Chapter 11: Old Friends Are Silver, But the New Ones Gold
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    Albrook, the occupied city.  Morgan found that the security of the
establishment was in actuality a hoax.  The occupying troops were little
more than fresh from their weaning and had given him no problems as he
snuck into the city.  The cloak had helped...  Morgan shoved the thought
aside.  Lately, his mind kept being drawn back to the "gifts" he had
recieved from Akfek to help him in his hunt.  Winding through the
streets, Morgan turned down the narrow alleys that led him to the main
cafe of the town.  It was easy to avoid the Magitek soldiers patrolling
the streets.  They had no imagination to deviate from their designated
patrols, and it hadn't taken much convincing at the gatehouse to
discover what they were.  Morgan smiled grimly at this thought and
lovingly stroked the balde at his side.  It was pure black like the
cloak.  Another "gift" from Akfek.  The sword and the cloak seemed to
disguise him in darkness and render him invisible even to the Magitek
Armored soldiers in the street.  He wrenched his mind away from the two
items once more.  "Better concentrate on finding Leon," he thought.

    The cafe appeared in front of him.  The Silver Goose.  There would
be sea captains inside.  And one of them had to know where Leon had gone
to.  He went to enter the establishment to do a little more
"convincing."  In the moonlight, it almost seemed as if he had a cruel,
bloodthirsty smile upon his lips.

* * *

    Leon looked about himself.  Moving from the dim cavern into the light
of day had been a surprise to him and his eyes were still adjusting to
the light.  Beneath him, he could vaguely make out a set of ruins with
only a few small buildings standing beneith him.

    "Hey you!  Are you alright?" Leon heard someone call.  Turning
around, he saw a form coming toward him.  His eyes were still adjusting
to the light, so he was unsure of what the blob coming toward him was.
A man?  A woman?  He wasn't sure.

    "Yeeees," he managed to state.  His eyes were adjusting and he saw
that the form was in fact, a woman, with some strange bundle on her
back.  "I'm fine," he clarified.

    "Interesting armor," she stated.  "Where did you get it?"  The
statement drew his attention upon the armor that he wore.  Somehow, the
energies of the goddess had changed his dark suit into a red jacket.
"Ahem!"  The woman cleared her throat, bringing his thoughts back from
the cosmos.  Leon suddenly realized that he must look incredibly stupid
standing there still as a rock.

    "It was a gift."  Well, that was partially true.  "By the way, what
town is this?" He asked gesturing toward the burning ruins before.

    "You'd do better to ask what town this WAS.  Very well, it used to
be Thamasa..."

    Leon interrupted, "It STILL hasn't been rebuilt?  Wasn't the battle
a few weeks ago?"

    "Did you get hit on your head?" she asked.  "It just ended a few
hours ago."

    That statement cleared many thoughts in Leon's mind.  He still had
to get to Narshe and there might be some ships that would be willing
to leave.  It also meant that he might be able to find Alaric among the
rubble and right now, he seemed like the best choice for getting to
Narshe.  "What of the gargoyle?"

    "That was killed by some Returners.  Did you hve some friends there?
They might be in one of the shelters that were erected."

    "Show them to me," Leon asked.

    "Whoa, wait one minuite.  Do you think I don't have anything better
to do than to take a stranger to the shelters?"

    "I'm sorry," Leon apologized with embarrassment.  The surprise had
made him a little uncourteous.  "Hi, I'm Leon.  Would you take me to
the shelters?"  he requested a little more courteously.

    "Fine," she said, exasperated, as she rolled her eyes.

    "Hey! arn't you going to tell me your name?"  Leon protested.
    "I'm not the stranger," she declared.  "Come on," she said, then she
was off leading in a direction toward the town.  Leon followed, making
some not quite civil comments about strange people that refused to give
their names.