Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Being the first to lay down and nap, Kefka awoke before the rest of his packmates. He laid still thinking about what all the girls said at the school house. He sat up shaking his head. He stood up an stretched remembering the book that Rends found tucked into the Bible. He walked over to the sleeping Ahroun and nudged him awake.

"Mornin' Sunshine. You wanna get yer ass up so we can figure out what's going on here? I figured we may as well take a look at that book you found. If it ain't helpful we can at least make sure the two of us are on the same page when it comes to this place."

Rends awoke with a start. His heart was racing and he could hear the echos of mad laughter in his dream. He growled as he got up, banishing his father's voice to silence.

"Ya I reckon. Sooner we get done here the sooner we can take care of other business."

He got to his feet and stretched before retrieving the book and settling at the table.

"I tried to read a bit 9 it at the school but it ain't Makin much sense. Reminds me of that stupid flowery stuff in my mas old bible."

Kefka sat down at the table across from Rends and picked up the book. He opened the book to a random page and began to read. Once he is familiar with the style and pacing of the book he begins to talk to Rends while reading.

"I don't think we've met a single honest person in this town. Every one here has already chosen a side in this war we stumbled upon. The girls are trying to play us. Huling seems to be trying to play us. It's troublesome."

He sighs as he turns the page.

"Don't suppose getting to Adren was going to be easy though."

He closes the book on his hand and looks at Rends.

"What are you thinking? Who is the biggest threat? Who should we keep our eyes on?"

Reds scratches his chin, considering his answer before giving it.

"These girls is trouble. No doubt about that. They all got the look of killers. But they seem to have they own agenda, and from what we seen it ain't exactly altruistic but it could benefit the town in the long run. Huling is what concerns me most though. Everyone knows theys something wrong with the girls and the whole place stinks of the Wyrm, but we got no proof it's coming from them. If the power struggle in town is between a bunch of little witches and a lone judge, We Have to assume the judge has somethin keepin them in check. The Lacrymae. so i at least believe that Patience wants us to kill it and probably Huling."


He drops his voice down to a near whisper.

"I dont believe for a second that the girls jest wanna stay here and play school though. Sooner or later theys gonna develop some ambition to go along with them freak powers. I dont know if we should kill them right off or try to make allies of em though."

Kefka does his best to hide his frown as he arches an eyebrow. His words come out hushed, yet rapidly.

"Allies of them? What reason at all have they shown they can be trusted at all? If this whole town stinks of the Wyrm, maybe the whole town needs to go."

He takes a deep breath.

"Problem is right now we is alone. We ain't got no one to trust in this place. Why don't we just go get that machine right now? Do something unexpected, make our enemies show themselves. Whether it be Huling, the girls, both or neither. I hate walking on eggshells trying to stay neutral and gain information. I much prefer having some semblance of direction to go off of."

He opens the book and takes another look at it. He stares at the same page for a few seconds before flipping back to the beginning of the book to read the whole thing.

Rends shakes his head with a sigh.

"I wish we could jest run in and grab it but 5 hey ain't no way we getting out of here with it without help. We'd need a horse and cart to haul it, and how do we get one if we pass everyone off short of jest killin all of em? That'd probably be the best way to unite Hewling and the girls against us. We need to play it smart until we know more, 5th en make our play."

He taps the book with a big finger.

"Anything useful in there?"

Kefka finished reading before speaking again. He closes the book on his thumb and sighs, and nods.

"Yer right. I am just gettin' antsy." He opens the book and lays it open on the table while he takes a swig from his flask.

"Damn. Runnin' low, and only thing around here is Huling's Healing tonic."

He looks at the flask and then to Rends. He takes a deep breath before sliding over to Rends.

"Go ahead and finish her off."

He picks up the book and looks at it.

"Seems to be a mockery of the Bible. It sure it is set up like one. Different chapters written by different authors. There is a scribbling here. Penned by a guy called "The Malvosin". He says "If one is to join our enlightened Society, one must know and subscribe to certain unassailable principles. I look forward to your progress." And I saw a design earlier when I first opened the book. It was a crest of some sort...It's gone now. If I see it again though I will recognize it."

He pauses and begins flipping through the book.

"Ah here we go. The first page I had opened up to. Listen to this, the mysterious group's charter.

"We gather from the moon's lucent bounty
A host of harvested boons:
The Absent Moon offers wisdom and insight both forgotten and unknown.
The Horned Moon offers the spirit ways and the paths of apportation.
The Balance Moon offers judgment and the triumph of intellect over emotion.
The Nascent Moon offers silver-tongued grace.
And the Harvest Moon offers strength and prowess.
These we pledge to use for the betterment of men.
These we pledge to use against those who occlude our goals.
These we pledge to use as the stars hang low in the sky and the coarse howls of devils are heard from the hills.
A brotherhood we are, for only by standing united against our opposition can we hope to attain prominence.""

Kefka then pauses to give Rends a few moments to process what he said.

"You caught that right? Sounds like our auspices. Each phase of the moon a different specialty. Different names for the phases but they match up with ours descriptively anyway."

He takes a long pause.

"Patience said she was better than her sisters at controlling people right? You reckon it's because that is what her phase of the moon is good at it? Or maybe...maybe they all have the same limitations. As a group they can only do certain things based on the moon's phase."

He pauses and licks his lips before smiling

"One thing is for certain. If they draw their power from Luna, similar to how we do...they are more trouble than we ever imagined."

Kefka chuckles as he flips through the book to read more.

Rends downs the last of the flask when it is offered. As his friend reads from the book the large man's brow furrows and his eyebrows start a slow migration upwards as Lunas blessings are listed off. Without a word he reaches into his coat and pulls out his own flask, taking a long swig before handing it to Kefka.

"Damn."

He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms as he concentrates.

"So. This book is what Hewling is having the girls learn from. It ain't what I was expectin, that's sure as shit, but now we know more."

He counts off his fingers as he lists his inferences.

"We can assume Hewling belongs to this brotherhood and for some reason theys try in to get the girls on they side. The book was hid in a bible, so we can assume he wants to keep it quiet from the rest of town. We can now assume these mercs ain't jest hired guns; Hewling said this was a special school fer these kind of girls so they probably members too or at least some of em. And we can assume that they all got different strengths thanks to some tie to luna."

He takes out his corn Cobb pipe and starts stuffing it with tobacco from a pouch.

"I wonder if that means theys weak to silver too."

He shrugs as he lights the pipe with a twig fetched from the fireplace. Settling back down in his seat he regards mocks.

"But we may still be able to use the girls. They ain't members of this brotherhood yet."

Kefka takes the flask from Rends and sets it next to him on the table his eyes glued to the book. The white of his eyes is becoming more evident as he reads down the page, only half listening to what Rends has to say. When Rends is done talking Kefka takes a small swig from the flask as he stands up from the table. When he speaks it is in a whisper.

"They might not be member's of this brotherhood...but they sure as hell are apart of it."

He walks over to Rends and hands him the book pointing to a specific section that stands out from the rest of the book. Kefka than walks over to the fire and gazes into it, while also keeping an eye on Rends. When Rends is done reading Kefka speaks again in a hushed tone.

"The entire town is our enemy here Rends. Don't say a word. Act like we have figured nothing out from this book. Don't even think of a plan yet. We will tell the others as soon as we can, but with Patience around it is too dangerous."

Kefka then walks back over to Rends and picks up the book.

"I am going to see what else I can get out of it."

Kefka winks to him.

"You never saw me. This conversation never happened."

Kefka then turns around and walks off to find a more secluded place to read.

It takes Rends a couple minutes to piece together the archaic language, but as he does his eyes slowly grow wider and his pipe starts to hang down from his agape jaw.

"Holy shit..."

He needs to kefka, eyes intense.

"This ain't gonna end without a whole Lotta blood. Damn. And I was startin' to like those girls too..."