I’m going to show you that even though we may have been in the city, we can’t simply teleport wherever we want to go.  It’s best to act in the normal way.  So, um...we’ll be entering the city now, okay?”  Viki looked down at Hope, still sleeping and Viki took this as a yes.

Walking to the gate, Viki saw yet another set of statues blocking the way into Greenhill, though they looked just like the statues of Muse.  It seemed the people of Jowston didn’t have much of an imagination.  Though, everyone knew that all doors opened with a secret lever on a statue, and thus, Viki continued knocking her stick against the one on the right, hoping to find the lever.

“Geez, will you stop poking me?”  The statue screamed.

“Huh?  Well, how am I supposed to enter the city if I don’t find the secret lever?”

“What?  Enter the city?  Wait a minute, didn’t you just leave?”

“Well, yes, I suppose I did, but I want to go back in now.”  Viki continued, rather matter-of-factly, then decided to teach Hope the secret of entering any city and leaned heavily on her stick and looked at the statue in the most pathetic face she could develop.

“Maybe she forgot something.”  The second guard said, startling Viki slightly as hadn’t noticed him there.

“Well, no, not really.  I’m trying to teach Hope something.”  Viki continued, now turning her pleading eyes to the second guard.

“The only thing you’d teach that kid is how to drive me nuts.  I mean, poking me with a stick and entering and leaving and entering the city again. Can’t you blinking make up your mind?”

“Well, blinking is how I got in the city in the first place, but I’m trying to teach Hope that it’s not a proper way of entering cities, that’s why you have a front door.  I only used the blinking rune to get us to Greenhill, and now that we’re here, I need to show Hope the right way of entering.  After all, it would be bad if she thought that we didn’t need doors.  After all, what would happen if we never had doors?”

“For one, you could just enter the city and stop bothering me with your ‘logic’, and another thing, this is Muse, not Greenhill.”  However Viki was not paying any attention to the guard and was staring down at the young girl.

“Well, I’m glad we got that settled.  Could you let me in now?”

“Our orders are we...”  The first guard started but was quickly interrupted by the second.

“Sure, go on in.”  The second man stated, opening the large wooden gate slightly and allowing Viki in.

“We can’t just do that.”  The first protested.

“Well, worse case is that that girl is only a danger to herself.  Besides, letting her in the city keeps her from driving us nuts all night.”

Viki entered the city, feeling renewed with a sense that she taught Hope a valuable lesson.  Yet, as she continued into the city, she finally found Mr. Pesmerga having what appeared to be heated conversation with an older man.  Viki hoped that Pesmerga was not trying to threated any more statues, but just the same, she would be glad when Pesmerga took Hope again, she was starting to get heavy.

“For the last time old man, I am not Mr. Sephiroth!”  Viki heard Pesmerga scream as she got into earshot.  He seemed rather upset over something.

“Your really not Mr. Sephiroth?”  The man stated, looking at his parchment and envelope.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes you senile old goat, I am sure.  My patience is wearing thin, now be gone!”  Pesmerga continued.

“Well dammit all!”  Screamed the little man as he skulked away from Pesmerga, who was not joined by Viki.  “All I have is to deliver this letter to a Mr. Sephiroth, is that so hard, no.  But I’ve been looking for 19 damn years and I still can’t find him...”  The man’s words faded as he walked deeper into the city.

Viki looked at Pesmerga as if seeking an explanation, but the look on his face told her she wasn’t getting one.  “Come, we must find an inn for the night.”