Kurune traced a circle in the dirt and mumbled an incantation. "Fire1," she whispered. With the addition of her Mysidian Shades, Kurune was able to cast some simple black magic. A small blue-green flame came to life. She smiled and looked over to her brother.

Kurago smiled back and opened his Journal. The warmth of the fire was welcoming, and the ghostly light was good enough to read by, but Kurago couldn't help a moment of concern. They hadn't been able to forage any wood in the desert, so the fire literally fed on the sand beneath it.

Kurune pulled her Mysidian Shades down over her eyes and adjusted her magical handiwork, adding a purple flicker. When she was satisfied, she looked up, at Kurago, at his Journal. "Kupo!" A yellow aura hung over the book's pages, a clear sign of magic. Kurune flipped her Shades over her head. "There's something wrong with your diary," she said. "It's emitting magical energies!"

Kurago stopped writing. "Journal," he insisted. "Lali, every great adventurer needs to write down his story." Kurago addressed his sister's concern: "Don't worry, sis. This journal is sylvan, and the magic encrypts the words as I write them. No need for a lock and key."

Kurune was surprised at first, but then she remembered that the diary... er, journal was a gift from Sierra. She should have guessed that it would have some magical properties! Sierra was a sylph and Kurune's classmate. They had learned to cast magic together.

"Okay," she said. "Just making sure it's not cursed or something." She opened the Tent flap. Her cousin Kulock was softly snoring. She went inside and poked her head out. "Are you sure you wanna sleep outside tonight?" she asked. "The fire won't last till sunup, and it can get quite cold out."

"Lali, that's what Snow Mufflers are for," replied Kurago. "And you know me. I haven't seen stars this bright and clear since Dragoon-Dragoon." Kurago referred to the mountains that overlooked their forest home in Elf Grove.

"Okay. Sleep tight, kupo!"

"Good night, sis." Kurago heard the tent flap close and the quiet solitude return. He looked at the blue and green tongues of fire and the purple flicker. He hadn't actually lied to his sister; his words *were* being encrypted. Kurago returned to his Journal and continued writing.

* * * *

In Elf Grove, Sierra opened her Diary. Like the one she had given Kurago, hers was also sylvan. She turned the page and read:

"Lali-ho, my sweet Sierra."

Sierra smiled. Kurago always started his "letters" the same way. She read on:

"I think Kurune is trying to set the Marandan Desert on fire..."

Sierra giggled. She was lucky tonight. Normally, she didn't get a chance to read Kurago's letters until after they had been written. But tonight Sierra read each word as Kurago wrote them into her Diary. She sighed.

* * * *

Kurago finished his letter. He'd written to Sierra every day about his adventures beyond the Kupoppo River. And everyday he would read stories from Sierra about their moogle home in Elf Grove. He closed his Journal and secured it in his pack.

It was getting late. He snuggled into his sleeping bag and counted the stars. There was Fenrir Minor; off to the west was the constellation Terrato; was that Carbunkle overhead? Kurago couldn't think straight. He yawned, blinked a few times, and sank into a deep slumber.

* * * *

Sierra thought about writing back, but Kurago sounded half-asleep already. Anyways, she normally wrote in the mornings to keep evenings clear for incoming letters. She decided to read some of Kurago's past messages instead. She flipped the pages:

"Kipi, Sierra, kipippi! We're having so much fun over here, kipi, and Mog knows all the coolest places to play Moogleteers, kipi, and we saw a Sasquatch, Sierra, a Sasquatch! Kipi, He was as tall as twenty grown-up Moogles, kipippi! But we're Moogleteers! Kipi! And Mog said all four of us could take him on, kipippi, and we did, and we beat him up, and the Sasquatch cried, and, and he gave us his bag full of green cherries, kipi, and..."

* * * *

That was one of Kurago's earliest letters to Sierra, and Sierra didn't believe a word of it. Lali, she thought, Kurago sure had a non-stop imagination back then. What with visiting Mog in the Narshe Mines and playing Moogleteers all the time, Sierra was surprised Kurago hadn't already slain a dragon by then.

Oh, well. Sierra skimmed the pages of her Diary for something more realistic:

"Oh, Sierra, I really, really wish you could've come with us today. We had so much fun, kipi, and I kept on missing you all day. You wouldn't believe how high we climbed today, almost to the very top of Dragoon-Dragoon Peak! And we camped out on Fallen Angel, it was so high, and I couldn't see the village down below until Kurune showed me. It was so small, kipi! And Wolf Lake looked like a wolf, and I could see beyond the Kipi River... and, and, now it's all dark and scary, and even better than before! There are a kipillion stars in the sky, a kipillion! And you couldn't see half as many down in the village, kipi, and Kurune is showing us all the neat ones like Paladin, and Ifrit, and Bismark, and..."

* * * *

Kurago had said 'Kipi River,' but it was really 'Kupoppo River,' and the village was officially called Elf Grove. Sierra had been sick that whole week, and Kurago really cheered her up with his many letters. She now turned to the following day's entry:

"Kipi, look what I found, Sierra. An herb! Kurune and Kulock found some too, and now the Elder can make you all better, and we can play all day again, and guess what I found! An Aura Lance! Kipi! Kurune says I can keep it cuz it was found in the Dragoon fighting place. We took all day to find it cuz it was on the other side of Dragoon-Dragoon, and Kulock got lost in the caverns, kipi, and Kurune couldn't find him, and there were all these Dragoons on the other side, and they were dead, and I found an Aura Lance, kipi, and..."

Sierra remembered Kurago bringing back his Aura Lance and enough herb to choke a chocobo. The Elder had mixed a healing potion for her. Then, after examining the Lance, The Elder had declared it was haunted, and Kurago would have to return it. But the Aura Lance had been found on the fields of Dragoon Base 02. Kurago had first rights due to the arcane laws, and besides... a haunted Dragoon Aura Lance was so-o cool, kipi!

* * * *

Sierra rubbed her eyes. Lali, Kurago's penmanship really made for poor reading. Sierra skipped over hundreds of letters to find one where Kurago could properly grip his chocobo quill:

"I've gone and done something so... exciting, that I just gotta tell someone, and I tell you everything. Just don't let Kurune know; she'd clip my wings, lali!

"Today Kulock and I climbed Dragoon-Dragoon Peak, up as far as Fallen Angel Ridge. Kulock tried to stop me, but you know the stories about flying moogles. I had to try, lali!

"I insisted that I would meet Kurago down below at Lake Wolf. As you know, Lake Wolf is a ways away and falling straight down wouldn't get me there. I really thought I could fly there with my wings, so I yelled 'Lali-ho!' and jumped off. Lali, was I wrong! I fell like a rock.

"I fell halfway down the side of the cliff face before the air just grabbed me... Lali, it's like on a windy day when a strong gust gets a hold of your wings and throws you backwards. Only I was thrown upwards. Sierra, I was flying!"

Kurago had later told her that he had been too scared at the time to turn, dive, or do any other flight maneuvers. When he had passed high over Lake Wolf, he couldn't do anything, and he couldn't land until very near the Kupoppo River. The River Patrol normally kept monsters away from the moogle side of the River. On this day they picked up Kurago and sent him home for being too young to go adventuring.

* * * *

After his first jump, Kurago had made Fallen Angel a daily habit. Sierra had joined him on several of his jumps to help him with his aerobatics, but she saw that Kurago did more gliding than flying. She never pointed this out so as to spare Kurago's feelings, but it became a mute point once he got his DragoonBoots. Sierra turned the pages of her Diary:

"I got them, Sierra, I got them! DRAGOONBOOTS! I came home today after our flight, and lali, there they were in my room. Isn't this great? I tried to thank Kurune, but she kept on saying, 'I have better things to buy than silly old DragoonBoots!' Lali, do I have the *coolest* sister in the world or what? Let's go, Sierra! You're not busy tonight are you? I wanna see how high I can *jump* with these babies..."

Sierra had often spent her afternoons giving Kurago flying lessons, and her mornings were normally reserved for magic and Runic techniques with Kurune. On the day Kurago received his DragoonBoots, Sierra and Kurune had cancelled their morning practice.

The Narshe merchant was making his monthly visit to the village; it used to be weekly before the world fell apart. The merchant would deliver letters from moogles in the Narshe caves, carry news of the war, and, of course, sell a good chunk of his inventory.

Kurune was concerned about her cousin Kulock who had been gone for over half a year. Sierra had followed Kurune to the merchant to hear the latest news: "Fanatics Build Monument to Kefka" but no word of Kulock.

Kurago had also shown up, but to pet the merchandise-laden chocobo. When he saw the brand new pair of DragoonBoots, he had to have them; all the DragoonBoots he had previously found around Dragoon Base 02 were falling apart and useless. But lali, the price tag: 9,000 GP!

* * * *

A light wind entered her open window and played itself along the drapes. The cool breeze snapped Sierra out of her reverie and turned the pages of the Diary for her:

"I won't say 'goodbye,' Sierra, just a heart-felt 'Lali-ho!' I know we still haven't said everything there is to say. I'm just glad you could see me off from Fallen Angel. I landed safely across the River and have met up with Kurune and Kulock. Tomorrow we head for Narshe. I'm already missing you, Sierra, but I promise you this: I'll write you everyday in a letter... and seal it with a kiss! Lali-ho, Sierra..."

Kurago was still considered too young to go adventuring, as was Kurune and Kulock, but he had managed to stay airborne and avoid the River Patrol. Kulock had snuck back across the Kupoppo River quite easily, and Kurune still had enough magic to Vanish and Float herself quietly across.

Sierra closed her Diary. Lali, she thought, the sun's coming up! Sierra quickly disheveled her bed covers. She wrote a short note and left it downstairs: "Mom and Dad. Got up early and went to Fallen Angel. Love, Sierra."

She stretched herself and stepped outside. Kurago was still sound asleep in his sleeping bag. The fire had died out, leaving a circle of sand-turned-to-glass in its wake. Just at the edge of the camp, Kulock was sitting by a tablet of wet sand.

Kurune walked up to Kulock and watched. Normally the desert sand was too dry and loose to hold together. Kulock had muddied the sand and flattened an area appropiate for drawing. He was using the point of his Mithril Knife to etch lines and draw shapes.

"It's a Map of Elf Grove," he said.

Kurune nodded, "It's pretty good. Could use some color, though." As with all Moogle Maps, Kulock had drawn his with north pointing down. Kurune still had trouble with the upside-down Human maps.

Kulock took out a pack of coloring sticks, and chose a light blue. It was the same shade as both his cousin's eyes, although sometimes Kulock would see flecks of green in Kurune's. He began scraping bits of color onto the lower portion of his Map where the Northern Ocean was:

+-----------------------------------------------+

:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^LS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^**^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^^^^ || NM^^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^ || O^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^ EG || ^^^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^ O || ^^^^^^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^ || ^^^:

:^^^^^^^^^^ || ^:

: ^^^^^^^^^ FA ** || (monsters!) ^:

: ^^^^^^^===O ** || ^^:

: O===^^^^ LW || /~~~~\ ^^:

: DB2^^^^^^^^^^ || /~~ ^^^:

: ^^^ ^^ || /~~ ^^:

: ^^^^^\ /~~~ ~~ ^:

: ^^ \ /~~~ s :

: /~~^ ~~~~~~ e + w :

:/~~ Northern Ocean n :

+-----------------------------------------------+

O points of EG= Elf Grove aka Moogle Village

interest; FA= Fallen Angel Ridge

DB2= Dragoon Base 2

|| NM= Narshe Mines

||

|| river; Kupoppo River keeps monsters away!

** inland lakes; LW= Lake Wolf

* LS= Lake Sierra

^^ mountains; Dragoon-Dragoon Peaks are to the left

^^

===== tunnels; Caverns connecting FA and DB2

/~~\ shoreline; Northern Ocean is at bottom

Elf Grove was a forest region enclosed by mountains on three sides. Kulock pulled out a brown and started with the Dragoon-Dragoon Peaks in the east. It included Fallen Angel Ridge, where Kurago had made his first flight, and Dragoon Base 02, where a lot of old equipment could still be salvaged.

Kurune looked at the Map to make sure everything was there. Dividing the land in two and separating Moogles from monsters was the Kupoppo River. Its source was Lake Sierra; her Sylph-friend Sierra had been found orphaned there. The only other lake was Lake Wolf just north of their hometown of Elf Grove.

The monster-side of the River was dangerous, but the hidden reefs of the Northern Ocean made it the only route out of Elf Grove. The Narshe Mines were on that side of the River.

"So what's with the map?" asked Kurune. "Couldn't sleep?"

Kulock shook his head. "It's *this* map that tugged at my dreams last night." He spread out the fake-looking treasure map that Kurago had bought at Maranda. "I had a revelation... all this ancient and modern writing made me dismiss this map as a fraud, but I just realized that someone went to a lot of trouble to make it *look* that way."

"What are you saying, Kulock?"

"I think this treasure map is real! I think Mog may have gone after the treasure, and more importantly, I think we can beat him to it!"

* - * - *

It was snowing in Elf Grove and the surrounding Kupoppo River valley. The snow lay only a foot in most places, but snowdrifts reached as high as four. With so much snow on the ground and more falling from the air, the Moogle children had lots of fun stuff they could've done. They could've played MagiWar, making snowballs and casting 'Ice1' on each other; they could've built armies of SnowMoogles all ready to charge the enemy; and there were even some low hills for making Moogleteer Runs. But today Lake Wolf had frozen over, and all the little Moogles wanted to go icing.

Kurune attached Kurago's flag to his back; it consisted of a thin, flexible pole some three or four feet in length with a bright and colorful 'flag' waving from the top. Kurune watched for a while as Kurago and Kulock chased each other in circles around the frozen lake. Almost all the Moogles wore orange flags which kept them from disappearing into the snowy background. A few of the older Moogles wore yellow flags and kept everyone else playing nice.

Sierra flew in from the center of the lake with yellow streamers around her ankles. "Lali, I think we just lost Kulock," she told Kurune. Kurune didn't look happy. This was her first year wearing a yellow flag, and no cousin of hers was going to get himself lost.

Her brother Kurago slid gracefully across the ice, then tripped into a snowbank beside Kurune. Kurago was completely buried in snow except for his flag which still waved in the air. "Lali, I betcha Kulock fell through the ice!" remarked the little orange flag.

"Don't be silly!" said Kurune. "The ice over Lake Wolf is thick enough to hold up a sasquatch, kupo!" Kurune started to dig her brother out. "He probably just wandered off by himself. Sierra, I want you to search the south shore and Elf Grove; Kulock might've gone home. I'll take a look up north."

Sierra nodded. Kurune grabbed Kurago's leg and pulled him out. "Lali, can I look by the river?" asked Kurago.

"No," replied Kurune. "You stay here in case your cousin shows up."

* * * *

Kurune had gone well north of Lake Wolf looking for Kulock but came up empty. There was no Kulock, no lively orange flag, and no little Moogle snowprints on the forest floor. Kurune was on the verge of ending her search; Kulock was probably at home or back at the Lake by now. But then again...

Kurune hiked a bit further north and spotted a flash of color. It wasn't orange, but then most bright colors stood out noticeably against all the winter white. Kurune edged closer, and her first impression was... a monster! A monster had crossed the Kupoppo River!

Kurune made to run for help, but the monster looked up at her with its twinkling green eyes. Kurune was transfixed, her heart beating loudly in her ears. Monsters rarely crossed the River, and the River's magical waters never froze over like Lake Wolf.

The monster tried to speak but didn't; it tried to stand but only sat up enough to lean by a tree. Kurune had unwittinly walked within striking distance of the creature's sword. She saw that it was more Moogle-like than monster-like; it was no bigger than Kurune herself and had a pair of feathery white wings; and although it carried an unsheathed Flame Sabre, Kurune could only see good within its green eyes. The creature looked a lot like a human child, and Kurune was no longer afraid.

"You're not a monster," she said.

"No. You and I are different, but we are not monsters. I am an Esper... my name is Cherubim." Cherubim leaned forward away from the tree. He flapped his wings and hovered a moment before landing carefully on one leg. "May I ask your name, fair lady?"

"Kupo, I'm... er, Kurune," she replied. "Are you hurt?"

Cherubim hopped back to the tree and sat back down to give his feet some rest. He sighed, "I am dying... "

"Don't exaggerate," Kurune chided. "It looks like it's only a sprained ankle." Kurune had been taught a Cure1 spell by Sierra, which she now put to use. "Cure1," she called out.

The swelling in Cherubim's ankle subsided enough for him to stand. "Thank you... Kurune," he said. "But I am serious. An Emperor Gestahl is hunting down Espers such as myself. The experiments are horrible, Kurune. We must stop the experiments."

* * * *

"This is the passageway I used to escape," said Cherubim. "If we're lucky, we can use it to slip into the heart of the Magitek Research Factory."

A part of Kurune still thought they should have returned to Elf Grove and organized a real strike force; but Cherubim had insisted that there wasn't time and that a swift attack would be more useful than a strong one. With the help of some Float magic, Cherubim had flown them both north into Vector, the Empire's capital.

* * * *

"This should be it," said Cherubim. He pushed open the iron grating and dropped to the floor. He gave Kurune a hand out of the ventilation shaft then hurried to a doorway. He whispered to Kurune, "We're in luck... no one's home.

"Inside is the first lab. There will be tanks, and some will hold Espers like myself. Do *NOT* free any Espers, Kurune. The lab is Esper-proof: any Esper in that room and not inside its tank will trigger a city-wide alarm. Leave the Espers alone, Kurune. Is that clear?"

"Yes, but..."

Cherubim held up a hand. "Get to the steel door at the far end of the lab; it leads to more labs. Here is the security code for the door." He handed Kurune a scrap of paper and resumed briefing her:

"Start with a captive Esper as far from here as possible, and open its tank. When the alarm sounds, I will move in and start opening tanks from this end. Kurune, if we can free just half the Espers, the war will be over!"

Kurune was visibly shaken as she tried to absorb, or deny, everything around her. Cherubim bent close to her ear with a simple plea, "Trust in yourself, Kurune..."

And Kurune did. She ran head long into the lab. The Esper tanks were actually giant glass tubes, and they lined the walls of the long room. Almost all were empty, but Kurune didn't stop running until she'd reached the far door.

She grabbed the door and pulled; it didn't open. She turned around, trying to think clearly and breathing rapidly from her dash. She looked around her for the first time and saw only two active Esper holding tanks. The other Espers had to be on the other side.

Kurune read the numbers off the scrap of paper Cherubim had given her and punched them into the square panel by the door. But when she hit the 'open' switch, an alarm went off. Lights flashed and sirens wailed.

Cherubim darted into the room. He stopped short when he saw the steel door still firmly shut. "What happened?" he asked, but he didn't wait for an answer. "Try the numbers in a different order... they must have changed the code."

* * * *

Kurune began haphazardly hitting buttons while Cherubim worked to free the other two Espers. A mixture of *chung, chung* and *clang, clang* could be heard coming from the outer room. First one, then two Magitek Armors stepped into the lab, blocking their only exit.

"Halt! Intruders!" shouted one of the mech-riders. He switched on his remote communications while swiveling his cannons. He spoke rapidly, "We have an Esper escape in progress and Returner infiltrators. Repeat. Returner infiltrators in the Factory."

A burst of cannon fire shattered a row of holding tanks. One of the freed Espers rushed forward and engulfed the closest Magitek in sulfuric fires. The second Esper charged into the advancing columns where Magitek crossfire would only take out more Armor.

Cherubin unsheathed his Flame Sabre. He shouted back to Kurune, "Get that door open!" Then he engaged the next two Magitek Armors, cutting through to the inner machinery in one and jumping on top of the cockpit of the other.

* * * *

Overall the three Espers were able to hold off the Magiteks within the confines of the laboratory. But this couldn't last forever, and Kurune needed to get the door open. She jammed in another sequence of numbers: *click, click* *grrrr* Kurune could hear the locking mechanism slide back.

The door opened only to have more Magitek Armor clamor in. An unfashionably-dressed man also entered with an angry scowl across his face. One of the new mech-riders addressed him: "Sir Kefka, what are your orders?"

"Cut them... " Kefka began, but then he spotted Kurune by the door panel. He seized her by her wrist and lifted her clear off the ground. "Uwa ha ha!" he laughed. Pulling out an ornate knife, he called out, "Throw down your weapons, Espers! Or I'll cut up your pretty little friend!"

Cherubim had heard the door open only to see Kefka take Kurune hostage. "Nooo!" he cried. He hurled his Flame Sabre at Kefka and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Kurune felt Kefka tug her sharply to the left and saw a Flame Sabre spinning towards her. Then she felt the air slam into her, and the whole room snapped into an eerie focus. Everything passed before her eyes in an impossibly slow dance: the Flame Sabre took a full minute to complete a rotation, a Magitek cannon pulsated for 30 seconds before discharging an Ice Beam into a nearby Esper, and Cherubim was nowhere to be seen.

Kurune heard Cherubim call her name: "Catch the Flame Sabre, Kurune, catch the sword!" The Sabre was now within reach of Kurune's hand, and it still moved frame by frame so that Kurune had no trouble avoiding the sharp edge. She caught the hilt instead and snapped out of her trance.

She spun around in Kefka's grip and whipped the Flame Sabre to lightning speeds. She didn't know if she was going to severe Kefka's arm or decapitate him; she ended up cutting deep into the Magitek Armor standing beside Kefka. Kurune easily pulled the sword back for another strike, but Kefka dropped her and fled behind row after row of Armor.

Kurune could feel Cherubim guiding her hand as she dismembered and pushed back the horde to mechs. She forced her way into the second laboratory. There were dozens of Esper holding tanks but no Espers! They were too late; the captive Espers had been spirited away before the steel door had opened.

Kefka was at the far end of the room operating some controls. He eyed Kurune then pulled down a switch. Kurune's quick reaction saved her as the steel door slammed shut.

* * * *

She was in the first lab again, and the first thing Kurune did was run the door panel through with her sword. She quickly assessed the situation: only one Esper left, and he was falling back. Kurune cast 'Cure3' on the Esper and herself.

A Magitek fired a random volley, but Kurune caught the Bolt Beam with her Sabre. She charged on top of the Magitek's cannons and slashed at the mech-rider. Another Magitek swung behind her, swatted Kurune off, and sent her Flame Sabre clattering across the floor. The blow had been hard, and Cherubim leaped out of Kurune's collapsing body.

"Get her out of here!" yelled the other Esper. He looked rejuvenated from Kurune's Cure3 spell. "I'll hold them here as long as I can... " He sent fires raging through the closed-in Magitek Armors and sent them into a blind confusion.

Cherubim caught Kurune in his arms. "Float!" He sped past the Magiteks and pulled Kurune into the smoky ventillation shaft.

* * * *

Cherubim set Kurune gently down in the snow-covered forest just outside the town of Elf Grove. "I fear I have shortened your life, dear Kurune," he said. He bent down and cast several spells on Kurune, including Cure3 and Life3. "You are the only person to show me kindness in this world, and I thank you."

"But... " Kurune stammered and tears welled up in her eyes. "The Espers... we have to go back..."

"No, Kurune," Cherubim softly whispered. He took Kurune's hands in his own and kissed her. "Everybody has a part in this war, and you have fulfilled yours. Remember, Kurune, I will always be with you. Farewell, fair lady... "

He walked around the cave slowly, unbeknownst to himself, to look for a good place to sleep. He found a smooth, straight place on the floor next to his carving of a great moogle friend he once had.

Umaro laughed to himself, sounding like a grunting pig, at the thought of a moogle and a sasquatch being friends. Everybody knows moogle children are told fairy tales of sasquatches eating the bad little moogles. He sat at his freshly chosen bed and remembered the day they met, with a smile growing on his long, purple lips.

* - * - *

Umaro stood in a forest at a green cherry tree. He picked a couple, putting one in his mouth and the rest in his sack. After a few seconds he could already feel his power growing from this magical fruit.

He heard whispering and his sensitive nostrils could smell the moogles behind him. He was curious what they wanted, but did not feel scared or threatened.

A small moogle head popped out from behind a tree and three others followed with the same movement. Umaro could hear mutterings of Kupo! from where he stood. He noticed that all four of the moogles were children.

Out of the silence, aside from a few doves singing, a loud cry of Kupo! was heard. All four moogles came running toward Umaro at top speed. They stopped ten feet before him.

Moogle #1 was holding a Ninja Star, getting ready to aim and throw at the huge sasquatch. Moogle #2 picked up Umaro's sack and ran back towards the tree with it. Moogle #3, a girl, ran after the second one, too timid to do much else. Moogle #4 was doing a dance of some sort, but stumbled and cried out in pain.

Umaro's arm burst with pain. He looked at where the pain radiated from and saw the point on a Ninja Star had spilled his blood. He pulled it out and glanced where Moogle #1 had been standing. Umaro grinned unconsciously; the moogle was already running away.

"Mog! C'mon Mog! You're gonna get eaten, Kupo!" the moogles screamed excitedly from the tree. The three were a safe distance away, but their friend Mog still was ten feet away from the sasquatch.

Umaro walked over to Mog, seeing his face full of fear, his eyes wide. The sasquatch bent down, knees popping, and scratched the moogle's head on it's little tuft of hair. Mog laughed playfully, all fear gone, and showed Umaro his wound.

Umaro picked another green cherry, and rubbed it's sweet inside on the moogle's scraped leg. Mog jumped up and told the moogle thief to leave the bag of cherries. They all ran off happily, excited to have seen a sasquatch. After that Mog visited Umaro at least once a week.

* - * - *

His heart still warm with memories, Umaro put himself down upon the bed and fell asleep peacefully.

The old man spoke. "Umaro."

The sasquatch was confused. This dream seemed too real. He felt the ground beneath his feet and he smelled an aroma he had never smelled before, enter the cave.

"Umaro. I am the sage, Tellah. I come to you from the great beyond. What you smell is my dimension."

Umaro was frightened. He took a few steps backward, but bumped into something hard. When he looked to see what it was he was unable. He felt the shape and could tell it was his bone sculpture of Mog.

Too scared to say much else, he muttered, "Uhhhh."

A small chuckle escaped Tellah's mouth and then he continued with what he was saying,"Do not be afraid, timid sasquatch. I have not visited your world to harm you. Rather, I would say, to ask a favor of you." Umaro's fear stifled a bit with these words.

"I have been appointed by a force, more powerful than you can imagine, to tell you that there are three friends of Mog's who will be waiting in Maranda. If you were to ask them why, they couldn't give you an answer. I have subconsciously told them to wait. But, they will not wait for long. This is why you must hurry to Maranda."

Umaro took Tellah's words in slowly and asked, "Uhhhh... why, boss?"

"There is a mission they plan to take on. They need your power or they will fail." Tellah explained.

Umaro understood. He did not know why he understood or why he was agreeing to meet them there. Yet, he had a feeling deep inside that the mission they were about to be on was now also his mission. So, he nodded so the sage would know he agreed with what was just said.

Without another word, Tellah's image returned to the great beyond and Umaro woke up.

Umaro picked up all his treasured belongings. His leather sack (half emptied of the vegetables), one snow muffler for himself and another 'just in case', and his bone club. He left the Blizzard Orb behind, as it had lost most of its power.

He was about to walk out the opening in the wall, when he decided to take a quick glance around the cave to check for anything he might have forgotten to pick up. He glanced at the Mog sculpture a couple of times and decided to bring it. It would make his sack heavier but he liked to have the presence of his friend around to remind him to keep going. Of course, there was the necklace he was wearing around his neck. He reached up to touch it; he only felt a dull beat of magic radiating from it, as his mind played the memory past his eyes.

* - * - *

"Kupo! Umaro!" Mog yelled toward Umaro. He came running over, jumping and dancing. "We did it. Kefka is gone!"

Umaro's grin was wide, all his big teeth jumping out at Mog. He wanted to give some encouraging words but his mouth was unable to speak them. As the moogle got closer, a sadness appeared in his eyes.

"But, Umaro. I must venture out on my own for a while. I will not be able to adventure with you for... I don't know how long. I will miss you and I want to give you something to remember me by while I'm gone. Kupo?"

Mog handed Umaro a necklace carved from bone. There were pretty brown beads mixed with a few blue ones. When the necklace touched Umaro's hand, he felt magic radiating strongly from it. His nose even tingled, the magic was so strong.

"Uhhhh... okay, boss." He slipped the necklace around his furry neck and bent down to scratch Mog's tuft of hair. He picked Mog up onto his shoulders and they joined the others' celebration.

* - * - *

The sadness that he had seen in Mog's eyes was in his as he took the sculpture and placed it in his bag. He thought about the journey ahead and walked through the cave door toward his destiny.

Umaro remembered the surprise on the face of the captain when he had once attempted to travel by ship. The surprise turned into a scream and every passenger on the ship was running around frantically. He guessed they weren't too used to seeing a big ball of fluffy white hair with legs. After that he had to find a new way to travel. The way he found was underground.

Umaro came upon what he was looking for, a large pile of rocks stacked against a wall. They were blue rocks that flaked apart and worms inched their way out of them. He leaned over slowly and started to unpile them. His minutes of work revealed a small hole in the wall and it grew larger as each rock was removed.

He crawled through when there was a hole of about two feet. He landed on the other side with a hard thump and a grunt. He stood, ignoring the dust and dirt matted on his fur, and with rocks, started to hide the hole the best he could from the opposite side.

He started down the path, which in his head he simply called the Underground Tunnel, and was careful of the decline which led him deeper into the earth. He estimated his walk to Maranda to take a day or so. He would actually overstep Maranda and have to journey through the desert.

Out of nowhere, there was a flash of blinding light in the sasquatch's eyes. He stopped, confused. Then, the lonely image of Tellah appeared before him with a blurring glow around him.

Umaro continued walking because he wanted to arrive at his destination in the dark, so he could hide his huge figure with the night. Tellah stayed the same distance away and seemed to float before him. Umaro cocked his head, trying to discover how this was possible.

"We meet again, kind sasquatch. I only come to you to tell you, you can end your travelling at the Maranda desert." Umaro blinked thoughtfully. "But you must explore the desert fully before you rest this night after the sun falls from the sky."

Umaro nodded, amazed at his faithfulness to this stranger. He blinked again and the image was gone with a slight stir of the dust. He continued to push his feet out in front of him as if it were light in the tunnel. Sasquatches never need a light; their eyes lead the way.

He walked all during the day and smelled the night fall. The dew and mist increased around him, making the hair over his brow stick to his face and cover his eyes. He brushed it back with his hand several times before he reached a second pile of rocks which served the same purpose as the first. The only difference was their red color.

He travelled through them the same as before and landed in the sand on the other side. The air cleared once he was free of the dark tunnel.

He began to explore the desert as soon as he stood, remembering Tellah's words. He was unsure of what he was going to find but he pushed on feeling the closeness of what Tellah meant for him to find.

His youthful eyes had noticed a slight smudge in the sky. Looking through a view scope, he let out another "Kupo!" But then he focused the outer lens. He saw the silhouette of a large bird circling back and forth over the desert. "Kupo..." His spirits sank lower, lower than any time since he'd met Mog. He had never actually seen one before, but he was sure that he had just spotted some sort of vulture.

He wondered what had ever happened to Mog. Watching the vulture wait out its prey was depressing. He didn't feel like sitting by the window anymore. He picked up his Moogle Stuffy and held it. "So what happened to all your friends?" he asked. "They were supposed to find Mog for me, kupo..."

* * * *

Kurago let out a bit more line and his Phoenix kite rose higher into the stratosphere. Lali, he thought. He wasn't about to say so openly, but he actually enjoyed it... taking some time out from jumping monsters and searching for Mog, that is.

The kite swerved some, and he gave it more slack. Shaped like the legendary fire-bird, the kite soared higher. Kurago mused to himself. There wasn't really any high ground in the desert. It would take quite a while for him to climb to the kite's altitude. He wondered what the winged Esper could see from way up there.

He absent-mindedly released some more line, and the kite began plummeting dangerously. "Lali!" He sprang to his feet and hurriedly rewound the string. The kite fell even faster. Kurago's hands became entangled. "Lali!" He started running, hoping to restore some tautness to the string.

* * * *

"Whatcha doing, cuz?"

Kulock smiled a bit. He knew Kurune didn't mind the day off -- too much. She was probably dying to ask, 'How's that treasure map coming?' Kulock chiseled out some sand and ignored the unspoken question. "It's a sand castle," he said. "What do you think, kupo?"

Kurune gave the castle a contemplative look. It was as tall as a Moogle, and had several towers, including some separate from the castle itself. There were miniature soldiers on the castle wall and miniature soldiers patrolling on miniature Chocobos. "It's very detailed," she said.

Kulock was etching in some tiny lettering over the main gate. "I'll call it Figaro Castle," he announced proudly.

"Isn't there already a Figaro Castle?" asked Kurune.

"Kupo, this one will be the desert castle."

* * * *

"Get out of the way! Make way! Lali-ho!" Kurago ran passed Kurune, a blazing-red Phoenix snapping at his DragoonBoots. Kulock dove out of the way as Kurago hurdled over Figaro Castle, gracefully knocking down a tower.

"Kupo, my castle!"

The Phoenix kite swooped in, felling Kurago before digging itself into a nearby sand dune.

When the dust settled, Kurune asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Lali, my kite!"

Kurune threw her hands up in the air. "'Kupo, my castle!' 'Lali, my kite!'" Kurago and Kulock snickered at Kurune's melodramatics.

* * * *

"Kipi, my knee..."

Sierra picked up the little Moogle. "Just a scratch," she said. "Cure!" She kissed the little moogle, tightened his harness, and gave his kite a boost of wind magic.

"Kipi, thanks, Sierra!"

It was a windy day up on Fallen Angel Ridge, and the half dozen or so brightly decorated kites didn't need Sierra's magic to stay aloft; it just saved little Moogle-feet the need to run-start their kites.

A strong gust rolled by, shooting several kites higher and lifting one of the younger Moogles clear off her feet. Sierra let out a sigh. A bit closer to the edge and the Moogle would have sailed right over. Pulling a Moogle up by the harness wasn't much fun, and sometimes Sierra thought they tumbled over the edge on purpose.

She let her attention wander over the variety of kites. Sierra counted at least eight, maybe nine: a scaly red dragon flew high above the others; one giant insect hovered nearby; several yellow Chocobos seemed to be a favorite; and there was even a Flying Moogle!

"Lali! How'd that one get there?" The Elder Moogle was going to have a fit! Sierra peered over the edge and looked down at the town of Elf Grove. She could just imagine the Elder returning her gaze and scolding her for allowing such a kite. After all, no one wanted to encourage young and foolish Moogles to leap off Fallen Angel. They could build kites and careen off the Ridge hooked up in harnesses -- but that had better not be a Flying Moogle kite up there.

"Kipi! Sierra, my kite's broken. Can you fix it?"

"Sure," said Sierra. She gave the kite a determined look, and commanded, "Cure!"

The little Moogle giggled hysterically.

* * * *

"Lali, I fixed it. The Phoenix rises once more." Kurago ran off and across the desert, lifting his kite into stiffer winds which traveled higher up.

Kulock watched the Phoenix's rapid ascension. He was wary of another Phoenix attack. After repairing the left-most tower and ordering an increase in the castle defenders, Kulock had commissioned Kurune to infuse the castle walls with a magic barrier.

"Take a step back, Kulock. I don't want the castle exploding all over you."

Kulock knew that Kurune had been prohibited from using her black magic in Elf Grove -- some sort of accident from what he had heard. He didn't want to find out just how wrong his cousin's spells could get, so he obligingly took a step back, then another.

Kurune recited another Fire spell. Although it looked to Kulock as if nothing had happened, Kurune could see a nice orderly pattern within the castle's sandy interior. She fidgeted with her Mysidian Shades. That should do it, she thought. Kurune was surprised by the amount of control she had over her Fire spells. Her Shades allowed her to orchestrate and fine-tune each Fire methodically. Now she needed to cast four more Fires on the outside of the castle walls.

"Fire," she called out. This time a small blue-green flame appeared just outside the walls. Kurune added a bit of violet to herd the fire in place as it grew in size.

"Kupo! You got one to work!" Kulock sounded genuinely happy for Kurune.

Kurune didn't let Kulock's excitement interrupt her. "Why don't you go Phoenix-hunting," she suggested. "I hear they bring back wayward spirits."

"Riiight!" Kulock equipped his Thief Glove and nodded at Kurune. "The castle is still vulnerable," he noted. "I'll attack and distract. You're in charge here until I return."

Kurune didn't want Kulock and Kurago playing roughly, but she was having trouble balancing all the Fire spells simultaneously. When Kulock had stealthily crossed behind enemy lines, Kurune whispered, "Fire!"

* * * *

"Kupo! There it goes again." The little boy placed his viewing scope over the Moogle Stuffy's eyes. "You see that? That vulture's back, kupo! And it just took another dive..." He took a quick peek and returned the scope to the Moogle. "And right there... a bit to the left... kupo, that's better. Do you see that column of dark smoke? Kupo, I bet..."

"Perseus!" The lad's father was calling him from the weapon shop downstairs. "Come on down, Perseus. The Impresario is here!"

"Kupo! You keep an eye out," he told the Moogle Stuffy. He picked up his piccolo flute, wielding it like a small sword, then he bounced down the stairs.

"Oh, no!" cried the Impresario. "The flute, the flute! You have ruined the flute!"

"Now, now," placated Perseus' father. He put away a Falchion sword he had been inspecting. "Be nice to the Impresario," he told Perseus. "It's a long ways to and from the Opera House, and he's not here to buy weapons."

"Kupoppo." Perseus held his flute in its proper grip and affected a bow towards his teacher. "Have you seen Mog yet?" he asked.

Perseus' father looked away; he wished the Impresario would just lie for once. Mog had promised to visit the Opera House on his way to Jidoor, so every week Perseus would ask the same question.

"Mog? Where is Mog?" The Impresario implored the ceiling. "I have an upcoming show, and it will be ruined if he's not there!"

The weapon shop owner sometimes wondered why he put up with the Impresario. "Now, now," he said. "Moogles are very fond of good music. Why don't you two go and play some?"

"Kupo!"

"Yes, I want to hear you play," said the Impresario. "Have you been keeping up with your lessons?"

* * * *

"Flying lessons?" That was the eighth request she'd had so far. Sierra gave an expression of serious consideration to the young Moogle. Just because she was a Sylph, everyone assumed she had taught Kurago how to fly.

Silly Moogles! Why didn't they just flap their wings and fly? If Kurune hadn't left her the only Healer apprentice in Elf Grove, Sierra would've gone adventuring; in fact, she knew some of the older Moogles secretly wished it had been Kurune who had stayed behind.

Hrmph! Bad influence, am I? Sierra nodded to the Moogle. "North shore of Lake Wolf. Midnight. If anyone else shows up, you're on your own."

"Thanks, Sierra. Thankupo!" The Moogle hugged Sierra, then ran down the rocky slopes of Dragoon-Dragoon.

Sierra looked guiltily at the kite-crowded skies. She knew she'd just started a fire she couldn't stop.

* * * *

The day was expiring. A fiery sunset fell on the Marandan desert. Kurune had exhausted the last of her magic, and a glass replica of Figaro Castle was the result. Colorful rays refracted off its surface.

"Kupo! Is it done?"

"Ouch! I wouldn't want to trip over that."

"That's right," said Kurune. "It's hollowed out inside and would shatter easily."

Kulock drew out a hand-held cutter and began adding details to the upper ramparts. "I've never worked in glass before," he said. "This is gonna be fun, kupo!"

* * * *

"You're quite an artist there. Mog was right when he said you had talent."

Perseus beamed with pride at the Impresario. "Can't we play something else?" he asked. "Opera music is so-o boring, kupo!"

"Hmmph! I don't want to hear you playing that awful Veldt rubbish, not while I'm still the Impresario. Besides," he tousled the boy's hair, "I want to be able to tell Mog just how much you've improved... when he shows up at the Opera House.

* * * *

"Maybe we should just head towards the Opera House," suggested Kurune.

"What for?"

"Yeah, what for?" Kurago chimed in.

Kulock flattened out the Treasure Map. "I've already got it deciphered, kupo. We can go straight to the treasure in the morning."

"Kupo!" Kurune hadn't expected this. "Why couldn't we have gone this morning?"

Kulock smiled sheepishly. "I had a castle to build."

"And it was perfect kite-flying weather."

"Well, we can't take it with us." Kurune indicated the glass structure. "It's too big to lug around."

"We can just leave it where it is," said Kulock. "The desert sands will eventually cover it up."

"Lali, and after we find Mog, we can retrieve it at Kohlingen!"

Kurune noticed twilight set in. "Turn in, guys. We have a big day tomorrow."

* * * *

That night, Sierra prepared wing exercises for her new pupils, Perseus hugged his Moogle Stuffy in peaceful slumber, and in their dreams, a chocobo-mounted Impresario galloped right through the Moogleteers' desert encampment.

"All aboard!"

The conductor peered across the empty station. He leafed through some papers, checked his watch, and gave the station another look. "Hmph... The Phantom Train is never late," he said to himself. He took down a lantern and stepped onto the platform. The locomotive shot out a jet of steam exhaust and idled impatiently. "OK, OK," said the conductor. He walked purposefully passed the waiting area, into the darkness beyond.

* * * *

"I guess this is it." He drew down the lantern's small flame. Although the chamber was far from being well-lit, the conductor could still make out the two most prominent features: a small, radiant spillage of sand and a Moogle lying next to it. He tickled the Moogle's feet.

"Kupo!... Kupoppo?" The Moogle sat straight up, yanking in his feet. "What gives... kupo?"

"Up and at 'em, Mog." The conductor shuffled some pages. "You don't want to be late."

"Kupo? Mog?"

The conductor eyed the Moogle. "You *are* Mog, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously.

The Moogle looked around the room. There was no one behind him. "Kupo, where am I?"

The conductor hesitated, then shrugged. "Close enough. You're Mog," he declared.

Mog blinked. "Kupoppo?"

The train conductor lifted out an official looking document and began writing. "Name: Mog..." His eyes darted to where the Moogle still sat but quickly returned to his overflow of paperwork. "...desert... er, cave... Maranda... cause of death: Sands of..." He finished writing and picked up his lantern. "Let's go, Mog. You don't want to be late."

Mog got to his feet. "Kupo? Am I late?" He looked a bit worried.

The conductor was growing exasperated. "The Train. I am the Impresario. You are Mog. The Phantom Train is never late... you don't want to get left behind."

"Kupoppo..." Mog patted himself unsuredly. "I don't have a ticket."

"You don't need a ticket....you're dead." The conductor held out a hand for Mog.

Mog stumbled backwards defensively. "Kupo! Kupo... po! I'm not dead!"

"Of course you are... that's you over there."

"Kupo." Mog looked longingly at the sparkling yellow sands.

"No, no!" cried the conductor. "Those are the Sands of Time. A word of advice -- though it can't help you now -- don't touch!" He turned Mog bodily. "That," he pointed, "is what remains of your corporeal self."

Mog faced a dull and dirty heap of dust. He felt like sneezing. "Kupo, am I really dead?"

* * * *

"Mog... my name is Mog... I'm Mog... Mog..."

"Prithee, whatcha doing?"

"KUPO!" Mog jumped ten feet out of his seat. He blanched noticeably. "Kupo! Don't do that!" He hadn't seen the boy sneaking up on him. Mog climbed nervously off the table and sat down. The rumbling of the Phantom Train was disquieting.

The kid stepped before Mog and executed an extravagant 14-point bow. "I am Owain Garamonde, son of Cyan Garamonde and faithful retainer to Doma." Owain hopped up onto the seat next to Mog.

"Cyan... Doma... kupo... I remember now. The Phantom Train; it was like... like a dream, kupoppo." Mog looked at Owain. "Kupo! You're Cyan's... you're... what're you doing here?"

"I'm dead." Owain hopped onto the table and spun around so Mog could see. He continued, "Kefka poisoned the people of Doma, but he couldn't poison their spirits!"

"But... kupo, I thought the Phantom Train was never late."

Owain dropped to the floor and pressed up close to Mog. "Shhhh!" He pulled on one of Mog's ears and whispered, "Don't tell the train conductor, but I'm a stowaway!"

"Kupoppo?"

Owain tugged Mog out of his chair. "Come on, Mog. Trains are cool!"

* * * *

Death stared blankly at the form 258AZ. It was missing almost every critical piece of information: date and place of birth; date, place, and cause of death; next of kin, living or deceased; etc. Death perused the top of the application: name... Mog.

He looked at the Moogle who fidgeted uneasily. "Certification of Death denied." Death affixed his signature and filed the 258AZ. "You'll need a 258AZ3b, window 5."

Mog got hold of the proper forms. He noted it had only one blank space, which he carefully filled in: M-O-G.

Death signed the 258AZ3b and placed it in an out-pile. "Look into the crystal orb, Mog. I will restore your memories..."

* * * *

Mog had never been dead before, but Owain seemed eager to show Mog all the sights. So for the better part of his after-life, Mog commuted back and forth on the Phantom Train.

"That was fun, Mog. I wish they had Moogles back in Doma."

"Well, you kupo could've behaved better." Mog and Owain were returning from a visit to Duncan's house. The Phantom Train didn't often make trips there, so it involved a lot of scheduling. "I thinkupo you scared Duncan half to death."

"Aw, come on, Mog!" Owain leaned back against the Moogle. "What's the point in haunting Duncan if he doesn't scream once in a while?"

"We *don't* haunt Duncan," Mog stated. "Duncan keeps those four graves nice and tidy, kupo. And those Moogles are very fond of him... no one's out to haunt Duncan, kupoppo."

The train turned sharply, spilling Owain onto his feet. "Even the train is against me!" Owain was dismayed. "Oh, alright!" He buried his face in his hands and begged Mog for forgiveness.

Mog saw right through him. "You can apologize by being kupo polite the next time we visit. No more dropping dishes, no more door-slamming, and no more howling at the moon, kupo... Duncan needs his sleep."

Owain spun around gleefully. "You have my promise as a loyal knight of Doma."

As the Phantom Train pulled into station, the train conductor rushed up the aisle. "You have an urgent meeting with Death, 9:40 sharp. Don't be late."

Mog looked over at Owain and shrugged. It was 9:38 already.

* * * *

"Yes, Mog. Please close the door on your way in."

Mog let the door silently close itself. He sat down and stared Death in the face.

"You're a model spirit, Mog. You've set an example for all dead people to emulate. Here."

Mog received a letter. He tore it open. "Kupo, I don't get it."

"That's your termination notice. You can keep your status for two, maybe three weeks, but then it's all over."

"I'm kupo confused." Mog scratched his head. "What gives?"

Death pulled out the most recently updated listing of the dead and laid it before Mog. "You're not dead."

* * * *

"Alas, who died?" asked Owain.

Mog shook his head and started walking. "I don't know. Death just kicked me off the list, kupo."

Owain was stunned. He quickly caught up to Mog. He looked the Mog over up and down, then he poked the Moogle.

"Hey, kupo careful!"

"Sorry, Mog. Just checking," Owain apologized. "You look dead to me," he added.

"Thankupo, Owain. I feel kupo better already."

"So are you alive?"

Mog thought Owain was going to poke him again. "Er... kupo." They passed through one of the city's stone walls. "Let's go see the Moogle Sages."

* * * *

"So where are we going to today, Mog? Are we visiting Duncan again?" he asked very innocently.

"Not today." Mog stared hard at the picnic basket. "There's an air battle over Thamasa... and Terra has just kupo died."

A low wail from the train was followed by its rapid deceleration. Mog helped Owain collect and put away their game. "We're here." Mog lifted Owain up off the train aisle. "Stay with your mom, Owain. I'll meet Terra and bring her backupo."

The station platform was crowded. There were many soldiers wearing the insignia of the Empire; a hodgepodge of unaffiliated warriors which Mog assumed were Thamasan; and civilians, women and children who made up the bulk of the newly dead. The Phantom Train was going to be packed.

Mog weaved his way through the crowd, hoping that Terra hadn't already boarded the train. At the far end of the platform, there were fewer souls, and Mog spotted Terra. He waved frantically to catch her attention. "Terra! Terra! Kupo!"

"Mog!" Terra bent down and squeezed the Moogle. "Mog! I didn't even know you were in Thamasa. Did you just die?"

"Kupo, no! I've been dead for a while now, kupo. I'm here to pickupo you up."

"That's so sweet of you, Mog. We can both pickupo me up then."

"Kupo, kupo?"

Terra looked at Mog awkwardly. "Oh, Mog! I'm Terra's Esper half," she explained. "I've been dead for some time now. I heard my human half had also just died so I came here to be together again."

"Oh, kupo!" Mog was astounded by his own perceptiveness. "That's why you're so pinkupo!"

The train conductor broke through the crowd and interrupted them. "Bad news, spirits. Seems the Big Guy goofed. Terra Branford is no longer listed as dead. Seems she took a wallop and is out cold but recovering." The conductor checked his watch. "Remember, spirits... the Phantom Train is never late."

"Kupoppo. And I was really looking forward to meeting Terra again!"

"Well, thanks for making a girl feel welcome, Mog." Terra put on an air of being slighted.

"Kupo! Kupoppo!"

Terra laughed. "It's too late to try and sweet-talk your way out of this one. Let's go, Mog."

Mog ran after the Esper. "Where're we going?"

"To find myself. Maybe now that one of me is dead, I can be reunited in spirit."

Outside the train station was the town of Thamasa. There were more airships in the sky than Mog thought possible. Terra's Esper instinctively led them aboard one of them. They immediately found Terra's body fallen on deck. She was still breathing.

"Look out! Kupoppo!"

An Imperial soldier crashed into the crates Mog and the Esper were standing on. The soldier's spirit looked up at them before jumping off the airship.

"Don't worry, Mog. You can only die once; twice if you're half-human."

"This is kupo dangerous." Mog took the dead soldier's sword and laid it by Terra's body.

"Why, thank you, Mog." The Esper smiled. She examined herself. "Looks like I took a major pounding," she said. "I'm not sure how to do this."

"Kupo, I'd like to talkupo with her... er, you," said Mog. "Is it kupo if I go first?"

"OK, Mog." The Esper stepped back. "Go ahead, but I better not come out of this half-Moogle."

Mog disappeared into Terra, and Terra's Esper half followed suit. Moments later, Mog came out alone. He kissed Terra on the cheek, closed her hand on the hilt of the sword, and raced towards the Phantom Train.

* * * *

The Moogle Sages had Mog stand on a burnt patch of ground. They formed a loose circle around the Moogle and began reciting poetry. A phalanx of Moogle Heroes looked on from a larger perimeter, their armors flashing through the heavy gloom. Mog blinked as he scanned the private gathering.

When the Sages paused to prepare the next reading, Owain slipped through the circle. "We heard you were leaving... are you dead?" he asked.

Mog was going to miss Owain. "Kupo good-bye, Owain."

Owain hugged Mog tightly. "My mom asks a favor." he said. He proffered a letter to Mog. "It's a favor to me also."

Mog turned the letter over: Cyan Garamonde, Doma Castle. "I'll be kupo sure he gets this. See ya, kid."

"See ya, Mog."

The sasquatch was straining to listen to the magic so intensely, he forgot to watch where his huge, hairy feet were stepping. He tripped and fell over a knee-high sand rock and got a face full of sand. His knees were scraped and bleeding, but he took no notice.

Umaro pulled himself up into a sitting position to rest for a minute. He was breathing hard and tired from walking all day, but he decided he must keep going. Not only because of Tellah's warning; the magic was fading from his ears.

As he got up to go he noticed something half buried in the sand. He bent down to pick it up and studied it with curiosity. It was some sort of ring he had never seen before. Its shape was similar to the rage ring, but it was made out of a very solid, light pink glass. In the moonlight, it gave off a fire orange shine. Umaro slipped it on his pinky finger. It was a little tight.

He continued his journey with more ease than before, due to the magic growing louder and seeming to boom in his ears after he had put the ring on. He took it off while he was walking, to test his theory, and his ears heard almost nothing. He slipped it back on and his ears boomed again. He thought the ring might enable other species to hear magic.

Out of nowhere, a camp appeared. Umaro saw a small tent and the remains of a fire. He walked quietly around the tent, to search for what had tormented his ears for miles, and then he saw it.

A glass castle, standing about three feet high, was giving off a blue-green shimmer. There was something engraved in it and tiny glass men and chocobos seemed to be strutting around in front of the castle. He sat down next to it, enchanted by its beauty, and picked up one of the chocobos gently. He didn't want to break it. He let out a quiet laugh and started to walk the figures around, having silent conversations between them.

Absorbed in his fun, Umaro did not sense that a small moogle was watching him. When Kurune first came out to investigate the shuffling she heard, she almost fainted when she saw a big ball of frizzy white sasquatch with his hair matted down by blood, dirt, and sand, walking around the camp.

She was going to wake her brother and her cousin when a ring on the sasquatch's finger locked her in her place. It started out a fiery pink and then slowly changed over to the same blue- green of her castle. She watched him play and realized he meant no harm to the camp and started to tip-toe toward him, so not to scare him.

Umaro was still playing with the small glass men and chocobos, when he smelled Mog. He glanced up and saw Mog coming in his direction. There was only one thing he could say to express how excited he was.

"Boss?" Umaro asked.

"I'm Kurune. Don't be scared," she said, trying to remember where she had seen this sasquatch before.

Umaro heard her speak and discovered that what he had just smelled (what he always smelled) wasn't Mog, but the smell of a moogle. He pulled his sack off his back (which seemed too familiar to Kurune) and pulled out his bone carving of Mog. Umaro brushed a green cherry off the statue.

Kurune now only a couple of feet away from Umaro, got a glimpse of the statue, before she saw the green cherry. She couldn't take her eyes off the cherry. She looked at the sack again and saw it was full of cherries. That was all it took for the memory of her childhood to come flooding back. How Mog had stumbled and how that scary sasquatch had so gently cured the wound. Now, the sasquatch didn't seem so scary.

She searched the sand and found an old bone which she had used to brush her hair and went toward Umaro, stopping first to appreciate the handiwork of the statue. She started to comb through the dirt and sand in his coat.

Kulock emerged from the tent with Kurago. They were both frightened for a moment but then saw Kurune behind the sasquatch, beckoning them over.

Kurago saw the statue of Mog and felt a deep comfort. Seeing the sasquatch and his sack triggered a memory he thought he had forgotten. Kulock remembered the same thing, but was unsure if this was the same sasquatch. All three moogles kept their memory private, going over it again and again in their heads.

Kulock went over and started to look for a scar on the sasquatch's arm where he had hit him with the ninja star. He found it and turned his attention to Kurune and Kurago. They were both discussing the necklace on the neck of the hairy thing. Kurago picked it up and read what was engraved on it in Mog's handwriting.

"For Umaro..." Kurago said, unsure.

Umaro nodded and said, "Okay, boss." He felt the moogles' fondness for him and he trusted them as well. He curled up on the ground and fell asleep, having pleasant dreams of Mog.

Somewhere on Kulock's treasure map was an "X marks the spot," and Kurago was standing on it -- a bit of volcanic strata jutting out of the desert. The igneous formation looked badly charred and contrasted sharply against the light yellow of the desert dunes. It was especially noticeable from the air. But standing no taller than the nearby dunes, it was probably easy to miss from the ground.

Kurago broke open his pack. There was very little in it to weigh him down. Kurago always carried less than he needed. He removed a magical rod -- something he definitely did not need -- from his belongings. He wasn't quite sure what it did because he hadn't paid too much attention when Kurune stowed it on him. It really didn't matter now. Kurago threw caution to the wind. He cracked the rod evenly across his knees and catapulted the two halves clear away..

A towering geyser of heavy black smoke erupted from the broken rod. It was accompanied by a pungent exhaust that spewed along the ground. Kurago picked up his pack and dove off the outcropping to avoid the approaching fumes. He opened his wings to slow his descent. He softly stepped onto the desert floor. He turned to face the dark tower of smoke.

There was nothing to do now but wait. The others still had a four or five hour hike ahead of them, if they didn't stop for lunch.

Kurago dropped his lance and sat down thumpingly. He had been acting petulant all day, even when no one was around to take notice. Now he decided he was feeling rather glum instead. He lay back and stared at the thin streaky clouds.

It was still morning, but the gritty sand was already warm against his wing muscles. Kurago closed his eyes and pretended he was back in Elf Grove, lying in his fluffy soft bed. He missed his comforting mattress. He missed Elf Grove. Most of all, he missed Sierra, lali...

* * * *

Kurune was growing worried. She rarely let the troubles of the world get the best of her. Everything will solve itself, she told herself, but today a little voice kept prodding at her. What troubled her in particular was Mog. He'd been missing for quite some time now. Despite Kulock's fervent belief that Mog was out treasure-hunting, Kurune knew this wasn't true. And Umaro's well-meaning insistence that Mog needed their help only aggravated her fears.

"Stop bothering Umaro," Kurune said sternly. Her apprehensions were undermining her good nature. She breathed in deeply, then stated in a more reasonable voice, "If the Goddesses wanted Umaro to carry you hither and thither, they wouldn't have given you a perfectly good pair of feet."

"Kupo, so that's what my wings are for!" Kulock said. He wiggled his wings at Kurune and smiled. "Besides," he slid off the sasquatch's shoulders, "it's all Umaro's fault... he walks too fast!"

Umaro really didn't mind giving Kulock a ride -- Moogles were so light -- and it was fun. He let Kulock hop off, then he slowed his pace considerably. Besides having a naturally longer stride than the Moogles, Umaro had been inadvertently speeding along quite briskly. He didn't want to dilly-dally when Mog could be in some danger.

"Kupo, I think that's it," said Kulock. They had just crested another sand dune. Before them lay more dunes and a singular discoloration to the desert yellow. As they approached the blackened outcropping of rock, Kulock guessed it to be a part of some recent upheaval. The breakup of the world came to mind. He also saw the opening of a cavem although it blended softly into the rock itself. "Kupo, where's Kurago?" he asked.

Kurune didn't answer immediately. Kurago was supposed to wait for them right here, and now Kurune didn't know whether to be worried for or angry at him for being elsewhere. She scanned the skies for her truant brother, but he wasn't practicing any aerobatics. "Why don't you go see if your cousin's fallen asleep topside," she suggested.

Kulock snapped a sharp salute then attacked the rock face. It offered plenty of handholds and footholds; in fact, there were enough terraces and oversized steps to make the climb easy. It was so unlike a sheer wall that Kulock reached the top in record time. He did a quick recon of the immediate area, then he made a horizon-to-horizon survey of the desert landscape. "He's not here!" he yelled. Kurune yelled something incoherent back. "'Bury the toad'?" Kulock was confused; there weren't any toads around.

He decided to take the quick way down and jumped. Although not as graceful as Kurago, Kulock had enough control to wing himself down gently. Umaro easily caught and set him down. "Thankupo, dude." Kulock nodded a military approval of the sasquatch's conduct then turned to Kurune. "This was all I could find up there," he stated.

Kurune pieced the two halves of the rod together -- a perfect fit. The last puff of magical smoke had been shorn away by winds almost an hour ago. By then they already known where they were going. Now they just had to figure out where Kurago had gone.

Mission: Daddy

The sun rose and seemed to push back the gray clouds in the sky. The rain had ended for the first time in weeks. The ground was still wet and it the humidity was damp and soggy.

Relm took out a picture and eyed it carefully. It was of Clyde Arrowny. Relm's father. A small puppy stood by the man and beside the puppy was Relm. She was such a small girl in that picture.

Relm picked up a peice of paper pulled a pen out of her pocket. She wrote quickly in cursive hardly readable. Strago couldn't understand why everybody had a hard time reading it.

It read as follows:

Dear Strago and Lile,

I've decided to go of by myself and find my father. I've waited for years for this oppertunity and finally I feel ready to go off on my own. I'll come back looking for you after I find my father. If you want to know, I'm headed for Jidoor.

Your Grandaughter,

Relm

She set it on the table next to Strago's bed and went downstairs. She then exited the inn and left Zozo. She was on her own. ***********************************************************************************

The ferry ride was long. Relm disliked ferries and the whole ferry business. The waves made her sick, too. The beds were lumpy, and there was no air-conditioning.

The ferry finally landed. It was at a dock near Jidoor. It was fairly new and had the smell of fresh maple sap.

Relm then took a chocobo to Jidoor. The ride was short and sweet. She was in Jidoor in an hour.

It was 7:30, so she got a room in the inn. The beds were very soft compared to the ones in Zozo. Just what Relm needed was some rest in a soft bed. She dozed off in 5 minutes. More dreams awaited her...

She checked out of the inn and rented a chocobo. She still had enough GP to last her two or three weeks at an inn.

She rode out of Maranda. It was very bright. The sun shone brilliantly in the sapphire sky.

Relm jerked her head to a sound of footsteps. She drew her Graedus and grabbed her Genji Sheild. The steps grew louder. She then heard a growl. No... not a growl. A whimper. A dog.

The dog was wounded on its side and was whimpering. Suddenly it started wagging it's tail as it spotted Relm. "Oh my gosh... I-I-Interceptor!" she yelled. "You've found me and-and..." She dismounted from the yellow bird and ran to the dog. She laughed and asked, "How did you find me? How'd you get hurt?"

Interceptor grabbed a piece of paper and sniffed it.

"Oh... one of my pictures had my scent and you tracked me down all the way here. And those are claw marks... probably from a stupid crawler thing." Relm said as she saw the picture. She then pulled out of her pocket a small bottle of blue liquid. She opened it and slowly dabbed it on Interceptor's wounds. "It'll heal in no time thanks to 150 GP. I got a big bottle of potion," she said to the dog. Relm then mounted the chocobo and grabbed the heavy dog. She put him in her lap and rode back to Maranda.

After a half hour at the cafe, the wounds were healed. Relm mounted the chocobo she had rented and rode into the desert, Interceptor close behind.

Relm explored and explored. Finally she came to small tracks in the sand. She followed the tracks and came to a small white winged creature in the sand. He was pouting and looked as though he was angry.

"MOG?" Relm asked out loud, surprised.

"AAAH! Hey! You scared me."

"Sorry," Relm said with a chuckle. "My name's Relm. You must know Mog? You sure do look like him."

"Yeah. I'm Kurago. I... What a cute puppy!" the moogle said. He ran over to Intercepter and petted him. Interceptor liked it and lay down.

"His name is Interceptor. What are you doing here? I'm looking for my father."

"I'm waiting for my fellow moogles and sasquatch. They're looking for Mog. Since you have a chocobo and everything, I was wondering if you'd take me to that cave way over there. See the smoke?" Kurago replied.

"Yes, I will, and yes, I do, in that order," Relm replied.

"Thanks!" the moogle shouted.

When they reached the cave, the sun was all the way up in the sky. It was very hot and blinding.

"This is it..." Kurago said politely.

"I don't know if we should just start exploring that cave without him. What if he shows up right after we go in and starts to worry about us?" Kurune answered.

They didn't have much time to talk it over before Umaro started towards the cave. He had felt Tellah point him in that direction. Kurune and Kulock ran after him, trying to catch up.

Umaro, Kurune, and Kulock entered the cave together. There was a tiny bit of light shining into the pitch black cave from outside. The two moogles stopped for a second to let their eyes adjust. Umaro waited with them, his eyes already prepared for the darkness.

"Ew, gross!" Kurune remarked as soon as she could see again. She was looking at the floor. Laying before them was a path of greenish-brown liquid which was oozing from the walls. Small bugs floated around on it, swimming happily, and an old rotted animal skull surfaced with a bubble as they watched.

"We have to walk through that stuff? I thinkupo not," Kulock declared. He had the same disgusted look on his face as Kurune.

Umaro chuckled silently to himself at what he considered to be their foolishness. His hair had been brushed the night before and he was cleaner than he had ever been, but he stepped into it without regret.

The slimy ooze was cold. To Umaro, it felt as if it was sucking his legs, like a thousand leeches. The insects on the surface scattered when he moved near them and things brushed by the part of his legs that had disappeared into the muck. He stopped a moment, just noticing the smell radiating from it. It smelled the same as his pile of old vegetables he had thrown in the corner of his cave.

He looked behind himself and saw Kurune and Kulock still standing in the same place, staring at him. Umaro gestured for them to follow.

Kurune swallowed hard and lifted herself off her feet with her wings. She started toward Umaro hovering two or three inches above the slime. She hoped her wings wouldn't tire before she reached Umaro. Kulock followed her lead, wishing he didn't have to.

By the time they reached Umaro, they both had their paws over their noses, trying to escape from the awful smell. They both grabbed onto Umaro's hair and climbed their way up to his shoulders.

"Thanks for the ride, my good 'ol sasquatch pal. I don't know how you stand walking in that stuff. Lali!" Kulock said.

Umaro continued to walk, each step taking longer than his usual slowness. The slime was thick and made it hard to walk. It was slippery too.

After a half an hour's walk through the disgusting mess, with little conversation between the three, Umaro finally saw an end to the oozy path. He was relieved, because he was very tired. Besides his full day of walking before and the little sleep he got last night, he hadn't eaten anything except green cherries for two days. He craved a big, juicy tomato.

Umaro tried walking a little faster. He wanted his legs out of this knee-high slime. He slipped a little more than five feet away from solid ground and the moogles went flying off him. He caught himself with his hands on the hard ground. He pulled himself out of the swampy muck and saw Kurune picking herself up off the ground.

There was movement in the greenish-brown liquid and Kulock's head surfaced from beneath it. He swam over to where Umaro was standing, and climbed out. Kurune started laughing at the two of them.

"You guys lookupo so funny!" she busted, staring at them. Umaro's front was covered in what he had just walked in and Kulock didn't have a patch of white fur left on him. She continued laughing, glad to have the opportunity. She needed a break from the nervousness of what they were going to find. By now she had forgotten about finding Kurago and only remembered Umaro's insistence on entering the cave. She had even felt the cave pulling her towards it.

"It's not fair, so stop laughing. You could have been thrown backward as well as me. It's Umaro's fault," Kulock pouted.

Umaro decided to put the ring he had found in the desert on. A faint, almost inaudible, magicpulse began to beat inside his head. He looked around him and noticed that there were small holes in the walls around him, shining the outside light into the cave's floor.

The light revealed beautiful, gold-colored bricks that lined the floor. They shined with a brilliant luster where the light hit. Umaro traced his finger along a brick, fascinated by their beauty. Kurune awakened him from his trance.

She commented, "Well, follow the golden brick road!"

Kurune and Kulock let Umaro lead. They could almost see his brain working. He took each step as if he knew they were heading toward something. They trotted along behind him, trying to keep up. Umaro moved noticeably slowly, but their legs were a lot shorter. They also felt they were heading toward something important.

Mog?

Umaro's legs were wobbly at first. His wet, pruned feet felt strange on the brick path. They left tracks of something green. He felt as if his body could give out on him any minute. He longed to be laying on his straw bed in Narshe.

It seemed as if they had been walking for hours when Kurune broke the silence by saying,"Umaro! Look at your ring! When you put it on it was clear. It's been turning a beige color as we've been walking."

Umaro hadn't noticed it, but he had expected it. The magicpulse had grown louder and was beginning to make his head hurt. He was about to take the ring off when they walked into a clearing. The walls were no longer on each side of them, they were now in the middle of a circular room with six paths leading different directions.

Already annoyed by being caked with dry green stuff on him, Kulock said, "This is just great. Now which way should we go?"

Umaro stood silent for a moment. He was about to give into his exhaustion when he heard Tellah's voice echo in his head, along with the insistent magicpulse.

"Use your heart, Umaro, use your heart."

Umaro turned in circles, trying to decide which path to choose. He closed his eyes and turned slowly, concentrating on Tellah's words. He felt his heartbeat go a little faster and he opened his eyes. He was facing in the direction of one of the paths.

"I know," Kulock exclaimed. "How about we use eeny-meeny miney-mo? It always works when I need to decide to take a chocobo or walk... hey, wait up!" Umaro and Kurune had already started down a path. "*I* thought it was a good idea," he mumbled.

They began to walk again, this path looking identical to the one they had just come from. After an hour of walking, they were all tired and Kurune and Kulock were beginning to think Umaro had led them the wrong way. Umaro knew he had picked the right path. The magicpulse had grown so loud he could hear nothing else. The ring had turned a milky beige color.

"My feet hurt. Umaro, I thinkupo you may have led us in the wrong dir..." Kurune stopped. The path had suddenly changed. They were walking through a doorway that opened into another wide circular room. This time there were no paths. Only a pile of sand, that sparkled the same color of Umaro's ring, with a broken hourglass standing beside it. Kurune stopped to read an inscription in the gold stone around the doorway.

She read it aloud. "Sands of Time."

All three could sense the sands' danger and didn't know what they should do. After ten minutes of standing around, searching the walls for more words, Umaro stepped toward the sand. He just wanted to touch it. He extended his hand toward it (his hair brushing it and sizzling off), almost touching it when the pounding in his head became unbearable. Between his exhaustion and hunger and the magicpulse, he fell backward onto the floor.

Kulock rushed over first. He ran a bit to close to the sand and his foot brushed by it. He was flung into the wall with a great explosion. He landed next to Umaro's foot.

Kurune came walking over, careful not to come too close to the sand. Her eyes were wide with fear. She thought they were both dead. Then, with a sigh of relief she noticed both of them breathing. Their chests rising and falling. Kurune removed Umaro's ring for a reason she couldn't grasp.

In awe, she said to herself, "They're both out cold..."

"Poor Kulock," Kurune sighed. "This just isn't his day."

She concentrated on a spell. "Cure!" she commanded. Neither Umaro nor Kulock got up. She waved Kulock's arm in the air and pushed against Umaro some but got no response. Kurune was puzzled.

She set her Mysidian Shades across her eyes, and the cave got very dark - except for a cascading of colorful magic from the Sands of Time. As she muttered another spell, a healthy blue shimmer of magic began to coalesce, but then...

"Kupo! That's dangerous!" Kurune cut off her incantation. The Sands of Time were disrupting her magic, making her spells useless. Kurune hefted Kulock up and pulled him across the cavern; she gasped from the exertion. How in the world was she going to move Umaro?

* * * *

They had spent hours exploring the cave. Kurago sat down and dug out some of the brown-green slime caked onto his DragoonBoots. Relm sat down also, wondering how she could have gotten into such a mess. She scratched Interceptor's belly. They had backtracked so many times; even Interceptor was lost.

It was getting late. They were about to wander around a bit more when they heard a loud *CRASH!*; tiny vibrations scurried under their feet. Kurago and Relm looked at each other. Interceptor let out a low growl, wary of some danger.

"What was that?" asked Relm.

Kurago didn't get a chance to answer. An ear-rattling roar thundered into the cavern. The whole world shook for a few seconds.

"A monster!" they both exclaimed.

Interceptor started barking wildly, "Arf! Arf! Woof! Woof!"

"Lali-ho! Let's go, Relm!"

They ran down the cave tunnel, unsure of what they'd find. Suddenly Interceptor barked, and Relm called out, "Kurago, wait!" Interceptor had taken a side passage. Kurago backtracked, and they followed Interceptor's lead. The narrow passageway opened up into a large circular cavern.

"Interceptor, halt!" Relm caught up with Interceptor and knelt beside him. She got a quick snapshot of the cavern. There was a monster all right... and two Moogles fighting it. One was already down, motionless on the ground. The other fended off the monster with an alternating shield-and-lance combo. But where was Umaro? Relm was certain Kurago had mentioned the sasquatch earlier...

* * * *

Kurago didn't see Umaro either; all he could see was the monster. It stood seven plus feet tall on a massive frame; it had the decay and rot common to the undead; but most disturbing of all, it was grotesquely shaped into a pseudo-Moogle form. The monster clawed menacingly at Kurune.

Kurago didn't pause for a second. Before the unholy monster could take another step, Kurago jammed his Aura Lance through its knee. The knee buckled, steadied, then continued to bend as the monster reached down for the lance. Kurago pushed sideways on his lance, struggling for firm leverage; he leaned forward, then gave a DragoonBoot-boosted kick.

Kurune hopped backwards twice then flung herself clear of the falling monster. *BOOM!* The monster was down. Kurune was elated that Kurago had shown up after all... and he had also brought help. Kurune crawled over to Kulock and shook her cousin roughly, but he was still out of it. She grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to a safe distance.

Relm finished a spell: "Fire!" Nothing. Something was wrong. Relm calmed herself and concentrated on a simpler spell: "Fire!" she called a second time. She could feel the magic... she knew the spell... but still nothing. Why wasn't her magic working? Interceptor barked and looked up at her expectantly.

Kurago hopped on top of the undead Moogle-imposter. "In the name of the Goddesses, die!" He raised his lance and plunged it downward. The monster rolled over, avoiding a nasty blow and nearly crushing the would-be Dragoon. It seized one end of Kurago's Aura Lance, and a one-sided tug-of-war ensued. The monster swung the lance and swatted Kurago into a wall.

"Interceptor! Go!" Relm's command sent Interceptor racing towards the monster. Interceptor leaped upwards, hitting the monster twice. The monster howled and snatched at the him, but Interceptor was back on the ground, ready for a second strike. He growled at the monster, dodged a jabbing Aura Lance, and moved in for the kill.

Relm didn't want Interceptor getting hurt. She drew her Graedus and issued a sharp whistle. Interceptor bolted around the monster and ran protectively to Relm's side.

Interceptor had the monster distracted, and Kurago wanted his Aura Lance back. He charged in for it. But the monster turned unexpectedly, its claws scratching out sparks against Kurago's Aegis Shield; more sparks flew as the Aura Lance also glanced off the shield. Kurago scrambled back up on his feet, hopped over a short thrust, then Dragoon-jumped up onto the high ceiling.

He landed feet-first on the roof of the cavern and crouched there upside-down. He had a bat's-eye view of the entire battlefield: Kurune had Kulock back on his feet, and they looked ready to rejoin the fight; Relm and Interceptor attacked the undead Moogle in a pincer movement; and Umaro... Kurago could see Umaro! The sasquatch was lying next to some stray desert sand, bathed in its soft beige light.

* * * *

Back on the ground, Relm and Interceptor hit the monster simultaneously, leaving it in confusion. It lashed out with its newly-won lance, first at Interceptor then at Relm. When Relm moved closer in, the monster pounced on her. Relm stumbled back. Interceptor jumped in, snagged the Aura Lance, and ran off with it.

A MithrilKnife darted in and ripped through the monster's arm. "Get Umaro!" Kulock shouted. "He's over there."

Kurago DragoonBoot-blasted himself off the ceiling. Relm broke away from the monster. Together they hurried over to a huge pile of fur. It was Umaro. His hair was mangled with the same green gunk that Kurago and Relm had earlier encountered. The sasquatch looked dead tired.

Interceptor trotted in and dropped the Aura Lance by Relm's feet. "Good boy," said Relm. She handed the lance to Kurago. "Let's wake the big guy," she suggested.

* * * *

Kulock still wasn't sure he had the monster's full attention, so he unleashed a flurry of Ninja Stars. All but one of the Stars found a clean mark. The undead Moogle cringed. Kulock pulled out his ThiefKnife, letting the monster draw in closer... then he launched it. The lightning-fast ThiefKnife slammed into the monster's chest.

Kurune circled around, outflanked the monster, and drove her Pearl Lance deep into the its side. The undead Moogle countered with a surprisingly quick two-hit combo. Kurune deflected the first with a raised shield; the second hit home. The monster raked her with its poisonous claws and threw her off to the side.

Kulock threw a Potion at the undead monster. He found a Tonic and threw it as well. He even threw some Soft. Then he got his hands on some Fenix Doo-Doo. The airtight jar of dark-brown goo smelled terrible -- it wasn't all too airtight -- but if it lived up to its reputation, the 'miracle of the century' would also be highly effective against undead creatures.

As Kulock turned to deliver it, the undead Moogle grabbed him by the ankle. Kulock twisted and kicked, but the monster snapped him upside-down and dangled him high above the ground. Then it licked him! The monster tasted Kulock, sizzling green muck and all, and grinned maliciously.

Kulock was so disgusted... he was so repulsed, he could have cried; instead, he heaved the jar of Fenix Doo-Doo into the monster's hideous smile. Broken glass lacerated the monster's face and acrid sludge worked its way into its un-flesh. It was an unwholesome smell.

Kulock lunged for the hilt of his ThiefKnife, which was still protruding from the monster's undead torso. He tore the blade out sideways then slashed upwards rapidly, once, twice, three times smiting the arm that held him. The monster was unhappy, and it pounded Kulock against some rocks to show its displeasure.

* * * *

"Interceptor! No!" Interceptor ignored Relm's outburst. He could see that the fight was turning bad; it was way too lopsided. Besides... Relm was safe. With a flurry of barks, Interceptor closed in on the undead Moogle. He bit and ran, drawing the battle onto himself. The monster couldn't cope with the onslaught and, in the commotion, threw Kulock away.

Interceptor was fast. He went high, then low, taking down the monster bit by bit. The monster swung haphazardly several times before connecting with a solid kick.

"Noooo!" Relm was horrified. Interceptor's body arced high into the air, over some sand, and landed in a crumpled mass. "No!" Relm ran over tearfully. "Interceptor, no!"

Kurune caught Kulock the best she could. They tumbled along the ground, then Kurune whipped out a Potion in each hand.

* * * *

Umaro sat up, a bit dazed. His muscles ached, his belly was sore, and something terrible was pounding in his head. And to top it all off, Kurago was yelling something incomprehensible at him. The little Moogle discarded an empty bottle and started gesturing at a rather large, undead, Moogle-like monster.

Umaro rose to his feet, picked up Kurago, and tossed him! Kurago collided with the monster like a runaway freight train. In the blink of an eye, he was clear across the cavern. Kurago somersaulted into the air and skidded to a landing.

Unfortunately, Umaro didn't have any more nearby Moogles to throw. There was a lot of turmoil all around. The monster seemed stunned by Umaro's initial attack, and now that he was on his feet, Umaro was feeling somewhat less disoriented. He pushed himself forward and engaged the monster.

Kurago skirted around the battle between Umaro and the undead Moogle. He also avoided the beige sands as he ran up to Relm and Interceptor.

"Cure!" Relm sobbed a bit, then repeated herself, "Cure!" Despite Relm's input of magic, Interceptor laid his head on Relm's lap and closed his eyes. "NO!... LIFE!"

Kurune got Kulock to stand up. Then they ran across the cavern to regroup with the others. Kulock tripped, and Kurune stopped to help him back up. Kulock tugged his Wing Edge out of the ground, unable to recall how he had lost it.

Umaro brought his Bone Club down across the monster's nose. He stepped back and swung again. The monster sidestepped and struck out with its claws. Umaro and the monster circled each other. Umaro could feel the monster weakening; it was more hesitant with its attacks. At the same time, Umaro wasn't sure if he himself would have enough reserve for a long drawn-out fight.

When Kurune and Kulock did reach Kurago, Relm was still calling out for a Life spell. Kurune didn't know who Relm was, but it was obvious the girl was trying to cast some magic. "You're too close to the Sands of Time," Kurune said. "It's corrupting your magic."

Kurago was by no means an expert in magic, but Kurune's words sank in. He scooped Interceptor up from Relm's hand. "Go help Umaro," he told Kurune. "Let's go, Relm!" They charged out of the cavern, as far away from the Sands of Time as possible.

* * * *

Kurune stopped short of re-entering the fray. Umaro now had the monster locked in a vise-grip, and the monster similarly had Umaro in counter-hold. Kulock returned next to Kurune.

"You didn't hit him," Kurune pointed out.

"They're too close together," said Kulock. "I had a better chance of hitting Umaro, kupo!" Kulock strapped in his Wing Edge and pulled out his ThiefKnife. "Don't worry... I'll get him this time," he stated positively.

"Hold it!" Kurune held Kulock in check. There was a flicker in the Sands of Time. Looking through her Shades, Kurune had noticed the Sands' magic blink out for a moment. "I'm gonna try some magic," she explained.

Kurune started a fire spell, but purposely let it hang open-ended. As she had expected, the undulating field emitted by the Sands prevented her from finishing the spell, and her own magic began to deteriorate rapidly.

"Is it working?" asked Kulock. He felt tuckered out.

"Fire!" Kurune saw an opening and completed the spell. A series of blue and green flames erupted around both Umaro and the undead Moogle.

Even with Snow Muffler protection, the fires were too much for Umaro's much-weakened state; he slumped to the ground immediately. The un-Moogle backed away from Umaro, then the Fenix Doo-Doo ignited. The monster burst into a raging inferno.

Kurago returned to the cave, ready to rescue everyone. He was disappointed when he saw the monster ablaze and obviously defeated. Relm happily carried Interceptor back in, receiving numerous wet licks for her troubles. Kurago and Relm both saw Umaro lying on the ground.

"Lali, did the monster get him?" asked Kurago.

Kurune felt guilty. Although Umaro actually looked to be resting very peacefully, there was still smoke rising from him. "Here." Kurune tossed two Potions towards Kurago. "See if you can bring him around, kupo..." She didn't bother telling him she'd just torched the poor sasquatch.

As for the undead and un-Moogle monster, it was on its last legs. It staggered to and fro. Then it collapsed... right on top of the Sands of Time. A new, brilliant, and angelic white blaze overtook the smaller fire that Kurune had started. It was hot and radiant, and it consumed all that was left of the undead flesh.

* * * *

The fight was over. Relm set Interceptor on the ground and kissed him. Kulock dropped his ThiefKnife and sat down heavily. Kurago opened a bottle of Potion and woke Umaro. And Kurune... Kurune watched as the magical pyre burned fiercely. She toned down the glare with her Shades - a really nifty pair of sunglasses - and she saw it...

Then everyone saw it. Out of the burning Sands of Time, a flaming white puffball leaped out. "Kipi! Kipipipipi!" Relm put her arms around Interceptor and held him back. Kurune cast an ice spell, but the "Kipi!"-screaming fireball zipped right passed her. Kulock hopped backwards defensively, then hopped forward again to retrieve his ThiefKnife.

The flaming Moogle finally tripped right in front of Umaro and Kurago; a tiny poof of smoke shot into the air. Kurago just stared at the baby Moogle, fire and all. A nudge from Umaro brought him to his senses. Kurago tipped a bottle of Potion and doused the remaining fires.

"Kipi..."