1. Chapter 1

Ester Crow

Ivalice tales- luscious the spirit master

Very few people have the strength of character to study the violent and territorial Malboros from such close proximity. A young white mage hides himself from site, writing down his observations on a small note pad.

He takes notice of the seemingly plant like appearance and the lack of eyes. The creature remains still and content with itself. The mouth hangs open, allowing a clear view of the rows of jagged, carnivorous teeth. A visible vapor pours out of the mouth, a noxious fume.

The Malboro moves, shaking of the dead leaves that collected on its top. The white mage held his breath. He felt a heavy thumping in the chest area. It was only a small stir from the creature, but it was more than enough to cause alarm.

Slowly, he motions away from the scene, knowing it was a not ideal to stay any longer.

Olivia pensively waits for her dear friend. Alongside her, she had prepared a meal for the two of them. It went cold after the first half hour of waiting. It wasn't much, but she had so little time to spend.

Her day consists of a strict regimen of exercise and training. Laps, cardio, weights, nutrition and studies. All self-imposed, her family couldn't force her into anything she disagrees with. Unlike her dear friend.

She had always avoided the swamp whenever possible. Unfortunately, her dear friend was so fascinated by the creepy things that always come out for people.

The remote town her family resides in was settled in monster turf and is always under attack. The town had large, heavy gates that surrounds the settlement. When it grew dark, the gates would close before sundown and are not to open until dawn. It's getting dark and her impatience grew into worry.

The evening bell rang loud and clear through the area. The gates are going to closer very soon. She didn't want to be locked out overnight, but she didn't want to leave her friend either. As the sun sets she so desperately hopes to see her friend peek out of that dam swamp.

The town gates are closing and for the moment a sharp pair of teeth were clamped, greedily into his left arm. The Malboro from before had found him and now the white mage was in an odd predicament. When he pulls it pulls and it seemed in no hurry to do anything else. As unfortunate as it is, it's of a bother as a hazard to him, but it did make him feel somewhat light headed. The toxic fumes began to itch into his veins and burns his eyes and nose. The white mage starts to pull harder regardless of the pain, if his arm came off so be it, he could always make another one. That is his specialty after all. The creature relinquishes his left arm, leaving it shredded and mangled.

The mage avoids gazing at the thing dangling of his left shoulder. The injury, he could deal with latter, the pain was mildly less severe. He struggles to process what is going on. His head felt unwell. Images became distorted. Balance being a large issue." Am I passing out? " He felt himself loosing conscience.

He finds a small crevice in the dirt and took the executive decision to rest there. The boy groans as he struggles to slump down the ditch and closes his eyes, not caring what might see him.

Olivia wakes up, eyes puffy and red. It took time for her to muster the strength to leave the bed. Her body aches and felt ponderous from lying on the soft sheets. She had waited the night for her dear friend. A white hoody rests on the ground. Olivia takes it up to her face and inhales deeply. The wonderful scent of vanilla filled her nose." Luscious." Her father had promised to search for him as soon as the gates reopened. Her impatience for his arrival furthers as she holds on to the garment. It isn't fair for her to experience such worry and dread.

Downstairs the scent of bacon and eggs could be noticed. Olivia runs down to the kitchen. Her mother had prepared breakfast for four. Olivia's temper rose. "How could you be making food when luscious is gone!?" Her mother turns to her, calm and graceful. She knows to not shout in the house, but it is always like this when something happens to luscious, as if he is going to just walk right in at any moment.

"Alex promised to bring him back and that's all I need to hear." She motions for Olivia to sit down, but she refuses." I can't, I have to go back for him."

The smell of damp air made her feel drowsy and sluggish, but never the less she presses on. She went pass the gates, armed with her father's spare shield. It gave Olivia a small inkling of comfort.

As she draws closer to the edge of the swamp, her heart skips a beat. Memories flood her mind. Images of familiar faces being pulled into the dark. The rancid stench left a coppery taste in the mouth. Olivia found it difficult to move her legs. She did not want to face what could be out there. So she stands there, frozen by fear and pained by her inadequacies.

Her regret for not bringing a proper weapon further pangs her. She looks gloomily at the wonderfully adorned shield. Angels surrounding a delicately carved fairy. It was her father's shield from his younger years. She runs her hand over the markings. The shield has seen much service, but the markings never shows signs of wear or weather. The shield itself was said to be a gift from a family friend, but to whom she had no knowledge of. It did bear a sharp edge on the triangular bottom and straight sides.

She hated her friend, for finding an allure for such a vile and unsafe places. Just then, she notices how early it is. The sun hardly peaks over peaks over the high hills. Its radiant light did not give her the usual warmth she so desperately needs.

Olivia musters what little volition she had on hand and darts into the swamp. Mud and dead leaves sticks to her boots and shin guards. Vines kept slapping against her shaky body when she runs past them. The thumping in her chest quickens her pace even more.

The putrid musty stink of the air penetrates the cool freshness far behind. Creature begins to stir, the sound of a crazed young women charging through the swamp. She doesn't see the shiny object in front of her as she collides with it. Everything went fuzzy for her.

Alexander reaches out to see his dazed daughter lye on the ground before she ran into his chest plate. He checks for any wounds and hoists her over the right shoulder while luscious bounces on the other. Alex rolls his eyes at the stupidity of youth, but silently forgives them for he was once young too.

Luscious wakes up screaming in shock. He franticly reaches for his arm in a panic. The tissue is smooth, without any signs of what happened just a few hours ago. He notices he is not in his room. Well, his usual room. It was Olivia's brilliant idea for them to share rooms. Most of his things are hers and her possessions are not of interest to him.

The white mage tries to ignore the gold ring clamped around his neck. A punishment for his truancy from Olivia's reach, not the village, Olivia.

The thing around his neck was made to stop him from using any active magic as long as the ring is intact. It is an overreaction from an over obsessive girl.

Luscious knows inevitably he would have to deal with Olivia, so he slugs himself out of bed and goes down the steps to see the family awaiting him. The breakfast is still there, still waiting to be eaten. Alexander and his wife enjoyed a side conversation while enjoying the food. Olivia simmers in her seat.

Olivia did not say anything at all. She just sat there angry with him. "Are you waiting for me to do something?" He folds his arms across. The white hood is gone and he wore a blue shirt. Olivia stands up with her hands balled into fists. She is much more physically intimidating than he, her shoulders are wider and she stands with more confidents. Luscious is not at all lacking but the racial differences between mages and knight are exceptionally noticeable.

"How could you leave the town after hours?" She fails to compose herself and show much aggression, an advantage luscious had over her.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I have a job to do." She scoffs. "Hundreds of monsters attack us every day and night, and it takes daily cataloguing to plan for any future attacks!"

Olivia loosens her stance at his sound logic. "I didn't think of it like that." Then it occurs to her that he is avoiding something. She glares at him accusingly. "Are you avoiding me?" The question hurts coming out. She takes a few steps to him. "I need an answer." She said more calmly."

Luscious takes his time forming words in his head. "I think I need more time alone to grow." This is all true. The more time he spent with these people, the less he felt connected to his magic. Even now they steadily convert him into their own. Normally he would refuse meat, now it's just another thing he would grab for lunch. Instead of countless textbooks and intellectual conversations, its rigid exercises and team building lessons.

"I will never learn anything sticking around flinging a sword and shield, learning moves impossible to my kind." He pauses for a brief moment. His face is red as if a great sea of untapped emotions suddenly floods out. This is his truth, his view on the situation that was forced upon him, and he just realizes it.

Olivia argues against a strong impulse to scream back at him, for the longest time he was not happy being with her. She relaxes her shoulders completely in defeat. She walks past him to reach their room. A loud slam of the door show her resignation from the conversation.

Alexander looks over at him showing no anger or sadness. "Just to let you know, you just messed up big time."

The mother nods. "Yes big time, she was going to remove the collar if you had just kept your mouth shut."

"And you just disrespected your father." Alexander reaches under the table and hurls it at luscious. It nails him in the stomach which hurts a lots

It is the old shield that Olivia caries all the time. He traces the little fairy in the center with his finger.

"Mickey and I were very poor in our upbringing, so to make extra money the two of us made that shield to complete the more risky assignments. He would charge the shield and I would make use of whatever he did to it." He sighs. "Your father had to leave you here to take care of your mother and you very well know this, so why fuss over "our" ways, when your father did the same thing?"

I … I didn't know." He gives up and goes upstairs to apologies to Olivia.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Ivalice tales- Luscious the spirit master

By; ester crow

The sound of distant thunder clashes with the sound of traders selling their wares and doing business in the community. Luscious looks over from his bedroom window, envious of the information being distributed outside. He scratches his neck where the collar aloud just enough room to. It recently glowed a singing amber when he attempted to use a spell for a mundane task and he suddenly felt his neck being burnt.

His only successful and spiteful stab at Olivia's imposed punishment is bombarding her with unaccounted hypotheticals. She did not appreciate any of them. It is the few things he can do to pass the time.

Olivia enters their room, tired from a long morning of training. When she came close enough he notices the large gash on her forehead. He didn't enjoy looking at wounds of any sort, it made him feel useless." Are you going to..?" He traces his finger along his forehead.

"I don't think it's that bad." She dismisses the dripping sound in the room. The tired girl drops her bag on the bed on the other side of the room. She went to the window to see what is going on outside.

"You're leaving puddles of blood on the floor!" He luscious became distress over the sight. The ring around his neck glowed a disgusting amber and began to heat up.

Olivia caught the smell of burning flesh and glares angrily at him." I told you no magic until you learned your lesson!" she saw smoke and steadily grew frantic. "Stop!" She is hesitant to do anything.

Luscious handled the rings effects rather well. He calmly stood up and walks to the wound. Olivia is more focused at the horrifying ring and the agitated expression.

His magic is cut off by the ring and he knows cheap models like this one overheated after over use. The more he wills for his magic the ring continues to burn out. He brings his hand up to Olivia's cut. She hesitates, assuming he is preparing to strike her. A cool and relaxing sensations spreads around her head. The wound slowly began to mend and grew less and less noticeable.

The collar snaps and fall to the ground still smoking. Olivia feels for the smooth spot on her forehead." How?" she is cut off when a pale blue barrier separated her side of the room from the door on Luscious's side. Luscious did not say anything as he left the room quietly.

The smell of rain is refreshing in comparison to near isolation in that house. It did not seem fair to treat a guest in such a way, but his stay is more or less long term. So what does that make him? A mage among brutes. He turns his attention to a merchant attempting to shield her wares from the current weather conditions.

She beckons him over with pleading eyes. He sighs, but waves his hand producing a blue barrier over her possessions. The merchant sighs in relief as she motions for the white mage to aid her even more.

Luscious pulls his hood over and steps out into the rain closing the door to his home. The merchant pleaded for him to carry the books over to a small caravan. He extends the barrier over to the caravan. The process was tedious and cumbersome. Spending nearly a week locked in a house wears one down over time.

When the task was done the merchant thanked him courteously and he nodded in agreement. "Is there anything you would like here?" She gestures to her caravan.

"No thank you." He snaps his fingers and the barrier fades away, allowing the rain to pelt them once more. The merchant did not mind the rain, her concern is towards her items and they are safely in the caravan.

Luscious notices the merchant's appearance being odd. Her clothes were a mix of different layers of the magic arts her hood is green with archaic markings over the hem and her hair was braided on both sides hanging over the shoulder. She notices his eyes were drawing towards her face and she smiles a tinge of vermillion on her cheeks. Luscious paid no mind to this and focuses on her other features to learn more of this stranger.

"To answer the question on your mind, I am a black mage. I so happen to know many things." She did nothing to prove this, but she did not give the boy a reason to not believe.

Luscious didn't wish to take up too much of her time and turns to another merchant's tent. The women turns him around and shoves a small journal into his chest. "That is for you." She walks out, pulling the caravan with a spell.

He kept the book close, not wanting it to get soiled by the rain water. He tucks it into his robe and runs to his house.

Olivia is still were he left her only less angry. She waited impatiently for him to dissipate the barrier. He waits for himself to be on his bed. When the barrier lifted she runs to him before he erects another one for himself she bashes her fists into it, causing cracks before they mend themselves. "You can't try to control me however you like." He placed a noise cancel on the barrier before she berates him with her simple minded logic. Holding all those barriers on top of carrying heavy books made him tired. Know Olivia is currently pounding at the barrier, shouting her lungs out at him.

"later." He told himself. Luscious turns to his side and drifts into slumber.

Olivia stomps out of the room, slamming the door. On the way down she kept on dragging her fingers along the wall. The sight did not interrupt the conversation in the dining room. She did not wish to be rude and quietly walks to the door. The door handle refuses to budge furthering fanning her foul mood. "Why don't you take a seat." A calm and composed voice fills in her thoughts. The feeling made her stomach lurch. Olivia turns to see her father speaking to a tall, lively man with reddish brown hair and wearing a white thing that appears to be a suit with a lab coat over it tied together with a large ribbon on the back. This man seems strange to Olivia, but the voice she heard unsettled her deeply.

Before the stranger decides to speak to her in such a way again, she curtly walks to the two men compliantly. The stranger waves his hand and a chair moves for her to sit." I understand that you may have some questions for who you assume I am, but it can't be now. He tilts his head to the ceiling, listening for something. Then he nods and turns his attention to her.

This man made her feel a sense of helplessness. The way he uses his gaze to discern any movement or twitch. His familiar face and unknown relationship with her father. Just by sitting in the same room makes her want to be somewhere else. Olivia shakes somewhat in her seat, obviously he notices.

"Alex and I have been discussing the availability of Luscious's current education and we agree his dissatisfaction is warranted." He lifts the shield that once belonged to her father and traces his fingers along the pattern. The little dents and scratches started to fade away more and more as his hand passes by them.

Somewhere in the boring information center of her brain, Olivia began to make connections until she felt mental fatigue, again the strange man notices this.

"Who are you!?" She rudely announces. The poor girl is confused and intimidated by a stranger in her home. She wants answers and her temper is on fire, once more the strangers lets her know he notices.

The stranger turns to her father expectantly." It is not the best time to say who or what he is and I'll leave the obvious answer to you, but please don't say it out loud." Her father rolled his at his own child's expected bluntness.

The trio hears the sound of luscious coming down the stairs. He looks pleasant after his short little nap. His mood darkens at the sight of the guest.

"Good afternoon! Here come take a …" Luscious pushes the seat back into the table with a gust of wind.

"I would rather stand." His voice did not match the resentful expression. His face looks aged and worn. A strange site for such a young boy.

The stranger did not take offence, in fact, he took this with understanding." I brought you some gifts." He seems hesitant to present them so he mutters some incoherent words and he looks up at them. "To save any time or disgrace its waiting in your room, by the way your barrier needs more work if you're going to stop her in the next few months." He stands up to leave. As he made it to the door luscious throws a crumpled ball of paper at him and it fall into his hood. The stranger sighs in content and leaves the home.


End file.
