Open sky; the breeze caressing his skin; glimpses of cloud rushing past below.

Cid hated flying.

He had hated it when he had been part of his previous questing party years ago, and he hated it now. The back of his throat was moist, and he kept having to swallow, worried that he would be sick at any moment. Butterflies not only fluttered, but crashed into each other in his stomach. He wish he knew a spell to cure him of his nausea. If there was one, he hadn’t discovered it yet.

He hated flying, but he knew it was a necessary evil. It was the fastest way to get where they needed to go.

He tore a chunk of waybread from the communal plate that lay in the middle of where they all sat in the centre of the main deck and tried to pay attention to what the young ‘uns were saying.

Sagar was speaking. “What were you three yammering about up there at the front of the ship for so long, anyway?”

Cid’s eyelids fluttered, and he tried to make it look like it was from offence and not from his queasiness. “If you must know, we were taking to young Vish about his poppy addiction.”

“Ah, that old chestnut again,” scoffed Sagar. “What about it? You ready to come off the scum yet, scumsucker?”

Vish said nothing. He didn’t even look at the pirate.

“As a matter of fact,” Cid said, “he is. He had a double hit recently and he’s still feeling some of the negative after-effects. The headache, the brain fog, the despair... He says he’s ready to start spacing out the hits for longer, and perhaps stop having them completely.”

“Ha! Well we’ll see if he manages that!”

Now Vish did look at Sagar and his eyes slitted to tight grey lines behind his face covering.

“Alright team, so what’s the plan?” said Ryn, changing the subject.

Cid was grateful the boy was taking charge. Someone needed to lead this group, and Cid judged Ryn was the one to do it. Though the boy would have competition from his Grandaughter and the young pirate. And true, each of them were good leader material, too. His Granddaughter was brave, fierce and knowledgeable. But she was also impetuous and impulsive and had a tendency to fly off the handle. And the pirate was highly skilled with his blades and wind-projection, not to mention at piloting the ship, and he seemed to have a lot of adventuring experience. But he was also completely in this for his own gain, at least at this point in their Quest.

Cid himself was not the one to lead. That had not gone well for him before. The One wanted him here just to guide, to advise, to help, this time, he was sure.

“Well,” said Nuthea at length, “it will take us about another [four] days’ flying to reach Farr.”

“Four days!” said Sagar. “That’s ages!”

“Well, yes, it is a long way away.”

“We’ll have all killed each other by then!”

Vish looked at Sagar again, Cid noticed.

“Let us hope not.”

Cid really hoped not. If this party was to succeed where his previous one had failed, they would need to all get along with one another. He couldn’t face a repeat of what had happened the last time he had been part of a group trying to gather all the Jewels together…

“Actually,” Nuthea continued, “we will get to Farr a bit before then, but Shun Pei is in the extreme east of Farr, so it will be four days before we get there.”

“And what will we do once we get there?” asked Ryn.

“We will land Wanderlust and seek an audience with the Governor of Farr, who resides in Shun Pei. He should know where the Earth Emerald is kept.”

“That’s your plan?” said Elrann. “Just walk in and ask for the shiny rock?”

“Yes. I am sure that once I explain the situation, that the Emperor of Morekemia is seeking the Jewels and that we are collecting them to keep them safe, the Governor will see that the most reasonable course of action is to entrust the jewel to us.”

“Sorry, princess girl, but that’s just wishful thinking. I’ve been to Farr. The Farrians are a proud, stubborn, reserved sort of people. They ain’t going to give you the rock just because you march in and ask for it.”

Cid stroked his beard. He was, of course, inclined to agree. There was no way that the Farrians were going to hand them the jewel just because they walked in and asked for it. But don’t say that. Let them work things out for themselves. Guide, don’t lead.

“Well we’ve got to at least try,” said Nuthea. “It’s the only other jewel that we know about. We’ve got to make sure that it’s safe.”

“What makes you think that if the Farrians have it, it isn’t safe already?

“Perhaps it is, but then we can at least warn them that the Empire might be coming for it. And…” Nuthea turned to Cid. “Grandfather, when it comes to the elemental ‘strengths and weaknesses’, how does earth interact with fire?”

Cid searched his memory, glad of the distraction from his skysickness. “Hmmm. If I recall correctly, we can’t know for sure yet, but it seems likely that earth-aligned people would be either partially or highly vulnerable to fire attacks. Fire consumes and ravages the earth, after all. And fire burns up wood, leaves, grass, foliage, which are all associated with the element of earth.”

“There we are,” Nuthea said conclusively. “We may have the Fire Ruby now, but we don’t know if there are any remaining Imperial soldiers or officers who still retain a fire affinity from it. If there are, then they will be dangerous to any earth-aligned Farrians. The Earth Emerald will be much safer with us than remaining with them, as is the case for the Fire Ruby and the Lightning Crystal.” She fingered the glittering crystal that hung on the chain about her neck.

Cid agreed. He was utterly convinced that their task from the One was not only to find the jewels, but to gather them together. The prophecy, his dreams, and his own sense of inner direction from the One all confirmed this to him. He was convinced that the Emperor of Morekemia was going to rise up to become a threat to the whole world and that the Jewels needed to be gathered together in order for him to be stopped. But don’t say that. Just guide, advise, gently encourage. Nothing too forceful.

There’s just one thing I want to ask, said Ryn. The same thing came up at your Council at Orma.

Uh-oh.

Yes? Invited Nuthea.

I know we’re a long way off from this, as there are twelve jewels and we only have two of them--

--two and a bit, interrupted Sagar, holding up his fragment of the Wind Shell on its necklace.

Right...two and a bit. So I know we’re a long way off, but let’s say, down the line, we do succeed in this crazy ‘Quest’ to gather all of the Primeval Jewels together. What then? You say there’s a legend which says that whoever does this will be granted unbelievable power. What would we do with that?

The boy is clever, thought Cid. Definitely leader material.

I know what I’d do… said Sagar, licking his lips and getting a far-off look.

That doesn’t matter at this stage. The important thing at this stage is simply that we gather the Jewels together to keep them safe from the Emperor.

I know, but...you know…what if we actually manage it? What could we do with the Jewels? Do you think...do you think they would be powerful enough to do something like...bring people back from the dead?

Ryn’s question stunned the whole group into temporary silence. Even Sagar didn’t mock it.

Nuthea looked over at Cid again, deferring to him. Grandfather?

All eyes were on him.

Cid spoke slowly and as plainly as he could. Of course, nobody has yet actually succeeded in gathering all of the Jewels together, as far as I know. So I don’t know. But the Jewels were made by the One, the Creator of Life itself. So it seems possible that, if the One made them, they could grant the power to restore life.

Sagar groaned. Urgh. There you go with your ‘One’ stuff again. What a load of nonsense.

The pirate’s atheism was irksome, but it wasn’t intolerable. Cid must tolerate it. It was also understandable, given what Cid knew of his life, but Sagar didn’t know what he knew.

How do you even know this ‘legend’ about the Jewels is true, anyway? Sagar said. I mean, sure, there are Jewels and they do give people special elemental powers, I’ll grant you that, but how do you know they were made by a ‘One’ and that something wacky will happen if you put them all together? Where does this legend come from, anyway?

It comes from earliest time, time before memory, said Cid. It comes from the earliest humans who saw the One face to face and walked with him at the Making of Mid. It comes from a time before writing and reading were invented, but the legend was passed down by mouth from generation to generation, and when writing was invented, it was set down.

Where? Asked Ryn.

Well, Nuthea joined in. There are a number of different texts. We have one in Orma, known as the Book of Crystal, because it was kept with the Lightning Crystal. She touched the crystal at her chest again. They are all copies of the originals, which have long been lost, but they were copied faithfully.

Oh, said Sagar, well that’s very convenient, isn’t it? How do you know that they were copied faithfully, and things weren’t changed?

Cid took over again. Because the copies all ended up in different places, many a long way away from each other, but they all say the same thing. I have seen many of them on my travels. There are texts in Manolia, in Imfis, in Umbar, in Farr...

Say what, pops?! butted in Elrann. You’ve been to Farr before as well?!

Yes.

Well why didn’t ya say so?

Cid shrugged. I hadn’t seen it necessary to mention it. Guide, don’t lead.

Alright, alright, said Sagar, so these copies of Oneist texts that are supposedly scattered around the place. What does this legend about the Jewels written down in them actually say?

Cid recited the scripture:

“Twelve Jewels there are

For the Twelve Peoples of Mid

Ruby, Crystal, Sapphire,

Emerald, Onyx, Diamond

Pearl, Shell, Meteor

Stone and Carnelain

Whenever they are gathered together,

The power of the One will be there,

To save Mid in her greatest hour of need.”

For a moment, only the rush of wind and the hum of Wanderlust’s turbines.

That’s a load of hokey, said Sagar.

Cid smiled at him. He would come to see in time.

His Granddaughter was not so accommodating. Captain Sagar, you are being very rude. The legend has been passed down for generations. What is ‘hokey’ about it?

Well for a start, it only mentions eleven jewels. ‘The One’ can’t even count properly.

That’s easy, said Granddaughter, holding her head up. The twelfth jewel is for the element of void. The texts list the twelve elements elsewhere, and it’s not difficult to figure out there must be a twelfth void jewel. Just because they don’t mention it explicitly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Well it’s still nonsense. There is no ‘One’ who made the Jewels. They are just part of nature, a quirk of Mid. All this stuff about a One and gathering the jewels together is just stories that people made up to try to explain things they don’t understand.

Nuthea’s jaw tightened and her eyes grew in size. “Captain Sagar--” she began, but for once Cid thought it was time to intervene.

“Granddaughter,” she said gently, “there is no use in arguing further. We have our gamble on what we believe is true, and young Sagar has his. In the end, either we will turn out to be right in our beliefs, or he will. And before the end, he may change what he believes too, though not likely through argument.”

Whatever, said Sagar. You know what, so long as I get paid, I don’t really care.