Why They Left

Some people said he was a strange child; others said he was special. Hurdy didn't pay much heed to what most people said because he didn't find it as interesting as listening to other things. Like the great crystal guardian of Tipa. Most people couldn't hear it, but if you stood still next to it and found the right place of quiet, the crystal's voice could be heard. It was usually asleep or mostly so. When he was lucky enough to catch it awake, it would tell him about all kinds of things that other people had forgotten about.

His father Ike could also hear the crystal, although he said it wasn't as easy for him to catch its voice. Despite that, he was a priest who related the crystal's wisdom to others. Hurdy's mother Marissa couldn't hear the crystal at all, not even if she was quiet for a long time. She believed in them, though, and she often defended them from others who were skeptical. And she knew great stories from her days of traveling with Tipa's crystal caravan, when she remembered them. She could be very forgetful, but Ike had a good enough memory for both of them.

Hurdy also had a brother, although even his parents didn't believe so. They thought he just had an imaginary friend. But Gurdy was real as far as Hurdy was concerned. As no one else believed he was real, they had to share the same room and toys. "We'll take care of the house and Roland can help out if something too big for us happens," Hurdy said, looking over the books on the shelf for one to start reading tonight.

"Mom and Dad could be gone for a long time," Gurdy said, sitting on the bed and trying to act like he wasn't bothered by this. "They might not come back at all."

"Don't be that way," Hurdy said, although he was worried too. "They said they would come back."

Gurdy frowned at that. "But they might not because they're doing a dangerous thing. They're gonna try saving the world, after all, and that's not something that can be done without risk."

"They'll come back," Hurdy insisted. "Dad has been studying the miasma and how to get rid of it all his life, and so did his dad before him, and his dad's dad too. The crystal helps them. While they're gone, I'm gonna pray to the crystal and help keep them safe like that."

"We never met Grandpa because he died doing the same thing," Gurdy said.

"We don't know that, he might have just gotten too old." Hurdy did love his brother, but Gurdy was negative about a lot of things. He would also get them into a lot of trouble if other people realized that he wasn't an imaginary person, since he often wanted to play tricks on other people that could be mean. In that way, things were better off this way when others didn't believe in Gurdy.

"You're ignoring things again," Gurdy said, shaking his head. "Grandpa never came back from this kind of trip and people keep telling them that they shouldn't both go leaving you alone. But they're getting called by something that isn't right. It's that thing that scared you so bad a while back. Mom and Dad aren't coming back from this."

"They'll come back, they said so," Hurdy said. Right, his Dad was a great priest and his Mom was a well-known warrior. She even kept her sword and shield above the fireplace, both being rarities made of mythril. "And you'll be with me, so I won't be alone."

"You're ignoring things like how I'm not real."

Shivering, he glanced around his room. There was just one bed in here, one chair for reading in. And when he wasn't talking, it was quiet. There were owls and bugs outside making noises… but in here, it was quiet. He felt like something was prickling his skin, like miasma that was an invisible slinking grime that, when he had gone quiet like with the crystal, had shown him terrifying things.

"You'll be with me, won't you Gurdy?" Hurdy asked, closing his eyes. "You said you wouldn't leave me alone like that again. Mom and Dad will come back, won't they? They have to because they're gonna get rid of the miasma. I'm not gonna be alone like that."

"Of course I won't, even if you're being silly about things," Gurdy said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He relaxed at that, knowing his brother was with him like always. Things were fine; things were normal. "Of course, sorry about doubting you. Hmm, remember how Mom was so mad at those kids who talked me into going to the edge of that cliff? We'll be okay, like we were when she found us." He pulled one of the books at random and then opened his eyes to look at it. "Let's read this one now. I've got a lot to study so I can help Dad when they get back."

The next day, he said goodbye to his parents as they headed off on their journey. Their neighbors were nice to him, inviting him to their meals and making sure he was okay by himself. But Hurdy wasn't alone. He had Gurdy, and he could talk to the crystal. While the other kids in the village offered to play with him, he usually didn't join them. He had to study the books, learn from the crystal, and pray for his Mom and Dad so that they had a safe and successful journey.

Days turned to weeks… the crystal caravan set out one morning. Hurdy was there to see them off and wish them well in their yearly mission. He started coming down to the bridge at the village entrance, hoping to catch his parents coming back. But the caravan came back before them. The crystal told him that his parents had been successful in finding the holy flower that his Dad said was so important. As usual, the crystal became sleepier after the purification ceremony. Not even his Dad knew why that was, but it would be sleep-talking for months until it became alert enough to hold a conversation again. Hurdy found that he could still learn things from it.

"They'll be back," he told anybody who asked if he was lonely or worried.

And one day, they did come back. Scarred and pale and dirty, Mom was supporting Dad who couldn't walk on his own, but then she collapsed just as soon as they got on the bridge. "We got here, but where is here?" she asked.

Hurdy wanted to call out to them, but it felt like he couldn't speak at all. Gurdy spoke up for him this time, "What happened to you?"

Dad looked at him, but he couldn't reply either. Mom looked at him and asked, "Who… are you?"

They'd come back like they'd been driven here, and that was where it ended for them.

"Sorry, but you're mistaken. I'm Gurdy."

The old clavat looked at him, worried and puzzled over him. Roland was a nice guy, Gurdy knew that. But he didn't know what was going on. "Hmm? I don't know any boy by that name."

Gurdy rolled his eyes; he probably wouldn't be believed since grown-ups usually dismissed things like this. "Of course you don't because I'm an imaginary friend," he tried anyhow. "I didn't want to come out, but this is an emergency because Hurdy is too upset to eat and that's causing us both problems."

"Oh dear," Roland said, then waved him to come inside. "Well my wife is working on dinner and it won't be much trouble to add you in. Go ahead and have some of the grapes over here, I'll let her know."

"Thanks, old guy," he said, giving a bow because it helped to be proper and polite. Gurdy went right over to take a seat as well as a handful of the colorful grapes in a wooden bowl. They were sweet and juicy, and should stave off this faintness he'd been feeling due to taking over a weakened body. "Sheesh, brother, if you'd accepted this result a long time ago like me, I wouldn't have had to do this."

But that's how Hurdy was. He wanted to keep these ridiculous beliefs that were much brighter than what was a more realistic result. They'd always differed in that respect, even back to the first time Gurdy was aware of anything that night at the edge of the miasma. Back then, Hurdy's leg had broken and there was no way he could climb out of the ditch he'd fallen in. Gurdy had wanted Hurdy to just accept the facts and not be scared of dying. They were practically in the deadly miasma. But Hurdy hoped he would be rescued in time, even though that was so unlikely. While he'd been right to hope that once, hope wouldn't guarantee everything would go right.

That was how things were. And yet, Gurdy didn't want Hurdy to give up on his hopes entirely. He might lose the ability to hear the crystals then, and that would leave them as just an ordinary clavat. Then they'd have to work on a farm or a ranch, and live a boring ordinary life. Sure, it'd be nice if Hurdy got a little more grounded. And if he didn't starve them, which was why Gurdy had come over here. But he didn't want Hurdy to become dull and ordinary either.

Roland came back into the room and took a seat nearby. "It'll be a little while," he said, taking some grapes for himself. "We were getting worried about," he paused, having to think about it, "him, being shut up in your house. But he wouldn't answer us, so we weren't sure what to do."

"He doesn't hear you most of the time," Gurdy said. "But don't worry, I'll look after him until he can pull himself together."

"You could stay here while you're helping him," Roland offered him. "You're… well Hurdy is only eleven. You should stay with some adults to help you with Hurdy."

Well that didn't take much. "Thanks. But the main thing you can help me with is convincing Hurdy not to go on the same stupid quest as our parents. He'll want to before long and even if he doesn't, the white voice will call him there even though it's a really dumb idea."

"What white voice?" Roland asked.

"You won't hear it because you're lucky to be normal," Gurdy said. "But it calls people like him and our parents to that ridiculous quest to get rid of the miasma. That just kills people; I don't know why, but it's that way."

"You shouldn't speak of your family like that, especially at this time when your parents are dead," he said. "Your parents believed in their quest fully."

"Yeah, and they're dead now," Gurdy said. "Hurdy believes in it fully too. If he keeps believing it, it'll end up killing us someday. So I've got to talk him out of it somehow."

But no matter who tried, no one could talk Hurdy out of trying to rid the world of miasma like their parents tried. It was Ike and Marissa's legacy, Hurdy would say, so it was up to him to succeed at it in their place. A few years later, he left Tipa for Shella to continue his research into what might have gone wrong.

As night fell over Alfitaria, people flocked to the Crystal Plaza. There, the four caravanners were lined up in front of the king. The traditions of the town had them all dressed in knight armor whether they'd been accepted as full-fledged knights or not. It usually made the team admirably matched, but not this year. In honor of his service and accomplishments, the team's leader in Sir Leon Esla had been granted a more distinctive armor. Night black instead of near black, long horns of the side of the helmet, and crimson and gold embellishments marked him as the greatest living knight that Alfitaria had. Probably even in the whole world since everyone knew (or should know) that the Alfitaria caravan was the most skilled of all.

That's what everyone said, anyhow. Leon was proud of the team; they'd done well even though he'd taken them to more distant and notorious dungeons this year. Still, he felt like others in Alfitaria were too proud of what was a normal yearly quest. It had to be done for the safety of everyone here, yes, and they had defeated some strong monsters. But it wasn't anything worth becoming a legend for.

He allowed the youngest of the four, Sol Racht, the honor of taking the full chalice over to the altar when the ceremony began. It was Sol's first year in a caravan and he'd done well despite Leon wanting to do more challenging things. Most years, the king ended up performing the ceremony. He did give the usual speech thanking them for their efforts. But this year, there was a traveling preacher passing through town who had been asked to perform the actual purification ceremony. The curly-haired clavat took the chalice from Sol instead of the king, then placed it on the altar and looked up into the crystal while the king was speaking.

After noting that Sol properly got back in line, Leon looked back to the preacher. He seemed quite young to have an acknowledgment of being a holy person. Leon had met a number of clavats on his travels and he could guess that the preacher was likely the same as Sol's age. While it wasn't that unusual to ask a traveling preacher, priest, or someone of a similar trade to do purification, they were usually older people who were well-known to the town. What had this young preacher done to impress the king enough to allow for this?

"And now, I will hand the purification ceremony over to our honored guest, Hurdy," the king said, bowing before stepping away from the altar.

Hurdy turned with a little surprise, like he'd been listening to something else when the king introduced him. He did properly bow back, then turned to face the caravan team. "Thank you, and I hope that this ceremony need not be performed in the near future," Hurdy said, causing an extra layer of hush to go over the crowd. "The cause of the world's miasma has been discovered; the key to reaching that menace has been deciphered. Now the task of purifying the whole world is something that can be accomplished, and is something that I mean to do if I can find a skilled partner to see me through the dangerous paths and dungeons to be traversed. If such a thing can be done, why not do so as soon as we are able? May our children be able to live in a world without miasma. For now, I will ensure that Alfitaria continues to have the blessed protection of this selfless guardian."

The miasma could now be destroyed? No one would know but himself, but Leon's eyes went wide at that. That was a dream everyone had, to end this curse that afflicted them all. He didn't deserve all the honor and respect he got, not for doing normal expected things. But to complete a great quest like that, it would be extraordinary and worthy of being known as a legend.

But should he really do this? His wife should be having a child sometime in the coming months. Leon had been planning on retiring from the caravan because the duties of a knight and a caravanner kept him away from home for long periods of time. This wasn't an opportunity to miss out on, and yet he'd told his wife that he'd stay closer to home after this.

In front of the crystal, Hurdy bowed his head and clasped his hands together. He didn't even have a reference on hand for the ceremony like the king usually had. "Great Crystal, bringer of all life," he started.

And the crystal shimmered brightly even though the myrrh was still in the chalice. Gasps spread around the crowd. No one had ever gotten a large crystal to react to them simply by addressing it. At least, no one that Leon could remember. Then Hurdy was worthy of performing this ceremony in spite of his young age. He was likely capable of purifying the world as he stated too. But, he would need protection, given how he didn't look physically strong or tough at all.

Once the purification was done, the whole plaza broke out into dancing, singing, and celebrating. Leon stepped in front of the other three and turned to them. "Fellows, you're now dismissed. Enjoy the evening." They saluted each other before splitting off to find family and friends in the crowd. Leon was tempted to go speak to the preacher right away, but held off in order to find his wife.

"Leon!" Her voice cut through the crowd for him, leading him directly to her. Jona beamed at him. "You look so magnificent tonight. Welcome back."

"I'm glad to be back," he said warmly. "Would you help me with the helmet? I still haven't found a way to get it off myself."

"Sure," she said, taking the tool from him that detached the armor. That was one trouble with the custom-made nature of it. Since it fit only him, it was even harder to get on and off than regular armor.

Once the helmet was off, he smiled at Jona, then gave her a good long kiss. "Are you doing all right?"

"I'm fine, but I missed you," she said, looking thoughtful. "Were you interested in what the preacher was saying?"

Leon nodded. "Yes, ridding the world of miasma is a valiant effort for anyone. I'm not sure he could accomplish that himself. Given how the crystal acted tonight, I believe he can do it, but that's if he gets through the hordes of monsters in the way of his goal."

"It sounds dangerous even for you, since nobody's done a thing like that before," Jona said, smiling although her eyes seemed sad. "But it sounds like exactly the kind of thing you've been searching for. A great heroic quest that no one else has gone on, to do a great deed for the world."

"Well it's disenchanting to realize that a caravanner's quest is actually a mundane necessity no matter what is done to fulfill it," Leon said. "No matter how quickly you get it done, no matter how long you take, the caravan will depart again at the start of the year. It's something that we can't neglect. If I do step down this year, in a few more years, anything I did with the caravan will be forgotten by most people. It's necessary, yet I feel like I don't deserve the praise I get for it."

"I don't think people will forget you that quickly," Jona said. "But I understand. It would be wonderful to be rid of the miasma. Just make sure you and that preacher come back even if you can't accomplish that goal straight away."

Grateful that she understood, yet worried about how she would be this time, he hugged her. "Sure, I'll do that. But I think I'll wait a bit, see if one of the younger knights wants to help him instead."

But they didn't. Over the next couple of days, Leon heard plenty of talk about Hurdy's mission. Many believed that it might be possible with Hurdy's strong spirit. But none of them were willing to step up and help him. Hurdy meant to go even further than the Rebena Plains; he wanted to go past the miasma stream that the normal elements couldn't pass through. No one knew what lay past that barrier, and no one else seemed interested in seeing what did.

Then one afternoon, Leon spotted Hurdy at the crystal's altar again, quietly praying there. He didn't notice as Leon approached. Maybe he was thinking of moving on since no one stepped up to help him here. It bothered Leon that the others weren't; it would have been best if a young lilty knight, without the responsibilities of a young family like Leon had, would offer his assistance to Hurdy. As that wasn't happening, Leon walked up to the altar and waited there.

It took a minute until Hurdy tilted his head, then turned around. "Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you. Is something the matter?"

"Not with you, although I'm disappointed in the younger knights for not answering the call you put forth," Leon said. "I believe in your cause to be rid of the miasma, though, and I would like to protect you on your journey."

Hurdy smiled brightly at that. "Really? Thank you very much, you're the first who said they would." Then something occurred to him that made him serious. "You're the Black Knight, as I've heard? And you have a wife named Jona."

He nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"Are you sure about leaving her behind for this?" he asked, concerned about it. "What I mean to do is dangerous. We have to go clear to Lynari Desert first, and then out to the miasma stream that leads past the Rebena Plains. The desert holds the key to going there, and both places are very dangerous."

"I know that," Leon said. "I've led Alfitaria's caravan out into Lynari Desert before, and as far as Conall Curach and the Rebena Te Ra ruins. You can count on me out there."

"But your family?" Hurdy asked.

"Thanks for your concern, but it will be fine," he said. "We'll make sure to be successful and return back here soon."

"Yes, that's what I mean to do," Hurdy said, smiling again. "Good, then, I can offer you a thousand gil up front, and first pick of any treasure we come across. Will that work for you?"

Normally, that was on the low side to be privately hiring a knight of Alfitaria. But Leon felt that this quest was worth taking a monetary loss. "That's fine." He then asked Hurdy about what travel supplies he had in case they needed to pick up anything before leaving.

Leon then arranged matters with the king, left half the initial fee with Jona, and said goodbye to the people he knew to leave on what would be the greatest quest of his life.

Mount Vellenge was a foreboding place to look upon. The vortex of heavy clouds over it were of many dark hues, perhaps a never-ending storm. Because of those clouds, Vellenge was cloaked in twilight and had been ever since they first spotted it from passing through the unknown miasma stream. Lightning sometimes lit up the area, revealing something unsettling: the mountain seemed to be smashed and broken. It was clearly still a mountain with a wide base that started to reach up to the sky. But not even halfway to where it should have peaked, jagged edges ended the mountain prematurely.

Hurdy tapped his pen to his chin. "There's something strange to the air too, and we haven't even gotten onto the mountain itself. Maybe that's the power of the parasite."

"It feels like it's doing something to us already," Gurdy said. "But I can't put my finger on it."

"It might just be nerves," he said. Leon was out of hearing right now, checking around their campsite. Hurdy glanced around, at the wagon they had and the papaopamus that had brought them here. After a moment, he put his pen to his lips. "Where did we even get the money for the supplies? I don't remember..."

"I told you before, don't worry about it," Gurdy said.

Hurdy frowned now, looking at the wagon wheel. "Were you causing trouble? I thought you weren't coming back out once I started getting over Mom and Dad's deaths."

"Hey, I'm still taking care of you when you need it," his brother said. "Don't worry about it; I've taken care of things."

Sighing, Hurdy looked back over what he'd been writing. "You know, most people would have given up someone like you years ago. I appreciate that you're helping, but I don't want you to get us in trouble again for something I can't remember. People don't understand that kind of thing."

Gurdy nodded to that. "I know, but since I couldn't stop you from doing this, I thought I should make sure you didn't fail for something you neglected to think of. You have such grand hopes, but not much in the way of practical sense. Once we get through this, I won't do as much as much if you're not making trouble for yourself. I could even teach you the practical stuff you haven't paid attention to yet."

He felt embarrassed on having that pointed out, and then embarrassed again on thinking that Leon couldn't see or hear Gurdy. "All right, I'll try harder once we're done here," Hurdy said, then looked back at his journal. "I should finish my observations of the area."

"You gonna review what else you wrote down?" Gurdy asked.

He shook his head. "No, I can do that later when we're done. I know what I wrote down."

But the wrongness that neither of them could identify was what was happening to their memories. Without reviewing what he'd written before, their memories were slipping silently away.

By the time they reached the true source of the world's misfortunes, it was all blank and they had nothing to guide their way.

Mag Mell was a strange place. But it was safe, enough that Tsu Fai unhooked the papaopamus for the night and trusted it not to wander away. She settled herself into one of the shell structures and pulled out one of her diaries to read. There was still time left in the day, just not enough time to go exploring Mount Vellenge. Mog set the portable crystal they'd gotten down so she was safe, then went to explore the village further.

The selkie turned a page, finding an entry from when she'd not been out with the caravan.

'Mom is so forgetful and I swear it's getting worse. She's been talking from time to time about a number of projects around the house that she wants to get done, but she either never does them or starts them and forgets what she's doing. To help her, my sisters and I put together a list of what she wants to do so she can keep track. But then she's misplaced the list and doesn't remember where she put it.

'Dad says that she had a good memory when she was younger. I've noticed some of my diary entries about other forgetful people, and their families will say that they served their town caravans for a number of years, instead of only a couple like most people. Mom was like that too; she was in Leuda's caravan for eight years, and then in Tipa's caravan for six years after she married Dad here in Tipa. Dad only served in Tipa's caravan for three years before he settled on working in town and he's not nearly as forgetful as she is. Maybe that long service does have something to do with that forgetfulness.

'And, I found the list just now; it was on the fridge all along.'

"Right, and it was so obvious," she said to herself, being reminded of writing at the kitchen table, going over to grab some more water, and then seeing it right there. "I hope my sisters are keeping her on track. Even Momo Phiy is getting the hang of that and she's still a kid. Don't want Mom to hurt herself by forgetting what she's doing; hopefully this lets even her recover."

There was an entry after that which she didn't recognize at first, but found it familiar as she read along.

'I want to write this down as I'm thinking about it. An old selkie in Leuda told me something interesting while I was negotiating them not bothering my caravan mates as we passed through. The lilties have their proud traditions and history. The yukes have their knowledge and great works. The clavats have their farming and unity. But selkies? Selkies have nothing.

'I don't fully agree with that. We have our own traditions of music, for one. And traveling traders are usually selkies when the other races will only deal with each other on their own home turf if they can help it. Then again, the other races trust us the least in most cases; Tipa is a welcome exception. And there's Conall Curach being the best known history of our kind, which is quite bad.

'Well I'm going to change that. I'm going to do something the other selkies can be proud of one of their own doing. I will rid the world of miasma. It's like a voice is calling me, daring me to do it. My caravan mates don't seem so sure of that mission, but that's okay. Once we finish the next trip, I'll take that compact crystal I got as well as the old wagon (they mean to replace it anyhow) and go off to Mount Vellenge myself.

'Though really, isn't this an effort of all the races in some way? Sol Racht the lilty helped me out when I was a caravan newbie, and his efforts to find the truth of the Black Knight made me question what was going on. Gurdy and Hurdy are both clavats who encouraged me, the former even giving me the key to getting to Mount Vellenge. And it was the yuke scholars who taught me about magic, the meteor that shattered the Great Crystal, and the parasite most likely to be the source of the miasma. Even my fellow selkie De Nam has given me valuable information, although I may need to go rescue him from Conall Curach when I'm done.

'And maybe Mog will come with me? I hope he does.'

"Kupo!" At that, Mog flew into the shell she was staying in. "Tsu Fai, I found some other moogles! And they agree, there's something else alive here but they seem to be sleeping."

"Hmm," she looked thoughtfully at the faintly glowing structure in front of her. It was shaped like an egg. "Well it's good that you've found some kin even here. But unless they have a guest room for bigger people than moogles, I think I'll stay here."

"Right, that's what I told them," Mog said, then landed. "Kupo… I'm glad we decided to stop here. It's not so spooky, even with the eggs here."

"That's what I was thinking they were," Tsu Fai said. "Hey Mog? Why'd you come with me this time? I'm glad you did but I just want to know."

Mog swayed, making his bonbon sway along. "Kupo? Well, the miasma doesn't hurt us moogles for some reason. But, it hurts all of our friends, kupo, so we want to help you all! We're just not good fighters on our own, though. And, you're my best friend now! We've been traveling and fighting together for five years. While the others complain about me being a slow flier sometimes, or not being good at anything besides carrying the chalice, you never have. You even take the chalice from me when I'm tired, even though you're always fighting and running around."

"Well that chalice is bigger than you are," she said, smiling and patting his head. "And when it's got drops of myrrh in it, it can be heavier than you too."

Smiling and puffing himself up, Mog said, "Yes, but I've carried it no matter where you've gone! Besides, kupo, I couldn't let you come here alone. It seemed dreadful for somebody to be alone in the place where all miasma comes from, especially somebody that's affected badly by it. And being here, I know I was right. I'll keep following you to the end, Tsu Fai!"

"Thanks, Mog," she said, smiling down at him. Then she looked over at where she could just see the vortex of dark clouds over their destination, through a crack in the shell shelter. "And you're right, this would be a dreadful place to be alone."

What they didn't realize was that ever since passing through the miasma of the unknown element, Tsu Fai's memories had been slipping away from her. Mog wasn't affected, but he might have noticed by morning that she was different. Except, Tsu Fai spent that afternoon reviewing the diary she always kept with her. What she wrote down reformed in her mind as memories.

By the time they faced the true source of the world's misfortunes, all that was left for Tsu Fai were the things she had written down. She had written down so much that the strength of her memories, even in just text, was enough to overcome the corruption that ruled over the world from Mount Vellenge.

And thus the whole world became purified, freed from the sickness of miasma.