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My Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Fan Fiction... by Othello V

Year 1: Chapter 1
Othello stood on top of a great mountain, looking down into a dark abyss. A foul stench reached his nostrils, causing his face to cringe at the horrible smell. His palms were sweaty as he readjusted his grip on his sword and shield. Othello hitched up his pantaloons with a deep breath, and he proceeded to descend into the mouth of darkness....
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Just then, Othello woke up in his soft bed. The dream that he was just interrupted from was fading quickly from his mind. As the early morning sun was peaking through the curtains of the window, the dark memories of the dream were wisked away. With a great yawn and stretch, Othello jumped out of bed and grabbed a towel on his dresser while running out of the room. After a couple laps around the village, including a run up the spire, and back down again, Othello threw off his clothes and dropped his towel. Jumping into the ice-cold river was the highlight of the normal routine of his mornings. After a nice refreshing swim, Othello wrapped the towel around his waist, and headed back to his home on the family's farm. Picking and biting into a tree-ripened apple for breakfast was another part of his every morning routine. He snuck quietly back into his room, trying not to wake either of his parents, or any of his four siblings. Othello then changed into his everyday clothes; a pair of well-worn, soft denim jeans, which had been almost worn through the knees; a t-shirt dyed with the many colours of rainbow grapes from the vineyard; and an old pair of brown cowhide boots that his father made when he was a young boy. Flopping backwards onto his bed, he picked up his father's dairy from the days when he was a part of a crystal caravan. Othello read these stories every night, hoping that someday he could break away from the sometimes boring life of a farmer, and have an adventure.

"Maybe someday..." he thought.

After the sun had risen a bit further above the horizon, Othello could hear the sizzling of his mother frying some pork sausage for the hearty breakfast the men of the house needed to provide the energy to work throughout the day. He climbed to the top bunk to wake up his brother, Elijah. Othello was 16 years of age, and Elijah was 14. His oldest sister, Rachel, was in the next room waking up the other two, Sarah and Miriam. They all ran down the stairs as a stampede nearly shaking the foundation of the house that the father, Tristan, had built years before, and sat down at the table. Their mother, Deanna, was almost finished frying the sausage, and was pulling the freshly baked biscuits out of the stone oven. The girls set the table with rustic, wooden plates and tableware as Tristan entered the room, wearing the usual overalls on top of his flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. After they all finished eating, the women began cleaning the kitchen, and the men started to work in the fields.

While plowing the fields, Othello saw Rafael fishing alongside the bank of the small river that ran through the village. Rafael, also 16, was Othello's childhood friend. Othello had vivid memories of how they would swim in the river during the stifling summer heat, running around in the fields after harvest in the fall, having snowball fights in the winter, and playing hide-and-seek in the village square with all the other children. Rafael always won, because nobody was ever able to find him. He had used to be full of energy, almost hyper, and was always avoiding the chores that his mother was constantly telling him to do. But he changed a while back, he was now very solemn, serious, and quiet. When they were 10, Rafael's father left on a journey with some other men of the village. Although the other men returned, Rafael's father didn't. Since it was six years ago, Othello couldn't remember much, but he did remember listening to the tales of the men who did come back during the celebration.

Monsters, magic, myrrh, miasma... those were just some of the things he remembered. He didn't know what they meant at the time, but as he grew older, he learned more about the world and the meaning of the words he heard that night. Othello now knew that a long time ago, the world was different. There weren't monsters, there wasn't miasma, a mysterious gas that sucked the life out of people. There was no need to journey in search of myrrh, a liquid that seemingly served no purpose but to "purify" the giant crystal that protected the village from the effects of the deadly miasma. But something happened long ago, miasma and monsters appeared, and the crystals only provided protection. The crystals didn't last forever though, they need to be re-newed, every year, with myrrh. He learned from the stories of the elders, his father's diary, and from asking around, that the crystal caravan's purpose was to travel the world in search for this myrrh, for it grew only on special trees scattered throughout the land. Othello also heard rumors that the current crystal caravan was getting old, that they were going to choose the new one soon. Although Othello dreamed of adventure, he was also scared. He knew that the quest of the caravanners was a dangerous one, that occaisionally took one's life, such as Rafael's father. He wasn't sure if he would like to go on that journey. But then again, they were only rumors...

At lunch time, Othello was visited by Kayla, another childhood friend. She was only a year younger, but always faster then the boys older then her. In fact, one of the reasons Othello ran every morning was to build enough speed and stamina to one day beat Kayla in a footrace. In addition to her incredible speed, Kayla was the prettiest girl in the village, the dream of every little girl, the envy of every girl her age, and the regret of every mother. But Kayla was far from caring about being beautiful. She cared more about the people of the village, playing with the young children as an older sister would. Kayla was an only child, but she always wished that she could have a brother, or sister. Her parents would not have it though, because Selkie tradition was to have only one child. Her Selkie blood was also the source of her speed and beauty. Kayla was always jealous of the Clavats, who could have as many children as they wanted, and were not praised for their physical attributes, but their character. This is why she enjoyed the company of Othello so much.

"Hey! Othello!" shouted Kayla.

"Oh, hello Kayla!" replied Othello, with a big smile spread across his face. He always liked it when Kayla would drop by.

"Working hard in the fields?" grinned Kayla as she sat down beside him in the shade of the apple tree.

"Oh yes, there's so much work to here on the farm..." he said with a sigh.

"Well, it's better then sitting inside sewing all day..." she replied with a sigh of her own.

"Are you sure about that? The sun can get very hot out here..." he grumbled.

"But at least you're outside! And besides, the sun gives you a really nice tan." she said with a hardly noticeable blush.

"Oh... well, thank you. I guess it does, doesn't it?" said Othello, caught off guard by her compliment.

"It does." said Kayla softly.

"Well... umm...." mumbled Othello, who was at a loss of words. "What now?"

"Hmmm... Here! I brought this for you." exclaimed Kayla, pulling out some article of clothing.

"What is it?" asked Othello.

"It's a blanket, made out of fox fur. I made it for you." she said, blushing a bit more.

"Wow... thanks a lot! It's really nice!" he said graciously, taking the blanket in his hands. He ran his fingers through the soft fur, gazing at its deep red and orange hues, much like the ones appearing on his face.

"Yeah, I made one with wolf fur for Rafael. Do you think he'll like it?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! He'll definately like it, especially if it's as good as this one." Othello replied, still running his hands through the fur.

"Well, I'm going to go give it to him now. Bye Othello!" shouted Kayla as she ran off waving.

"Wow... I can't believe she made this for me..." he said to himself in a quiet voice, still blushing. He watched her run down the path to the river, getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

After Othello finished eating his lunch, he returned to his work in the fields. His mind was flooded with thoughts; thoughts about his friends, caravaaning, adventure, and his life. All this thinking helped pass the time,.and before he knew it, Deanna was calling him inside for dinner. As he stepped inside the house, the aroma of a simmering stew bombarded his nose, along with the smell of freshly baked bannock. He sat down at the dinner table, realizing that he was famished from the long day of hard work. Soon enough, the kitchen was filled with the sounds of eating. After they all finished, the family shared what had happened to them throughout the day. When Othello was telling about Kayla's visit, he suddenly remembered that he left the blanket she made him hanging over a branch of the apple tree. He went outside to fetch it, so that it wouldn't be ruined by the morning dew. All the villagers of Makanda stayed inside their homes after dusk to avoid the wandering monsters, except for an occaisional celebration. So when Othello saw lights in the distance heading toward the entrance of the village, and heard feet falling heavily onto the ground, he became a bit frightened, for there was no celebration that he knew of. He silently sneaked around the backs of the houses until he was rather close to the bridge that spanned the small river into Makanda. As he was creeping along, he stumbled on something that made a muffled moan when he stepped on it.

"What was that for?!?" said Rafael in a yelling whisper.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" replied Othello in a hushed voice. "What do you suppose that is?"

"I'm not sure..." said Rafael quietly, "it may be a group of monsters..."

"What should we do then?" asked Othello.

"Hmm... we should wait here until it comes closer." answered Rafael.