"Hang her!" someone shouted.

"String her up!" came another cry.

"Wait," said a voice in a very thick accent. "We should interrogate her first. There might be more nearby."

"I say we kill her now! She deserves as much after what she did to the people of Doma!"

Keyla opened her eyes and started to protest, but she only managed a few incomprehensible phrases before her feigned unconsciouness became real and she slumped to the ground. This has been happening a lot lately, she thought, as blackness overtook her.

************************

When she came to, she was securely fastened to a chair by rough ropes that bit into her wrists. She could not have been out for too long, since her clothing was still soaked from her fall into the ocean. Two figures stood before her, discussing her fate in low tones. One was the middle-aged swordsman that had threatened her with his sword. The other was a walking armory. Weapons hung from every part of his powerful body, and he certainly looked like he knew how to use them. She continued to feign unconsciousness as she studied the small room. It was evidently a tent, and a hastily-erected one at that.

The two men stopped conferring as she raised her head. "Where's Bork?" she asked feebly, still disoriented from the fall. "And why -" Her words were cut off as the swordsman raised his blade to her throat again.

"That's enough, you Figaran spy!" he exclaimed. "I'll be the one asking questions around here. And if you don't have any good answers, I'll, I'll, you don't want to know what I'm capable of. I swear on the name of my ancestors that -"

"Uh, Spam?" the other man said in Figaran, with an accent so thick that Keyla could barely understand him. "Maybe you should let me handle this."

"Nonsense! I know exactly what I'm doing. Now, young lady, you'd better cooperate. What are you doing here? Did someone send you? Who sent you? Why did they send you? Why -"

"Spam," the walking arsenal said, politely tapping the swordsman on the shoulder, "it helps if you let her answer before you ask any more questions. And you can put that sword away."

"Oh. So what should I do now?" the swordsman asked, somewhat confused. <Who is this person?> Keyla wondered. <Well, probably nobody of significance.>

"Here, let me try," the arsenal said. "By the way, if Dork is your chocobo, he's fine, just a little waterlogged." Keyla let out a sigh of relief, not bothering to correct the man's pronounciation. "However, both his and your well-being depend on how cooperative you are. So let's start with who you are and why you are here."

"I'm Captain Keyla Brillare of the wingriders of Figaro," Keyla said. "Please, I must speak with King Garamonde. It's a matter of the utmost importance."

"I'm King Garamonde," the swordsman said. "Well?"

"You're the king?" Keyla said, groaning silently. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come to Doma for help. "So who's the armory over there?"

"That is my friend, Klutz," Cyan said.

"No, no. Butz," the man corrected.

"Putz," Cyan said.

"No, no, you keep butchering my name. It's B U T Z," the man said, emphatically pronouncing each sound. "Butz Hoser."

Keyla couldn't decide whether to burst out laughing or lower her head in despair. "These are the people that are going to help me save Figaro?" she whispered, under her breath.

"So, captain Claya, perhaps you'd like to explain why you came here?"

"It's K E Y L A," Keyla said.

Butz pondered the connection between Figaran and Mysidian. "Cava? Killya? Keebler?"

Keyla sighed loudly, shaking her head. "Close enough," she said. "As for what I am doing here, I need your help. Figaro's armies are preparing to attack another city. I observed a full regiment of ground troops and chocobo riders on the way to South Figaro, supported by three flights of black chocobos. Unless you can help me stop them, hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people will die."

"And why should we believe you?" Cyan said. "This is probably a trap."

"Spam, let's not be too judgemental. It doesn't seem like she's come here to spy," Butz said.

"Believe me, I know what I'm talking about," Cyan said. "Never trust the enemy, no matter what. I remember... in Vector, in the Magitek Research facility. Celes betrayed us."

"So what happened?" Butz asked.

"Well, err... it was a misunderstanding, and she helped to defeat Kefka," Cyan lamely concluded.

"See? Now, how about if we untie her and listen to her story. What do you say, Spam?"

"Very well," Cyan said, with a sigh. Suddenly, a horrified expression siezed his face. "Oh no," he moaned, "if she isn't a spy I'll have to explain everything to all the people that wanted to lynch her. Because of both of you, my credibility is going to be totally destroyed."

"Better think up a speech now, Spam," Butz said, as he undid the ropes securing Keyla to the chair. "Better?"

"Much," Keyla said, gingerly rubbing her right shoulder. "Well, I suppose I should tell you the whole story, if you'll listen." She then related her search for King Edgar, the return to Figaro to find the people grim and suspicious, and her flight from the king and his dragon. "So, she concluded, I came here, hoping to find some means of saving Figaro and stopping the attacking army. But it appears it was all for naught," she said, recalling the aerial view of the shattered castle.

"Nonsense!" Cyan cried. "The people of Doma may have suffered greatly, but now we have a mission. Their deaths will not go unavenged. We will return upon Figaro-"

"NO!" Keyla exclaimed, horrified. Cyan turned to stare at her suspciously, but her head was lowered and her eyes were closed. "I... I cannot begin to imagine what your people have suffered. I know there is no excuse for what was done." She looked up to meet Cyan's gaze, her eyes glittering with emotion. "But you can't just slaughter everyone in Figaro! There's something controlling them... their minds, their actions. I saw it in King Edgar's eyes... something evil and hateful. That's probably why he tried to kill me."

"So, we're to do nothing, then?" Cyan asked. "Just sit back and watch as the Figaran army kills thousands of innocents?"

Keyla shook her head. "I don't know, your majesty. But I know many of those soldiers. The general commanding King Edgar's army is one of my friends. There must be a way of stopping them without killing them."

"Hmm," Butz said. "They are traveling by ship, correct?" Keyla nodded. "So...what if we were to shipwreck them where they couldn't do any harm? Damage the ships beyond repair and force them onto a deserted island. Then we could rescue them once we take care of King Igloo."

"That might work, if Doma had its own navy," Keyla said.

"Oh, it does," Butz said. "Right, Spam?"

"You... you can't be serious! Taking the Nautilus into battle?"

"Why not? The hull is solid, and don't forget the dragon and my magic."

"Wonderful," Cyan said. "Now I'm getting into a leaky old ship with an enemy I can't trust, a wizard who can't control his spells, and a dragon that might eat us whenever she gets hungry. Just splendid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to attempt to talk the crowd outside into putting their nooses away. And don't forget, young lady, I'll be keeping a close eye on you, so don't try anything funny." He turned and walked outside the tent.

Keyla sighed. "This isn't working out like I expected," she said.

"Things rarely do," Butz said. "Choco-Bo?" he asked, offering Keyla one of the chocobo-shaped candies. She took a look at it and politely declined. "Well, I'm off to prepare for the journey," Butz said. "It should be safe for you to go outside soon, but don't make any hostile gestures."

"Butz," Keyla said, hesitantly. "You were the one that talked the crowd into sparing me, weren't you? Thank you for saving my life."

Butz shrugged. "I don't think they would have killed you," he said, as he left the tent.

Keyla stood up and began recovering pieces of her equipment that were lying on the floor of the tent. "This has to be the strangest alliance ever," she said, shaking her head. "I just hope our travels are never recorded in verse. I can see it now: The Story of Spam, Keebler, and Putz Hoser."

Koro instantly mistrusted her. One part of his mind told him that he should trust her. The other, more convincing, reminded him of the pain caused by Figaro's Light of Judgement. His father, Roco, had been killed. 'She isn't to be trusted!' he thought to himself.

As Cyan questioned Keyla further, Koro stalked away in disgust. He walked over to where the people of Doma stood, waiting for their King to come out with news of the Figaran person.

Koro went over to a friend's family to get something to eat. They were huddled around a campfire, rubbing their hands and talking.

'I won't trust Keyla for a second. I better watch her tomorrow, maybe ask Butz what he thinks about her...' With that, Koro joined the family to have some dinner.

"So where are we headed?" asked Butz.

Cyan thought for a moment. "Figaro is landlocked in the middle of the desert, so even if we approach the coast, it'll be something of a hike. I guess our best chance would be to get our hands on an airship. Since the Nautilus seems to be the most convenient one -"

Butz interrupted, "You think you can repair it?"

Cyan shook his head. "No, sadly I cannot. What of yourself?"

"I can pilot them, but fixing them is a bit out of my realm of familiarity," Butz answered.

Cyan stared into the noonday sky pensively. "Well then, I guess we'll have to find Setzer... last I heard, he set up shop on some island... what was the name of that place?... Well, it's to the west... I'm sure of that much."

Butz blinked. "Then we have a course, Syldra! Westward!" The great dragon turned towards the west and continued with her paddling unabated.

"You've always told me that you were a warrior of some skill. Care to duel with this old man?" Cyan asked.

Butz looked down. "Well, it's quite obvious that you are my senior in swordcraft, but I suppose it can't hurt... much." Butz quietly walked over to Ragnarok, and withdrew it from its sheath. He heard Sky Render awaken from its long slumber as well. Off to the side Koro watched with enthusiasm.

Cyan began with a feint to gauge Butz's composure under pressure. Yet unlike most other swordsmen, Cyan's skill allowed him to lunge heavily while feinting, which only added to the realism of the deception.

Butz was calm as the sword came, recognizing it as a fake strike. "He's testing me," Butz thought. At the very last moment, Butz drove Ragnarok foward, cutting through the false attack and very nearly gutting Cyan. But Cyan shifted before the blow contacted and parried it.

"Excellent. You most certainly are not an amateur."

Cyan decided this time to allow Butz to initiate the offense. Butz was more than happy to oblige. Butz decided to try something strange in light of the fact that Cyan would probably counter any normal blow. Rather than charge at the old king, Butz tried his sword dancing. The flamboyantly unnecessary twists and elegantly useless spins of the sword dance slowly worked him over to Cyan. Cyan had never seen this technique, but had not survived countless duels by worrying about the unknown. Sky Render cut into Butz's attack, but found no flesh. In fact, Butz closed in even more and found an opportunity to strike unimpeded. The dance became a robust overhead strike, but - CLANG! - was somehow blocked. Butz was amazed at how quickly Cyan had recovered from the mis-strike. Butz bore down on Cyan, knowing that he was much stronger than the king of Doma.

"Excellent! But before we go on, there is something I must tell you, Butz," Cyan stated confidently.

With a puzzled expression, Butz asked, "What's that?"

Cyan smiled. "I'm not left-handed!" Then he switched hands and pushed Butz back. This time Cyan came at him with greater force and velocity. Butz backed away while barely parrying the quick slashes. It didn't look good for Butz as he was backed into the Nautilus' edge.

"You're very good, king Garamonde!"

"Thank you. I practice and eat right everyday," Cyan responded.

Butz looked at him slyly. "But there's something I must tell you!"

Cyan looked on with expectancy. "What? You're not left-handed, either?"

Smiling at him, Butz answered, "No... I haven't changed my socks in a month!" He followed that with a flying kick to Cyan's chest. Cyan dodged most of the kick, but Butz got a good piece of him; more importantly, Cyan's back was now to the edge. Butz stood up from the kick, then tossed his sword to his right hand. "But you're right. I'm not left-handed either."

Koro, meanwhile, pantomimed the moves of the two blademasters while watching the duel. His sword swished through the air, cutting up imaginary opponents.

"What's going on?" asked Keyla, who apparently had just woken up.

Koro stared at her suspiciously. "Oh, it's you... well, they're fighting, isn't that obvious?" he said with a bit of a sneer.

Keyla decided that she was not in the mood to deal with Koro's attitude, at least not this early in the morning. Koro and Keyla turned back to watch the fight.

The duel went on with neither man gaining an advantage. Although Cyan's performance appeared better, he was also tiring out faster. Suddenly, after parrying Cyan's last attack, Butz declared, "I yield to you, Cyan; you are clearly the better!"

"You what?" Cyan asked in surprise.

"You're wearing me down so I already know the outcome," Butz answered, acting weary. "Besides, this fight has given me an appetite."

"Alright, we'll break for lunch; still, it was a good workout," Cyan conceded.

Koro seemed disappointed that the fight was over, but Keyla was quite relieved that the clanging in her head would finally cease. The quartet went down for lunch.

***************************************************************************

The remainder of the day was quite tranquil. Butz had found an old manual for the Nautilus, and spent most of his time sifting through it. Koro convinced one of the woodworkers to help him carve out a sword, and was busy watching. The last couple of days had been quite hard on Keyla and she was resting and recovering her strength.

The door to her quarters creaked open slowly. She reached for her sword reflexively, but remembered that Cyan would not allow her access to any of her weapons. She looked around, and finally settled for an old iron candle holder. A figure squeezed through the ajar door and slowly crept towards her. Gathering her resolve, Keyla gave the intruder a solid smack over the head. "SQUAWK!" it yelled. Keyla pulled the hood from over her lantern to get a better look. Before her lay the largest yellow chocobo she had ever seen. Boco was probably annoyed, though his unconsciousness prevented any expression of his ire. Keyla remembered her open pack, which contained carrots and turnips for Bork, who had been confined to another section of the Nautilus.

Boco had a rather large bump on his head when he awoke. Keyla brought him some turnips and fed him. He quickly forgot his anger, and savored the food. Keyla asked, "So what's your name, boy?"

Boco had picked up Figaran considerably faster than Butz. "Squawk squawk chirp Boco chirp."

"Boco, eh? Well, just remember never to sneak up on me like that again," Keyla said with a laugh.

Boco would remember; even Butz had never hit him over the head that hard.

"Here!" replied Koro.

"Emerald Dragon?"

"Here!" replied Taro.

"Pond Scum Dragon?"

"You couldn't have thought of another shade of green?" asked Toro.

Jiro curtly replied, "Just answer the roll.".

"Okay, fine, here!" answered Toro.

"Good, and I, Forest Dragon, is here, I mean am here... whatever!" spoke Jiro in frustration.

"Okay, the secret, clandestine, hidden, and all around really obscure mission for today is... anybody got an idea?" asked Jiro. Cries of "assasinate the shogun" and "declare war on the Blue Dragon clan" filled the air.

"Ahem!" screamed Koro. Everyone turned to him. "How about we find some real food. I'm sick of fish!" he stated. It was followed by grunts of agreement.

"Very well, it has been decided that the mission of the day is to get our hands on some decent munchies. As clansman Koro has made the suggestion, the honor of the mission goes to him."

"I will not fail the clan!" Koro said confidently.

Jiro looked at him. "I know, but should failure come, you must not risk the exposure of the clan. Therefore, if you are captured, you must eat this!" he said as he handed Koro a a little pill-like object.

"A brussel sprout? YEEEEUUUCCCKKK!" remarked Koro as he took the little vegetable.

"Yes, something so yucky that it is guarenteed to kill you should you fail the mission," Jiro stated confidently.

Koro stared at his incentive not to fail, but put it in his hidden pocket anyway. "I will not fail. Well, I hope I won't anyway."

"Alright. Since we've decided we should now return to identity as normal kids, in case anyone is spying on us. You know what they say, the walls have noses, or was that cuisinarts... anyway, let's just adjourn," said Taro.

"Agreed," everyone stated.

As they left, Toro thought aloud, "There must be another shade of green that I can think of."

Koro silently returned to his room to prepare. He put on his black ninja uniform, but decided not to go with the mask, since he had problems breathing in it. He pulled out his shinai and a few eggshell pepper bombs. Finally he took out a headband that his mother had made for him. He thought about his parents... how they just suddenly disappeared from his life. He would be a good, no, great ninja one day, and avenge them. He thought about little else, though his friends thought only of the clan. They had been lucky; at least their parents had survived. "No, a ninja thinks of the mission first," he said to himself, and he was off.

***************************************************************************

"Ow! Damned low ceilings," commented Butz. It had been a long and fruitless day. He got up early in the morning in attempt to repair the very much ruined Nautilus engine. He was fortunate to find the repair manual, but whoever wrote it must have failed penmanship miserably. Compound that with the fact that he had no idea of what he was doing and you have his current situation. It had been a week since they went to sea, and his Figaran had improved steadily. "Hi Spam!" he remarked to the king of Doma as he entered. "Think you can give me a hand?"

"Me? Oh, no, I'm horrible with machines," he answered. In truth the time with the submarine had been a sheer stroke of luck. Cyan had absolutely no mechanical aptitude whatsoever; in fact, he generally disliked machines.

Butz's lips almost formed a pout, but then he said, "How about you, Keyla? Know anything about machines?"

"You want her to help? Why don't you just ask her to drill holes through the keel?" ranted Cyan. The week at sea had done little to soften Cyan's feelings towards the Figaran soldier.

"At least Butz seems to trust me," she thought.

Butz yawned ans asked, "What time is it, anyway? This thing needs windows."

"It's about eight, you want to go eat now?" asked Keyla.

"She'll probably poison us," mumbled Cyan.

"No you go ahead first, I'll catch up later," Butz answered.

"Okay," answered Keyla to the only one on board she could call a friend.

"Good, no one noticed me!" thought Koro from behind one of the hydraulics. He quietly reached out for the plate of Choco-bos. "Almost there!" he thought. "Just a little farther." Unfortunately, he could not reach them. He tried once more inching even closer this time, and then Butz picked one up and handed it to him.

"You know, asking is pretty effective too, Koro," said Butz.

"Zounds, I have been discovered!" thought Koro. Quickly he dug out the brussel sprout of DEATH. He stared at it, gulped, and then swallowed... "What a gyp, I'm not dead! I swallowed the thing - eeewww - and I'm not dead," Koro stated cringing at the thought of the brussel sprout.

"Yeah, you'll probably live forever now with a brussel sprout aftertaste in your mouth," Butz commented while laughing.

"Not funny, eh, well, you'll never take me alive, copper... I mean Butz." Koro answered. "I am a master ninja!"

Butz stared for a while and then said, "Oh, you're a ninja? Where's the mask and everything?"

Koro stopped. "Well I'm not a master ninja yet, but I'll be one some day!" he stated proudly as he turned to look at nothing. "Butz?" he asked. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. Koro turned around to see Butz hanging by his legs on a rafter behind him, Butz waved to him upside down. "How'd you do that?" Koro asked excitedly.

Butz moved into a pensive expression for a few seconds and then said, "Sorry, kid, trade secret!".

Koro's eyes widened. "You mean you're a ninja?"

Butz flipped down from the rafter. "Well, I have a degree, if that's what you mean."

Koro's eyes dilated further. "Could you teach me to be a ninja?"

Butz placed his arm beside his chin for a moment. "Well, I don't know. I mean, you shouldn't finalize all of you options so soon, Koro"

"Huh?" asked Koro.

Butz began, "Well, you could be a lot of things! You could be a great scholar, and learn everthing the world has to offer. Or perhaps a poet, or even an engineer! God knows we could use one."

Koro was about to say, "No! I wanna be a ninja!" when suddenly a messenger shouted, "Butz, get on deck quickly! We have a real problem!"

***************************************************************************

Keyla looked into the night sky with a spy glass. As the formation approached, it became clearer. "A Black Chocobo legion, definitely!" she called to Cyan.

"Damn! Butz sent Syldra away! He won't be able to call her again until next daybreak!" Cyan answered.

"Do we have any soldiers on board? It looks like a hundred chocobo riders!" Keyla began again.

Cyan made ready to accuse Keyla of some betrayal, then Butz came up. "So what is it?"

"Figaro's chocobo riders... maybe a hundred," Keyla intoned solemnly.

Butz considered the options. Magic would probably sink the Nautilus, and the conditions were wrong for geomancy. Fighting was out of the questions, and letting them get close would be suicide.

"I'm going to need lots of turnips, maidens tears, and some tonic! Quickly!" he shouted.

Keyla and Cyan stared at each other and asked in unison, "What for?"

"Chocobo aphrodisiac."

By this time Butz was already sifting through his packs. "Yes! Chocobo aphrodisiac! Now could we begin looking?"

Keyla stared blankly.

"Just do as he says, girl!" Cyan ordered as he began to open the hatch to the lower deck. "Koro, come, let's head to the kitchen. I'm sure we have some turnips! Osric, search the storage rooms for some tonic... come to think of it some onions will help us with the tears," he continued as he made his way to the kitchen with Koro.

"Now we have to figure out how we're going to hold them off!" Butz stated as he pulled a few beakers from his bag.

Keyla, appearing confused, asked, "Well, won't the mixture stop them?"

"Temperature isn't right. We'll need perhaps twenty minutes to do this." Butz stated evenly.

"Twenty minutes?! They'll be on us in fifteen at the rate they're going," Keyla protested.

Butz turned to her and said, "So do you have any ideas?".

With a moment of contemplation Keyla answered, "The Nautilus is a submarine, correct?"

"Was," Butz corrected.

Keyla began again. "But it's still waterproof all around, right?"

Butz, recognizing what Keyla was suggesting, said, "And if we can't get it to resurface?"

Keyla looked up into the sky. "Have you got any other ideas?"

"No," Butz conceded.

In an instant they were below deck. Keyla checked to make sure that the upper hatch was tightly sealed. Butz, meanwhile, found Cyan, Koro, and Osric.

"Turnips!" replied Cyan, holing up a large sack.

"Tonic," answered Osric with his hands on a rack of potions.

"Maiden's tears!" Koro said with considerable pride. "We couldn't find onions, so I told everyone about the situation and it depressed them to no end. Now please tell me that I was lying through my teeth."

Butz looked at them with some reserve. "Only if the other half of our plan works."

Cyan waited for an explantion, then decided not to. " Which is?"

By now Keyla had arrived. "Which is to submerge the Nautilus," she answered.

"You wish to drown us?" Cyan asked with some frustration.

Osric, maintaining some composure, said, "How will we even get the Nautilus to dive? We haven't fixed it yet."

"The Nautilus is not totally down. A few of the systems still work, though the resurfacing mechanism would not be one of them," Butz explained.

"So we're dead either way! Let's at least fight!" Koro shouted excitedly.

"Hold, child. I believe Butz was ready to explain further," Cyan said.

Butz took a deep breath. "We're going to set some charges below us. I hope we'll maintain some semblance of buoyancy, though being right side up would be nice too."

Osric's brow furrowed. "So we're hoping that this old hunk of metal will survive this? Sounds ridiculously lethal."

Butz stared at him. "Well, it's a warship. I'm sure it's been through worse. Have everyone fasten themselves."

Cyan finally agreed. "I'll go find the mines and set them out."

By now everyone had their assignments. Butz was busy mixing their chemical weapon. Keyla was at the helm beginning their dive. Cyan and Osric began to launch out the time-controlled mines. "Twenty minutes, Osric," Cyan told his right hand man.

"Done, sire," Osric answered. "How close should they be?"

Cyan shook his head. " Good question... I guess half a meter, but hey, it's only our lives at stake.".

Koro entered the quarters. "Everyone strap yourselves down to something!" he warned. He ran down the halls shouting that until his legs and throat were both worn.

***************************************************************************

"Sir the Doman warship is sinking!" yelled one of the wingmen to Captain Vinark.

Vinark pondered carefully. A ruse most likely, but intelligence had said that the ship was not functional. "Circle it and try to get a better look!" Vinark ordered.

Twenty minutes passed.

BOOM. The hunk of steel that was the Nautilus flew from the waters, spinning madly. The few chocobo riders unfortunate enough to be doing close searching were caught in its wake. The Nautilus' bulk knocked them into the cold waters.

"Oh God!" screamed Keyla, clutching onto the seat belt tightly.

"Ouch!" Butz screamed as he prevented the container of aphrodisiac from damage with his body.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed the boy ninja, who seemed to be enjoying it throughly.

The Nautilus' airshow soon came to a close. Everyone immediately rushed to the hatch after figuring out that they had landed upright.

"Uhh, I guess I forgot to figure out how we're going to deliver this," Butz chided himself.

"Do they have to eat it?" Koro asked.

"No, we just have to spray them with it," Butz answered.

Keyla arrived with Bork, who appeared quite dizzy. "Open the hatch!"

Koro leaped up a few times, unable to reach it. Butz finally accommodated her. "Aw, I could have done that!" Koro mumbled.

Butz smiled wryly. "I'm sure you're right."

"Can you fly, Bork?" Keyla asked.

The purple chocobo nodded his head while trying to figure out which of the three Keylas was the real one.

Butz handed the sack to her. "Good luck. We'll hold them off so that you can get over them."

Keyla nodded while trying to figure out which of the three Butzes was the real one. She promptly mounted Bork and took off.

When Cyan arrived, Keyla had already taken flight. "Hope she doesn't screw this one up." Butz was quite glad that their relation had progressed to this from "Die, dog of Figaro!"

The two men went to the main deck. By now the chocobo forces had recovered from the little flying ship affair, and made ready to descend upon them.

"They'll probably try to pick us off from a distance with autocrossbows," Cyan stated as the chocobos dove at them reckless abandon. "Er, maybe not... CLEAVE!" A blade of wind cut through the sky, and left halved black chocobos as the only mark of its passing. Cyan paused to rest. By the time he would be able to do that again, the chocobos would overrun them. Butz, meanwhile picked up a bow and quiver, and began filling the skies with as many arrows as one archer could.

Eventually Cyan's prediction came true as the chocobo riders returned Butz's arrows a hundredfold with their autocrossbows. By now the pair had ducked below to take cover. Butz took a risk again to look over head. A few were about to land, while others stood ready to shoot down any opposition to their advance. Butz nocked an arrow, and put it through the chest of one of the riders. He then ducked under another barrage of shots.

In the sky, Keyla met with some problems of her own. A pair of wingmen had noticed her, and approached. She was fortunate that it was dark, or they would have known that she rode a purple chocobo instead of one of their black ones. "Why aren't you in formation?" one of them growled.

"Uh, I was caught near the flying ship... barely escaped," she answered nervously.

"Oh... alright, let's return." said the wingman. Then his companion blurted out, "I know you, you're Captain Brillare!" With that, Keyla opened fire on the two and sent them both to the Eternal.

"C'mon Bork, just a little higher," she asked mentally.

"Looks bad out there Cyan." Butz decided without looking back down. "Damn, out of arrows!" Butz cursed, then dropped the bow in favor of Ragnarok. "Knew we should have sent her out!" Koro whispered.

Butz was almost ready to agree when the air began to fill with Figaran troops. The black chocobos dropped their riders, and began forming pairs. Their sudden rise in hormonal activity drove them back to dry land. The only ones unaffected were the ones on board. Cyan and Butz were only more than happy to take care of them. Their strike was quick and quite brutal, and left little to be identified.

***************************************************************************

The battle died down after that. The forces of Doma had won the day. Keyla and Osric spent the rest of the night interrogating their sole prisoner. Cyan and Koro attended to the very much batter denizens of the Nautilus.

"Hmmm, wonder what this is?" Butz thought to himself while peering at a rather large red button. Rather then tiring from the battle, Butz found himself more energetic than ever. He decided to take advantage of that condition by doing as much work on the Nautilus as possible. Though he knew better, the temptation to press unmarked red buttons was just too great, especially large, shiny, unused ones.

A portion of the wall slid open. Butz picked up his lantern and entered the formerly walled-off section of the Nautilus. The room appeared to be some sort of study. A rather impressive library took up a large portion of the northern wall. All manner of maps and charts decorated the rest of the room. One which caught his attention immediately was a detailed blueprint of the Nautilus's engine. "This could help a lot," he thought to himself.

The only other fixtures in the room were a heavy, well-used oak desk and a small bed. On top of it sat a pair of glasses, and a small journal: "The log of Captain Nemo."

"Looks like a long night," thought Butz as he picked up the journal and rested on the bed.