Chapter 3: The city of gold

Ban’ Hone had been on the road for a few hours, and with the help of the caravan, he was only a few minutes away from the Cordelia. It was a famous village. For him, it was a great way to become famous too. The selkie came to a stop here and was already making plans to steal money.

He hopped out of the driver’s seat of the caravan, leaving the two papaopamus on their own. He was somewhat surprised out how obedient they had been towards him, though he was also rather glad that they were. It made getting away all that easier.

As he began to search the town, he discovered a small child. She was a rather beautiful clavat girl, upon her side she had a bag. From within the bag came the sound of coins!!

His mind went wild. Gil Gil Gil! He was practically jumping up and down at this point. He got so existed he almost lost track of her. When he found her again, he whispered to her "Hey, I have something for a cute girl.” He said with a wide grin. “C'mon, follow me! It’s right over here.” He beckoned, pointing to a dark house! “Don't worry."

The little girl shook her head. "Mummy said I shouldn't talk to strangers!" She continued to shake her head.

Ban’ Hone growled at her “Just come on!” he reached out and grabbed her arm, trying to drag her out of view. He only needed to grab her pouch and run.

The clavat girl screamed at him “Let go!” She kicked him in the leg before running.

"Oh you lil demon!" He yelled. He chased after her. Once he caught her and brought her to the dark old house. He shoved her on the floor, he knelt down and snatched up the pouch, checking to see how much gil was inside. He laughed a loud, he’d hit the jack pot. He was about to turn around and leave, when he realised the girl was crying.

"My mom… Hic… And I worked… Hic… Hard… Hic...  To get this money… Hic... It’s for her... Hic… Mother's Day gift and..." she cried, rubbing her eyes.

"Shut Up!" Ban' Hone hissed at her.

She jumped, somewhat shocked. Despite the fear within her, she snapped her head up and glared at him. "I will call someone!” She declared “They kill people like you that steal things! Cruel people like you should die… That is what mummy said!" She yelled! The girl was no longer afraid.

Ban’ Hone’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. "Your mummy is an idiot! I steal because I NEED TO! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!!"

The girl was at her limit. She started to shout: "HELP! HELP ME SOMEONE!!"

Ban’ Hone eyes flared up with rage. He needed to shut her up. He didn’t want to hurt the kid, but he knew she wasn’t going to shut up any time soon. And he need the money. He then decided to kick the kid in the head and he run away. The girl fell to the floor with a thump, a pool of blood spreading further and further.

As Ban' Hone ran away, he noticed he was crying. As he slipped round the corner back to his caravan, he realised he would never be the person he once was. He was thankful to have escaped successfully, but was horrified at what he had done. How could he ever live with himself knowing that? He shook his head and continued to run towards the caravan.

Cordelia was too famous, he probably would be known now, if the girl was still alive. She couldn't have died! If she died he lost his fame, or at least the kind of fame he wanted. And..."Oh god! What am I thinking?” He cried. “I should be WORRIED if I killed her!"

Once he arrived at the caravan, he checked the papaopamus over, to make sure they were alright. They seemed somewhat sick, which meant they weren’t likely to be moving to much any time soon. He heaved a sigh, looked like he was going to have to stay the night. He hopped on to the driver’s seat and whipped the papaopamus into moving.

He drove the caravan in search of a good place to sleep. While keeping an eye out, he let his mind drift off, he was thinking about Tera' Lee. He wondered if she was okay. Would she be praying for him? Could she have known about the White Mage clavat he’d just murdered…? He shook his head, no, she couldn't have… Though she may discover what he had done one day. The thought made him shudder. He then remembered the strange people they’d meet in the library. Was it possible that the yuke woman knew the child? Maybe, but he hoped not.

Lost in his thoughts, Ban' Hone remembered why he killed the girl, he killed her because of the money. He needed to eat! He was hungry and... Beer, he always wondered what the man's drink tasted like, but his sister never let him. He made up his mind, he’d find an inn to send the night and spend the rest of the money on beer. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a rather large building, a sign reading ‘Cordelia Inn & Bar’. Perfect, he thought to himself. And with that he moved the caravan toward the inn to have some beer, and to sleep.

Inside there were plenty of different people, he walked up to the man at the bar and inquired about renting a room. Inn keeper charged him for the room and handed him a key before asking if he’d like a drink. Ban’ Hone’s eyes widened with glee. “I want beer!!” he declared, pointing to the first beer on the list. The inn keeper raised an eye brow, but served up the beer.

Hours passed, the boy had got his beer, and was also persuaded into buying some fish. He was hungry anyway, so having the fish was a good idea. The beer was great! It was so good that he decided he wanted to buy more and more. Time passed, and he had brought every kind of beer that the bar could provide. He then continued to buy beer until his money had run out. Though he was a little peeved, he decided it was best to call it a night.

The boy drunkenly wobbled up the stairs, to the room he was staying at. He somehow managed to unlock the door, and flop on to the bed. He was so tired, it didn’t take him long to fade off into the land of sleep.

In his dream, he dreamt he was in a city made of jewels. He owned a mansion made of gold, it had large archways. There were fountains with melted gold pouring from them. He wondered around, feeling his breath catch in his throat. The further he walked, the more amazing and beautiful sites he saw. He found himself in a city. Another wonder for him.

As he walked around, he came across a statue of him, which was in the middle of the city. As he gazed at it, he noticed a jewel over the statue’s heart. And then the jewel cracked, the statue fell, and everything turned into blood. From the pool, rose a bloody clavat girl, wearing white mage clothes.

From her eyes, a red liquid poured. The girl cried out “Mummy will never get her present… Her day will be sad…” She began to move towards him without stretched hands. As she drew closer, blood began to spill out of her mouth, hands still reaching towards him.

“No! Stay away!” he cried in a hoarse voice, he lifted up his arms, trying to cover his face. “Stay back!” he warned, but if was pointless, the girl still moved closer. The pool of blood was up to his waist, so it was too hard for him to run away. From the crimson river, came hands which grabbed on to him, pulling him down.

“No!” he screamed, Ban' Hone had woken up crying. His body was soaked in sweat. He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings. When he realised where he was, he calmed down a little. He rubbed his temple, trying to make himself feel better. Instead, he was forced to think about that dreaded dream. "It was horrible... But men don't cry.” He told himself.  “If I am a murderer…” he mumbled, “Then I will do my best to steal, and if necessary I will kill again!" He declared, he knew it was wrong, but there was no going back now, not after the first kill.

After being up for a while, he got dressed and left the inn. He had no gil left and with the hunger kicking in, it was time to steal some breakfast. As he passed a baker’s stall, he swiped some bread off the table and continued to walk on wards without a care in the world. Once he’d gotten round the corner, he pulled it out and began to eat it. When he was half way through, he decided to save the rest of later.

He continued his walk until he found a nice shaded spot. So he sat below the tree, while thinking how he could get out of his current situation. It would be only a matter of time before the people began their search, and there was a high chance that all new visitors would be considered threats.

His body grew tense as he saw two men walking passed. It wasn’t so much as the men themselves, as it was what they were talking about that bothered him. The clavat man spoke first, “It was horrid! How on earth can anyone kill such a young child? And so ruthlessly too!”

The yuke man nodded, before replying “I know! People like that should be hunted down and put down like the vile animals they are! But death alone won’t be good enough!”

The clavat man ran a hand through his hair, “And what about the poor mother? To find out that her daughter was killed, and right before the old woman’s birthday too!”

Ban’ Hone had heard enough, he decided to walk back into town to find something to do. He decided he’d listen out for more news, if he was lucky, no one would know who was behind such a horrible crime. It wasn’t until he passed a small farm that he heard more news.

An elderly clavat woman spoke "... I am the aunt of the girl, I am sad as well...Did you know she was learning to be a White Mage? Since she was 4 she wanted to be so, because of a yuke lady who was her friend in the time she lived in other village."

The other woman looked to be some kind of detective by her expression. She said: "And what was her name?"

The aunt said something too quiet to be heard, she then began to cry. The mysterious one asked her to repeat and the aunt said "Liana…"

He froze, that really hit home. He couldn’t hang around to hear anymore, so he ran. He ran passed the farm and uphill. He kept running, not caring about how tired his legs were getting, nor the strange looks he was getting from people he passed. He just kept going. He then skidded to a halt. Sweat rolling down his cheeks as he looked over the edge of the cliff. If he hadn’t stopped when he did, he’d have gone straight over. He let out a sigh of relief, before standing up and letting out a laugh.

In the next moment, he was falling. Strange really, he never noticed the ground breaking under neither his feet. As he fell, he figured that even nature couldn’t forgive him for the crime he committed. Mercifully, he never heard the sound of his own bones shattering as he hit the ground.

A zu swooped overhead. No one would even know that he had been there.

<<<<<<<< Chapter 2: Crossroads in the village                                                     Chapter 4: Tactics >>>>>>>>