Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Caravan Commemoration
The caravan hobbled down the road back to Padarak. Having completed their mission, the day seemed brighter and more cheerful. Even the bug noises seemed more friendly and welcoming to the traveling group.
When they approached a crossroad, they saw a man sitting under a tree. He wore a long, red coat with black boots and cylindrical furry hat. He stoked the fire in a makeshift pit in front of him while stirring the bubbling kettle that was held up by iron sticks. As the caravan drew near, he looked up and waved a hand to them. Tipa halted the ox and dismounted the wagon.
“Greetings travelers!” the man said in a deep bass voice, “My name be Persak. What’s a fine group such as yours be off to today?”
Tipa introduced herself and her companions then explained how they were returning home. Persak laughed and said he was going the same way. He then patted the ground by him, inviting the group to rest with him.
“Come join me for lunch, comrades! It ain’t much, but the more you share, the more there is!” he requested “Besides, I can’t finish it all off so I’d either have to store and carry what’s left or waste it.”
Tipa rummaged through the wagon for bowls and utensils while the others sat down around the kettle. Sora looked at Persak and noticed a golden emblem on his left breast pocket. The lines were woven and swirled, forming four knots that resembled a cloud or aerial view of a flower.
The Symbol
“That’s and interesting design,” Sora inquired, pointing to it, “It looks familiar, but I’m not sure where from.”
Persak looked down then touched the patch, “Oh this? It’s a pretty little symbol, isn’t it? I hear this design is becoming quite popular.”
“It is pretty,” Zefferia admired.
Tipa passed out bowls and spoons then sat down between Persak and Zefferia with her bowl and the journal the Village Elder gave her. She opened it up and started scratching down her travels with a quill pen while waiting for the food.
Watching her intent on filling in the book reminded Sora of how devoted Jiminy Cricket was to writing down his adventures before. But Jiminy was back at Disney Castle with King Mickey and his other friends. Seeming to be on another adventure, keeping track of what they’ve done and where they went wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
“Hey Kairi, Riku, we should keep a journal of our travels too,” Sora suggested.
“Great idea,” Kairi replied, “If you write down everything, then we can go back and remember it!”
“Oh, hold on,” Sora fumbled, “I didn’t mean I’d write it.”
“Why not?” chided Riku, “Who else is going to do it?”
“Hm, well,” Sora thought as he looked around the circle, “How about Zefferia?”
Zefferia stopped looking at Persak’s emblem and pointed to herself, “What, me?”
Sora tried to back up his decision, “Yeah, it would give you something to do to help us out! Also, having a journal, someone would have to have written it, so you being the one who wrote it, you produced something that exists which would mean you would have to be alive and real, right?”
“Well, I guess I could give it a shot…” Zefferia pondered, “But what would I write on?”
“Oh, I guess we don’t have a journal that we can take with us,” Sora thought.
Persak chuckled and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a small brown notebook with a writing utensil sticking out of its spine. He passed it over. Zefferia looked at him quizzically then down at the book in front of her.
“Here, you can use this,” offered Persak, “I haven’t used it yet, so I probably never will.”
When the meal was done, the travelers picked up and loaded the wagon. Zefferia stayed, hunched on her hands and knees, peering at the book. She lowered her face to examine the side. She blew and blew in attempts to open the cover with her breath. Riku approached her and bent to pick up the book.
“You can at least go through the motions of writing in it, even if you can’t touch it yet,” Riku sighed, “Come on, I’ll help you get started while we get back to Padarak.”
“Goodie!” Zefferia shouted.
She sprung up and grabbed Riku’s arm, dragging him to the wagon.
The evening they returned to the village, torches were lit for Tipa and her companions to hold for the festival ceremony. Villagers gathered around the crystal in the town square as the Village Elder recited ancient text. The crystal glowed as it absorbed the drop of myrrh, warranting another year of protection against the miasma. The torches were raised in gratitude.
The ceremony concluded with a quartet playing folk music to the side. The quartet consisted of a Clavat strumming a mandolin, a Lility blowing on a clarinet, a Yuke clasping an accordion, and a Selkie beating a tambourine. Their tune was light and bouncy, adding to the joyous celebration.
With the music, the villagers started dancing in a circle around the giant crystal. Each race had their own dance. The Yukes lifted their arms expressively mixed with flowing spins. The Lilities had many hops and jumps, with their little feet tapping in the air. The Clavats did a jig with a lot of footwork while the Selkies focused on arm and hip movement that led up to a back flip. The children did a simplified dance of alternating kicking their legs forward while bringing their opposing arms forward to maintain balance. Four racial dances were going on but all four parts spun and kicked at the same time, unifying the dances into one dance.
The locals attempted to teach Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Zefferia the tribal dances so they could join in. Sora kept tripping on his feet when they needed to be brought around each other. Kairi was able to pick up the steps, but never managed to get it quite up to tempo. Still they laughed at each other in their attempts. Riku had a harder time. While Zefferia enjoyed the Selkie flip, Riku refused to do it, claiming she didn’t have to worry about gravity while he had to deal with the injury in his back that he received from his previous battle with Xemnas.
When the festival drew to a close, the villagers returned to their homes. Before departing, Tipa again thanked Sora for helping her and the village. She was sad she wasn’t able to be of more help to them, but Sora tried to convince her it was no big deal.
Just then the clarinet the Lility had played shimmered and ascended to the sky. Sora’s Keyblade compelled him to aim for it which caused a crown-shaped outline to illuminate in the night sky. A new gateway was opened.
“It looks like we found what we were looking for after all,” Sora said, “We have to go now, but it was nice meeting you!”
“Likewise, feel free to come back and visit,” Tipa invited, shaking Sora’s hand.
Sora smiled and the others bid their farewells to Tipa. Sora waved Mog over.
“You coming with us, Mog?” he asked.
“You bet, kupo!” Mog chirped, fluttering over.
The group waved to Tipa as they left. She then made her way back home as well.
From the shadows, Persak’s eyes watched the group and then Tipa leave. The town center was now empty. Casually, he strolled up to the crystal and took hold of the chalice that was still sitting in front of it.
“For the small price of a meal and a book,” he chuckled.
He picked up the crystal chalice and disappeared back into the shadows.
