10/18/10

Hello reader! Thank you for deciding to read my story! This is the first time in a few years I've sat down to write out a plot I had in my head so please excuse any lame descriptions and extreme cheesyness should it show up O_O.
I'm having fun while writing this, so hopefully you'll have fun while reading it!
Any comments will be greatly appreciated!

The Seaside city of Bodhum, located near the southern most part of Cocoon, was made up of a community of islands. The one just off the Bodhum Station, only about a fair fifteen minute walk, housed most of the town's entertainment districts and was the most populated tourist destinations. Bodhum was the only place in Cocoon that held the perfect beach resort atmosphere, so boasted the brochures and commercials. Locals and vacationers alike enjoyed the cool air and calm waters along the shorelines. Children splashed in the waves or chased the fishes while the adults lounged on chairs. Those who had had their fill of the sea had the option of the Bodhum Mall to enjoy at their leisure, with a variety of shops and stores overflowing with souvenirs or other merchandise to take home.

Along the shoreline of the main island, just a ways down from the mall, sat a small local cafe. While some beach-goers were strolling along the shore or playing in the surf, many occupied the area of this building.

A young woman with dark hair closely framed around her face and pulled up in a messy bun was behind the bar counter. She'd found business had calmed down enough and decided to preoccupy herself by organizing the many serving bottles to be as visually pleasing as possible inside the display shelf. Lebreau's Cafe wasn't one of the more touristy locations on Bodhum, but by the amount of customers flooding in and out, it was easy to think otherwise. Conversations drifted through the air, meshing together with the calm rush of the waves outside and peppered by the clinks of bottles by the barmaid. She carried on casual talk with a customer standing at the bar, who was enjoying the drink she'd served him. While she was excellent at cooking a variety of delectable foods and making drinks, she was also a good conversationalist.

A little known fact of the Bodhum Cafe was that it wasn't only an excellent place to lounge around on a lazy afternoon, but it was also the headquarters for the local group of youths that formed a team called NORA. They acted as the neighborhood watch of sorts, keeping an eye out for any forms of trouble, which mostly came at the hands of monsters.

Their mechanical prodigy had gone to work on several of the vehicles with funds from the cafe and made them something that most airbike producers would deem unsafe to drive. Now if the drivers would actually obey the traffic laws while driving them, perhaps he wouldn't have to spend day after day fixing the damages received from their scuffles around the town. Today he decided their damages weren't so bad that their flight would be hindered in any way and instead decided to take shelter within the bar.

A pair of oversized headphones completely obscured his ears. While at most they only served as decoration along with the goggles that sat atop the messy fluff of blond hair, they were perfectly functional to fill his mind with music when needed. At the moment, they instead filled his head with unpleasant static as he messed with the knobs of the small transmission radio sitting on the table near the back of the bar. Small clips of words could be heard through the white noise but nothing that formed an actual sentence.

"Any luck?" Asked Lebreau, now without company, as she paused in her organizing to look over at the seventeen year old to her left. She had spoken at the perfect timing, otherwise Maqui never would have heard her over the sudden barrage of static, causing him to unplug the headphones in irritation. A look of fuming anger took over his boyish face as he mumbled a response, glaring down at the small radio. Lebreau grinned, turning back to her task. Maqui hated when something mechanical in his hands wasn't cooperating. But it gave him all the more determination to make it work.

"Maybe there just isn't anything going on today." The young woman suggested though for the lack of response she received, Maqui either hadn't heard her, or was choosing to ignore her statement as he returned to messing with the many knobs and dials.

"Maqui having trouble with the radio again?" Greeted a voice from across the bar area. Having just ascended the stairs, a towering man with fiery hair walked over to the counter, his greeting hinting that he was well acquainted with one two. Lebreau gave a small nod to Gadot with a hummed answer.

"What do you think? Should I move the bottle of Mergai over next to the Nivra or is the orange and red a nice contrast to each other?" Lebreau stepped back to admire her work. Gadot, not really caring what was next to where, pretended to seriously consider the question. He put a hand to his chin to further solidify the fact that he was thinking hard about his answer.

"I think...customers will be more concerned about whatever drink they're ordering. Not to mention I think they have better things to stare at." A short glance in Lebreau's direction hinted just what might have been the better option.

"Hey! Psychologists say there's a color pattern that could get you more business. I'm trying to find the perfect match seeing as you guys keep blowing through the money I make." Lebreau huffed, snapping the display case shut so hard that a few of the smaller bottles rattled and fell over. Gadot's laugh covered Lebreau's sigh of frustration as she was left to set the bottles upright again.

There was another grumble of aggravation from the back of the bar. Maqui was still hunched over the device. Judging by his hasty movements, he must have just lost a clear signal.

"Hey, Maqui. Have you tried hitting it?" Gadot suggested, unable to suppress a short laugh. Maqui wouldn't hit an object just to make it work. His philosophy was abuse of the object it would probably only make the problem worse. The boy replied with a short huff as he took a moment to throw the man a stern look, clearly missing the fact that Gadot had been joking. Raising his hands in a sort of defensive pose, as though fearing Maqui would whip the goggles from his head and chuck them at him, Gadot chuckled at the boys reaction.

"Where's the boss?"

Lebreau jerked her head towards the bar's entrance. "He left to go see if beloved wife. How goes training the rookies?"

"Training? More like babysitting." Gadot replied with a scoff, leaning on the empty space of the counter. "Hear what happened at the Euride Gorge yesterday?"

"Yeah, PSICOM must be getting bored what with no attacks from Pulse in the last five centuries that they're handling industrial accidents. Well, it explains why earlier today the power was going on the fritz."

Gadot shrugged, "I heard some rumors already going around. Some people think since PSICOM's there, it could have something to do with Pulse."

"Like someone trying to attack Kujata? That's smart," She pitched up her voice with enthusiasm, "Attack a fal'Cie, see how that works out for ya. Probably just some dumb kids who started throwing rocks or something."

Gadot heaved a sigh of a laugh, momentarily distracted by Maqui still working on the radio. "He won't give up on that thing, will he?" He asked the barmaid.

"Nope. He's been working at that all morning."

"I still suggest hitting it."

"That stuff only works in the vidshows." The boy pouted, having heard their conversation through the static.

"Oh my goodness, is that the sound of giving up?" Lebreau faked a shocked expression as she perched her hand on her propped arm leaning over the counter. For the moment, she'd given up on the alignment of the bottles.

"It's not like the Great Mechanic Maqui to throw in the towel." Gadot stated, making the title for Maqui sound more like a legendary story than a title he'd just thought up half a second ago. A small grin turned Maqui's lips at the sound of being called the Great Mechanic, but he tried his best to keep his angered expression, he hid it away as he hunched over the table to continue messing with the gears.

Gadot changed the subject to what he'd entered the bar to ask in the first place. "I'm headin' into town later, you need anything?"

Lebreau looked down at the counter for a moment, her eyebrows knitting in thought, her mind running a quick checklist before looking over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah! I'm running low on Cassia, I could use another case."

"You got it." Gadot gave a nod and departed through the front entrance.

Lebreau pursed her lips a moment. Now with no one to talk to, she was going to get irritably bored quite quickly if she didn't have something to occupy herself with. She decided to give the display case a break and start on fixing up the bottles below the counter. As she worked, she trained her ear to listen in on the conversations around her. This was one of the key ways she was able to hear about any local rumors and goings-on about the town. At his work station, it looked as though Maqui had given into the fight with the radio as he was casually flicking one of the larger nobs to the left.

Having discovered a bottle of clear liquid, she raised it to the light and gave it a shake. It was then she noticed someone had taken a seat at the bar. Not having been paying attention to the flow of customers, she was mildly surprised, even more so when she saw just who the customer was.

A man of about thirty, clad in the blue attire of a Sanctum officer had taken a seat. This was at most a rare occasion, as Sanctum workers and the like never bothered with out of the way restaurants such as Lebreau's.

"What can I get for you?" She greeted all the same; a customer was a customer.

"I'm a bit hungry." Replied the man in a strange accent. "I'll take anything that's good."

"Anything you don't like?"

The man shook his head. Lebreau always knew the best recommended specials for those not picky about what they would have. Sliding over a small plate of fresh sliced fruit, she started on the order. Part of her itched to ask what brought a Sanctum offer to her humble restaurant. She had a small fear that perhaps PSICOM had had enough of NORA and their interferences in the area. A few minutes passed of conversation filled air when suddenly the scrambling appearance of Maqui at the counter caught the barmaids attention. By the excited look on his face, he had finally tapped into a radiowave.

"Hey I finally got something. Is Snow here?"

"I told you not to run in the bar." Scolded Lebreau as she put the finishing touches on the officer's plate.

"I know, but where-" Maqui had begun to repeat, before Lebreau cut over him.

"He had to go meet Serah. Now that you're up why don't you go get me some more vegetables from the back?" Maqui looked at her in exasperation before Lebreau laughed. "I'm just kidding. Go take Gadot, he hasn't left yet. And grab Yuj while you're at it, he needs to do something other than looking pretty."

With an excited grin, the boy disappeared back through the crowd, trying his best not to run under his feet were on the sandy ground outside. Lebreau turned her attention back to the officer and noticed he was casting glances around the bar. Newcomers were always distracted by the of eye-catching colorful decorations, but the barmaid had a thought that perhaps the officer felt too much of an age gap with the rest of the crowd.

"Sir? Is there someone you're waiting for?"

The man shook his head. "I'm searching for someone. Have you seen a girl? About seventeen or eighteen years old?"

"About three come every hour. Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"

2/11/12

So...I'm not sure how well this worked. I moved the story's start from Day 3 to Day 6 so I tried my best to work Day 6 of Episode 0 into the beginning but I'm not sure how well it works... I didn't want to tweak too much of the original but...meh.

I decided to leave out the rest of the conversation they have, because I don't want this story to basically be addon's of Episode Zero and later on FF13. I want to just kinda dip into the actual plot every not and then. I hope this works...