"I have decided that this 'plan' of theirs to obtain the Zodiac stones and world domination must be stopped at all costs, I for one, may not believe in the legends that these crystals hold power, but I do acknowledge the potential political power they yield." “The supernatural and ghosts are for fools and cowards,” he wanted to add.
"Very well, your Majesty," Gildenstern replied, "But how are we to achieve this?"
Delita was resolute, "First we find Ramza, then we'll find the stones..."
“I'm not sure if you're dead or alive Ramza, but I will find you, even if I have to fight in another Lion War just to do it.”
Daylight rose and fell, with the same calm pallidness that Delita was used to observing, as he was always alone when he slept, never trusting others. With the morning, Delita awoke to see the shadow of Azmar's hooded figure standing just near the mouth of the cave, standing watch. His cape and cowl cut an intimidating figure, then swiftly Delita witnessed the silhouette of Azmar draw his sword. Delita was on his feet in two seconds and reaching also for his sword, but for different reasons of mistrust. In a heartbeat before he could draw his sword from the sheath, Agrias grasped his hand.
"Shhhhhh..... They'll hear you," she whispered.
At that point Delita's ears were cued in on the conversation between Azmar and a certain stranger.
"Halt, in the name of the church!" Azmar shouted, the voice seemingly altered by its hoarseness.
"Sir Knight, we have no business with you, we are in search of the king to see if he might have hid himself among the caves here."
"You are sorrily mistaken if you think the king is here, I was given orders to hold my post here just in case the king might try that tactic."
"You were given orders? By whom? What templar rank are you?"
"The specific person to whom I answer to is classified, as to my rank, I outrank you, boy! Templar Holy Knight, First Class."
"Oh my God! I apologize sir! We were just following our given orders! We shall just check in the other caves then! Please don't report me!”
"Just do as you're commanding officer orders and begone from my sight!"
"Yes sir!"
What Delita heard next was the sound of men mounting and riding away, then he saw Azmar sheath his sword and step inside the cave.
“And to think I thought he was an assassin…”
"Your Majesty, we must leave quickly, they will be checking their commandant's orders to see if my orders stand, when they find out I'm a hoax knight, they will head back here looking for us."
Delita thought for a moment, "Then where should we go? The caves were our main hiding area for assassins, but now that the church knows about this place, they will litter it with Templar Soldiers." Somehow he wasn’t quite sure Azmar had led them himself.
Delita looked at the knights for an answer, they were thinking, but none could come up with a solution, the church had posted a lookout for Delita in nearly every town by now. And hiding in the forest could only result in death by the church’s deathsquad.
It was Azmar that suddenly spoke up, "I have an ideal place for us to go, one where even the church itself will never even look."
It was then that Azmar related that Orbonne Monastery was abandoned save one lone priestess named Amla, he then proceeded to tell them that she was a close friend of his and would allow them sanctuary to suit their purposes.
“It shouldn’t take long to ride there, as long as we avoid open clearings from here.”
Beowulf glanced carefully to spot any soldiers, as any encounters would spell trouble for them. When all was clear, the knights slowly stepped out of the cave. To Delita's surprise, Beowulf gave out a strange gargling cry, something similar to a turkey. Suddenly five feral chocobos appeared out of the forest.
"Sir Beowulf, you didn't tell me you could call animals?"
"I'm a hunter, sire, this is what I do." He solemnly replied.
Mounting his chocobo, Delita proposed, "Very well then, let us be off to Orbonne Monastery."
"I recommend sir," Agrias interjected, "that we take a forest path to Orbonne, this way we cannot be tracked or spotted."
"I am truly indebted to you knights for all your help. I will do my best to reimburse you for your deeds." Once again, there was a slight tinge of sarcasm and mistrust in Delita’s voice.
They were soon off and running toward Orbonne, through Goland woods and Lesalia across the river and to Orbonne. And just as Azmar had said, it was abandoned, or at least it appeared to be. The church gate was completely sealed off, leaving no entrance past the high wall gate.
Delita began to wonder if this were a trap.
"Sire, permission to infiltrate the monastery," said the female Dragoon Reis.
"Granted, it appears that perhaps Amla may not be aware of our arrival."
Azmar replied, "As I said she is the sole resident in the monastery, and spends most of her time in the cellar studying the Germonik scriptures, I have not seen her much."
“Sounds suspicious to me…”
With that, Reis, crouched down and leapt at a staggering height landing expertly upon the top of the monastery roof and stepping down into the ceiling entrance. A few minutes later and the gate covering the main entrance to the inner sanctuary of the monastery was opened. The party stepped inside the monstrous church and just as quickly the gate rolled shut upon them sealing them inside for the time being.
"Sire, I request to take leave and find Priestess Amla."
"Azmar, be careful, the rumors of this sanctuary being cursed may be true, if not the ghosts then the rotting boards and knotholes." “Or my sword, if I don’t cut you first, traitor.”
A few moments later, Azmar returned to the main hall with Amla at his side, deflating Delita’s suspicions of him. She was swathed in a pure white mage robe with only slight crimson outlining the hood, making her seem holy to the eye.
"The light is too dim in here," she announced, "let there be light,Holy!"
Suddenly a bright light blasted out of her hand and flashed up to the ceiling. The whole room lit up, everything that seemed rotted and withered appeared to be freshly built as if the whole dreariness was a facade, and light flowed out of the seemingly browned out stained glass, making Orbonne Monastery anew again.
"There...that's better," she smiled. Her smile was genuine, kind, and seemingly filled with an ancient wisdom of what the world was and her part in it. Something Delita hadn’t seen since Teta was...
"Sire--stop staring!!!" Gildenstern scolded.
"Eh---oh! Sorry about that."
"I'm truly flattered sire, but we must get down to business..." Amla's voice had a fluttered laugh in it, much to Delita's enjoyment.
Then suddenly Amla's tone became serious, almost as stern as Azmar's, "We must prepare for the worst the church has in mind, it is not the Zodiac braves the church wishes to summon. It is the lucavi and the damned spirit of the bloody angel Altima that is Ajora. The lucavi are able to manipulate the church and should they capture the King, the throne as well, they are well versed in black magick, so they could easily replace Delita."
"I don't believe this! Lucavi!" Delita erupted in disbelief showing a bit of his true colors, "You actually think the church is acting at the behest of some invisible demonic force? I really don't believe in such nonsense! The only thing the church is good at is parlor tricks, and manipulating the sheep that is the inhabitants of Ivalice!"
"Nonsense sire?" Azmar interjected, "When the power of these stones if they should combine would create a massive vortex to the underworld of the dead sucking all living things into it? You call this nonsense?"
To Delita's amazement, Agrias, Beowulf, and Reis actually concurred with Azmar and Amla. Agrias stated grimly, to-the-point, "It was that easy for them to try to kill you without being accused of murder and track you down, this without the stones, imagine the power they could obtain with them. Even now it's only a matter of time before they find us again, if they see Azmar they will know we harbor you, Delita."
"I still am not convinced, but you have made your point about removing their power from its source, the Zodiac Stones."
Amla finished the discussion, "It was foreseen that we all would be involved in this new war, the Zodiac War. Because we will eventually obtain the 13 stones once again, the Lucavi will find another way to get the power to release Bloody Angel and the death gate."
"Sire," Gildenstern asked, "I do not know what lies ahead of us, but as far as I can tell, we must eventually face the enemy, war or not. And it is truly a pleasure serving with a former Black Knight like yourself."
"So now I'm demoted to Black Knight eh?" Delita said with a cold laugh, "It's about time I started using my sword again, that crown was getting awfully heavy to bear...."
"We are glad you could serve with us, Delita," Reis and Beowulf chimed in.
"Delita, when we search for the stones, be prepared for evil to strike swiftly," there was an air of caution in Agrias' voice.
Delita nodded, if not for her sake.
After a brief rest in the sanctuary of the church, Amla led the party down several flights of stairs, through a maze of library books, to a small chamber where she picked up five smooth stones out of an underground well.
"These stones are blessed by holy water to protect us from the undead, since the rest of the stones are jagged, in the well, we cannot use them. I shall bear one, as will Azmar, Reis, Agrias, and Beowulf."
"Why must I not be able to bear a stone?" Delita asked, still not convinced.
"You do not bear any because you do not believe,” Amla’s words struck a nerve in Delita’s soul, “but now, quickly, evil is upon us up at the gate!"
