<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Palaugrim - Road to Bastille (Cont.)</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>A mediocre explosion set off from a distance after Lance fired his holy magic at the stockpile of armaments he stripped from the eight bandits masquerading as Pristine Knights. He stripped them of their belongings, nearly every last one of them, leaving only garments to cover the parts he would rather not see. His sour expression however, indicated that he was not quite satisfied with doing just that. These brigands need to be taught a lesson, one that they would learn well. He scribbled a note on a piece of paper and immediately utilized his carrier pigeon, sending it towards the direction of Kaiser Outpost.<br/><br/>"Th-thank you sir, for coming to our aid."<br/><br/>The words of gratitude broke Lance out of his contempt. Before him stood the grateful family he just rescued from the brigands. Lance's eyes strolled down to the hands of the family's head. He was holding a pack of food, which he so gratefully extended towards him. "Th-this is all that we have to offer. It wasn't enough for them," he chanced a glance at the bound, unconscious men at the side of the road "...b-but please... take it."<br/><br/>Lance felt a pinch in his heart. The skinny man looked like he could actually use some food, as does the rest of his family and yet here he was, offering what little they have left to him. There was absolutely no way he was going to accept it. As a matter of fact, he was just thinking the opposite. Using his index finger, Lance gestured for the family to hold that thought. He quickly made his way towards the pack strapped to the side of his horse, plucked a bag from it and walked back towards the family.<br/><br/>"Here. I don't mean any disrespect, but you lot seem to be on a long journey. You could use more food in your supplies than I would. Don't worry about it, I only did what was right." he smiled sincerely and handed over a generous portion of his own rations. There was no hiding the delight in the eyes of the little ones who were watching when Lance's own rations fell into the hands of their papa. Lance could only surmise that the family were most likely conserving food, and the little ones probably haven't eaten a bite in a day... maybe more. His soft side touched by the kids, Lance searched his being for a smaller bag. When he found it, his eyes brightened up. Lindela's sweets were quite popular with not just the kids in both Gless and Lindela. He wondered if these two would actually like it.<br/><br/>"Here you go little ones, give me your hands." he asked nicely with the warmest smile.<br/><br/>When the two curiously held their hands towards him, Lance untied the small bag of sweets and slowly poured its contents into the palms of the kids. An assortment of small, brightly colored, randomly shaped candies fell into their hands. The female kid, who seemed to be the older one, smiled in surprise, captivated by something Lance thought she only saw for the first time. Noticing that she was unsure what they were, Lance plucked one of the candies from her palm and ate it. The little one tried the sweets herself and her reaction was priceless.<br/><br/>When Lance looked at the younger boy, he noticed that the boy wasn't moving at all, eyes fixated on one of the candies in his palms. Tracing the young boy's line of sight, Lance found out that he was staring at the red, heart-shaped candy. What happened next took Lance by surprise. The young boy started wailing, dropping all the candy he was holding to the ground. The mother immediately knelt down to grab her child protectively, whispering words of comfort, "There, there... it's okay... everything is alright..."<br/><br/>A bewildered Lance picked up the culprit from the ground with a dumbfounded look in his eyes. This simple piece of candy that brought joy to one, brought misery to another. It was conclusive evidence that there would always be two sides in everything. Having noticed the shape of the candy that Lance held, the mother turned to face the orange-haired man and bowed in apology.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry..." she muttered almost weakly, clearly trying to suppress whatever sickening thought she was no doubt remembering. "That was the shape he saw... when his parents died in front of him..."<br/><br/>The knowledge shared gave light to what was in the dark. Lance now had an understanding of some sort as to what these people had to go through. They were victims of the random attacks happening on Palaugrim! Innocent ones caught in the chaos that was threatening to spiral out of control in this island! The candy that he was holding between his fingertips was crushed to powdery bits. Lance's eyes turned to the child cowering in fear. That monster attacking these people need to be brought to justice! Though it was not his original mission, Lance made a silent vow to himself. He will be the Hand of Light to bring that monster to justice... for these people!<br/><br/>"I see..." Lance too bowed in apology. "That was thoughtless of me." he then turned to the skinny man. "Can I ask where you're from?"<br/><br/>The skinny man hesitated to answer but Lance's determined stare swayed him immediately. He sighed. "We're from the village of Nachi, four days due west of here."<br/><br/>"And where are you headed?" Lance inquired again, pressing for more information. It was getting dark, the least he could do is to ensure these people's safety.<br/><br/>"W-well.. ahh... we're uhhm.." he fidgeted. "We're trying to... get out of Palaugrim." his sheepish smile was a telling sign that he didn't have that much confidence in his plan.<br/><br/>Lance sighed. "I don't suppose you have that really figured out now do you? How do you intend to get out of Palaugrim?"<br/><br/>"He plans to sneak into a Wyviera in one of the Pristine Knight controlled ports to get to Lindela, since we don't have any money to pay for the transport fees in the public ones. But as you can see, it hasn't been working out so well." the woman finally said after successfully calming down the young boy. The skinny man in turn blushed at the revelation of his cards on the table.<br/><br/>"How could you be so stupid Jean?! Did you really think the Pristine Knights would leave their Wyviera's unguarded?! I've told you countless times that it's better to go to Tethel! The Sovereign Palaugrim controlled ports will let us travel there for free!" she lashed out at the man called Jean. Soon, a full blown argument broke loose between the two, though it was clear whose side was actually winning.<br/><br/>Lance noticed that the two kids were now on the verge of tears watching the two adults arguing before them. This has to stop. "Okay! Alright! Enough!" he interjected, tone just a little higher than everybody else. When the two finally calmed down, Lance turned to the woman first.<br/><br/>"Madam, Pristine Knights are not as bad as you think they are. We have already established that the ones who were harassing you earlier were impostors. I can guarantee you that true Pristine Knights will help you in your time of need."<br/><br/>No matter how sincere Lance sounded, she didn't look convinced. "What makes you so sure of that?" her tone was still a bit sharp, heated by the embers of her previous argument with Jean.<br/><br/>"Because..." Lance paused for a second and met the eyes of the woman. "...I am a Pristine Knight." Though he has not said that in a long time, Lance felt surprisingly proud when he did so this time. Somehow, the words felt right. "It's going to be dark soon. I would ask that we make camp for the night. I will stay with you all until daybreak to keep you all safe. Tomorrow, a regiment of my fellow Pristine Knights will come here to arrest these impostors. I will arrange for you to get a transport to Lindela as well." he said and approached Jean. Lance took Jean's right hand and pressed a small metallic replica of his crest onto Jean's palm. "This is my symbol. When you get to Lindela, head for District Five where I still have some old friends, there you will find the largest Advocate headquarters. Show them this and they will take care of the rest on my behalf."<br/><br/>"I... I don't know what to say..." Jean mumbled, tears on the verge of falling.<br/><br/>"Thank you is a start." Lance chuckled, "though that is already more than enough for me. Now, let's get ready for the night shall we?"<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">____________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Palaugrim - Nachi</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>It was only a few days ago that Lance helped the family he came across with during the course of his journey. Although it goes against his better judgment, Lance couldn't shake the look of that poor boy when he was staring into that heart-shaped candy. The fifth of the third phase had already set in and he was still in Palaugrim. He should have returned to Gless by now but he was still nowhere near completing his secondary mission. Lance silently asked for Gil's forgiveness. He was going to be selfish for the moment. This was all for creating a better world for the ones they loved.<br/><br/>Nachi. After days of continued travel, Lance finally found the place. There wasn't any information about this place getting attacked on the map that Sigfried provided him, but there was only devastation right before Lance's eyes. Everywhere he looked were traces of cruelty, indiscriminate killing, heartlessness. As he took more steps deeper into the village, that was when he saw it. The lone structure that miraculously survived the onslaught. What was once a home that could have been filled with joy and laughter, now stood as an eerie reminder of the wickedness this village suffered. That lone structure had one of its walls remodeled. The shape of a heart, bloodied by the people Lance could only think of as that boy's parents. He couldn't afford to look at it any longer.<br/><br/>Lance drew his spear slowly, eyes sharpening with the anger welling up inside his chest. He planted both feet on solid ground, poised himself carefully, and drew his spear back while measuring the amount of strength he needed to topple that worthless trophy left behind by the culprit. A green aura began to seep out of his entire body, lacing his entire weapon until it began to shake with the power of wind he harnessed. Then in a blink of an eye, he struck, bringing the tip of the spear down to the ground and unleashed a devastating arc of wind that blew the entire house away, leaving no trace of that sickening shape. Sure, destruction of property wasn't one of the ways to uphold the Pristine Knight code of honor, but anyone with the right mind would not want to keep seeing that disgusting reminder of death and sorrow.<br/><br/>When the commotion he caused quieted down, Lance found himself in a heightened state. Now more than ever, he wanted to find that demon and personally impale it with his spear. Then, at that exact moment, Lance sensed something. As if the Light actually heard his selfish prayer, that he wanted to find that demon, something immensely disturbing showed him the way. It was faint, but the ground shook once, twice, and then continued on. Earthquakes have long ceased to exist in the floating islands. Something or someone was causing them, and he was pretty sure that<span style="font-style: italic">something or someone</span>was exactly what he wanted to find.<br/><br/>Wasting no time, Lance pinpointed the direction with the help of the disturbed birds from the forests. One whistle and his steed came rushing towards him. Lance expertly grabbed the reigns and with one mighty bound from the ground, saddled up and rode towards the direction of the anomaly. Time is of the essence. People were dying, and the sooner he can get there, the better their chances of survival would be. Now he was chanting a different prayer, hoping that the Light would be so giving as to grant him this one too.<span style="font-style: italic">Please! Don't let me be too late!</span><br/><br/>But alas! One cannot always get what they want, regardless of the intention. By the time he got there, it was already over. He didn't even see a glimpse of the culprit! Frustrated, Lance decided to make his way towards the now ruined village. However, the sight of one familiar person momentarily stopped him from proceeding. There she was, the White Knight, keeping the situation under control as best as she could. They were in the center of the village, and she seemed to be conducting healing for all the injured survivors inside a field of magic. One look and it was clear that she was shorthanded but Healing was not one of Lance's strong points. Donning his mantle, Lance pulled the hood over his head and blended in with the crowd. Doing his share of whatever help he could give while keeping a good distance away from the female Seraph and her companion.<br/><br/>It was already night when all things settled down. Lance stealthily moved closer to the bonfire where the people had gathered, resting his back on a wall that was barely left standing but enough to conceal him from the female Seraph's and her companion's vision. He listened in, taking a peek every now and then to check on the female Seraph. All day long she had been continuously healing. By this time there was no doubt that even a Seraph's reserves would eventually need to be replenished. And he was right. She had just about reached her final limit when she finished healing the last injured person. He watched her hobble towards the bonfire and grabbed a bowl of stew.<span style="font-style: italic">She's a real tough one</span>, he thought to himself in admiration of her noble act. However, the atmosphere changed when a man started badmouthing her. Not a moment too soon, his point made it across the entire survivors.<br/><br/>It was disgusting. After being helped by her to the best of her ability, they repay her with grudges and thoughtless accusations. Perhaps this too was another side of one thing. Lance could no longer take the heavy atmosphere. The moment the female Seraph made a move, Lance slipped out of the crowd and grabbed his steed. He went ahead towards the direction of where the Seraph went and waited for her to come. It took a while thanks to her aimless pace, but when he caught sight of her, Lance approached and stopped at his usual respective distance.<br/><br/>"People fear what they do not understand, and when things go to hell, they look for someone to take the blame." he started.<br/><br/>"It's not your fault, Master Lethe."