Beginning of a Year

"Everyone," the bartender yelled, "It's almost time. Get your glasses and prepare to ring in the New Year. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Years!" All of the patrons in the bar had begun to chant along with him, and clicked their glasses together as the clock struck midnight. All of them, that is, except a small group in the corner of the bar.

There was about eighteen people sitting at a total of three tables. Eight were women or teen girls along with nine men or teenage boys, and one robot. They all were toasting the New Year quietly in the corner of the bar, as not to attract attention to themselves. For they were afraid of being found out.

You see, the leader of the group was a young man of nineteen named Ramza Ruglia, better known as Ramza Beoulve. He was the third son of a noble family that had recently been killed off during the war. But during the course of the Lion War, he had been branded a heretic for the murder of the Cardinal of Lionel, Draclau. What the people didn't realize was that the Cardinal had become a demon after accepting the power of the "holy" stone, Scorpio. Several other officials, including the head of the Shrine Knights and his oldest brother, Dycedarg, had also become demons after acquiring one of the twelve stones. Ramza had been one of the few people who had realized the truth about what was going on, as he had been trying to rescue Princess Ovelia from the Cardinal's plot. Most of those who knew the truth either had joined up with him, or were those who had been helping the plot along. And those people all died at the hands of Ramza and his brave comrades.

Ramza hadn't wanted all of the battles he had fought. All he wanted was to rescue his sister, who carried the soul of Ajora within her, and was the only candidate to call forth the demon Altima. He fought only to protect her. But after the final battle with Altima, Orbonne Monastery was blown to bits. Ramza, Alma, and their allies were all then pronounced dead, as was the Shrine Knight hierarchy.

But if someone found out that he was alive, they might just come after him once more. Thus, Ramza and his team had become silent defenders of justice. Using his mother's last name, he was able to cut himself off from the Beoulves once more. If they had to deal with a person who knew a little bit more about the history of the boy, and his mother, he would use an assumed first name as well, usually Robert. None of the others had to really worry, as Ramza did all of the talking for the group.

He looked across the table at the girl sitting there. Her name was Meliadoul, a Divine Knight. Formerly a Shrine Knight of Glabados Church, she had originally blamed Ramza for the murder of her younger brother, Izlude. What she didn't know was that the killer had been their father, Vormav, who was the head of the Shrine Knights and also leader of the Zodiac Braves. Both she and Izlude were Braves as well, but they hadn't been given the full power to transform into the demons. After she learned what had really transposed at Riovanes Castle, the young woman had joined Ramza in a quest to find out the truth, and to avenge the murder of her younger brother.

Meliadoul looked away. Ramza had noticed that she never was able to catch his eyes very good. He wondered why that was. She certainly wasn't shy, had, in fact, ambushed him with her troops in the City of Bervenia, away from where it would endanger civilians. But when it came to reactions between her and her leader, Meliadoul was prone to freezing. He wondered if she often saw Izlude when she spoke to him. Both boys were the same age, and were a lot like one another. They both desired an end to the war, both came from lines of knights, and both were often burdened with their destinies. The only big difference seemed to be the fact that Ramza had broken the chains of fate that hung around him by running away and finding out the deeper truths behind the war, while poor Izlude had went along with his destiny and fate, only breaking the chains as death's jaws were fast approaching.

Ramza often regretted not being able to save his life. Alma had told him of the boy's last few moments, how he had been in pain the whole time, bleeding from his many wounds, and nearly blinded. Izlued regretted the things he had done in the past, wished to make restitution in any way. He had given her his Zodiac Stone to give to Ramza, but she'd dropped it as Vormav took her away once more. Which was fortunate, because Ramza had found it lying there upon inspection of the castle.

"Meliadoul, are you ok? You seem distracted tonight. Is there anything I can do to help you?" asked Ramza, his voice full of concern for his friend's condition.

She replied, "No, everything is just fine. I'm just thinking about New Years of the past, when my brother was still alive. Izlude and I used to have so much fun on those days. We would stay up until the clock struck midnight, even before Father would let us. In those days, we would just hide in one of our rooms, while the adults celebrated in the main room. When we were older, we joined them. This is the second New Years since his death, and I guess I'm just thinking about what might have been."

Ramza smiled at her, and she turned away once more. "Don't worry. I'm here if you need to talk. I well remember what happened between my brothers, and how Dycedarg murdered both Father and Zalbag. Zalbag's death reminds me much of Izlude's, both by Lucavi who were once members of our families. Sometimes having someone to relate to you is the best medicine."

"Thank you, Ramza," Meliadoul whispered, "You're always there when the rest of us need your help. But I'm ok, really. I just need time to think about all that is going on in my life now."

'It's been over a year and a half. If you're still in pain, you should really talk to someone. I know you like to do things on your own, but for once, Meliadoul, just accept the help of your friends. We don't want to see you sad, any more than you want to be in pain,' thought Ramza.

- - - -

Lots of description here, needed a lot of setting up the scenes. Although the story points might be repetitive for those of us who have already played the game. This story spans a whole year, I've got plenty of time to start it all up. Oh, and the reason for the eighteen, is that I really don't care too much about the sixteen character limit. Heck, why would the group pick to only have sixteen if this was a real war? Mercenary bands always do better with more help.