Final Fantasy XII - Even a Stray has Pride

Part II: Affliction - The Imperial Capital

The Fall of the Black Rose (alternative title – readers' choice)

Imperial City of Archades, 687 (o. V.)

The Mallicant had brought us to the gates of Archades, the capital that meant everything and nothing to me at the same time. Lush nature had given place to hollow caves and pervasive mist. Book, the chocobo, was following the creature, without a pause, without a glimpse of hesitation.

Mother was still unconscious in front of me, and I had myself become faint with hunger, cold and exhaustion, slowly graying out. How many hours did the trip last? One? Ten? More? I had lost all sense of time, and could only distinguish, far away in a clouded distance, the sweep of Archadian skyscrapers and crowded traffic.

'Where are we?'

'Mother!'

I wanted to hug her, I stretched my left arm towards her and she grabbed my hand languidly.

'Please hold firmly onto Book!' I screamed. 'We are on the way to... to...'

'To Archades.'

Mother clutched at Book's reins as I finally pulled back my right arm, which was holding her, towards me. I glanced at my hand: it was all red.

Suddenly, Mallicant stopped. We were in the midst of a sullen neighborhood, crowded with young people in tatters and filled with a whiff of cold ashes and excretion that soon made me nauseous.

'You, there! This is Archadian territory. No passage allowed for the outcast !'

An Imperial soldier was standing in front of the two beasts, barring us from entering a straight and empty path that lead to the skyscrapers.

'Especially not for chocobos', said another, emerging from a corner.

I was starting to panic.

'Mother! What do we do? The viera told me that this horse knew the path to the capital!'

'Then we shall trust this horse', she said as calmly as if we were in our house and Landis was in peace.

I mumbled in anger, completely powerless as the two imperials were approaching, with their spears ready to harm. In the meantime, Book was visibly panting, as if all the effort he had put to cross the border was showing up all of a sudden. But the voyage was not over...

'Hey! No! No horses allowed in Archades!'

At my great surprise, Mallicant let out a terrorizing neigh in the clammy weather of that Aries month, as the soldiers recoiled, completely astounded, before being violently shoved aside by the green fiend's tentacles.

'Now is our chance! Book!'

Mallicant immediately took off at full pelt in the empty road, but the chocobo was motionless.

With a coarse moan, one of the soldiers was standing up and searching for his weapon.

'Please... Book!'

But the chocobo kept still. As the soldier was approaching again, I took my decision.

'Move! Follow her!' I ordered, hitting the chocobo with both feet on his flanks. Little did I know that it was the first of a long series of acts I would regret later. But at that moment, I had no choice.

Book slipped away precisely at the moment both imperials were raising their spears.

'Good! Don't stop!'

Plodding left and right before managing to move forward, the chocobo eventually reached Mallicant's level as the horse was entering the city, leaving the soldiers' protests behind.