Stronger Than Money

“So he really is just taking the whole place over… that sick parasite!” Percy growled with anger. They were eating lunch at Redmond’s, a quaint little diner with no signs of Morgen’s infestation just yet.

“I won’t second-guess myself again… we had the right idea from the start. Now we just need to figure out what to do about it.” Greg sipped a soda. “What do you guys think?”

“Call the cops?” Serah shrugged.

“They never help…” Grumbled Katie.

“Rocco?” Greg needed something to work with, and he wasn’t getting it.

Rocco was silent.

“We’ll have to come up with something soon…” the mage boy just kept sipping his soda.

“You didn’t ask me.” Frankie had already finished her plate of chicken nuggets.

“I’m- sorry, it’s just you’ve done so much for us already that I-“

“…No, it’s okay. Actually… I’m stumped, too. I mean- I had one idea, but that… I don’t see something like that working again.”

“Again?”

Frankie leaned back in her cushioned seat. It was more embarrassing than worth bragging about to her, but she had to put it on the table sooner or later.

“The whole reason Wolf is kicking our asses right now… is ‘cause of money. I know it because one time, I did pretty much the same thing.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s a sad truth, but people will do anything for a little compensation. Anyone can exploit that fact so long as they have the funds for it. It’s no wonder how fast his plan is working. Problem for us is… we don’t have money. At least, not all that much. So if we wanna fight fire with fire… we’ll have to get more creative about it.”

“What’re ya talking about?” Serah was, at this point, already lost.

“What’s stronger… than money?”

Everyone pondered it.

“…A threat…?” Katie guessed.

“We aren’t doing that.” Her sister quickly shut down.

The table was silent. Nobody had an answer- a lot of them figured that, if they did, they probably wouldn’t be eating cheap restaurant food right now.

“…This is just conjecture.” Percival murmured. “But… at least here… there might be one thing that beats out cash in terms of power.”

“And what would that be?” The tourist asked.

“The power… of role-playing.”

Sariah’s daughter Lily had wanted to visit Everfair all her life. She caught wind of it in a television program in the states, All These Parks. It just looked magical to her, more so than anything she had at home. Young as she was, the girl almost felt guilty just for that- like, wasn’t it greedy, desiring something far away when there was so much around you already? But standing here now, that was the furthest thing from her mind. With the dragons and taverns and castles and knights in her little green eyes, everything was perfect.

…Almost.

Are they doing an event right now…? Sariah wondered. It kind of bugged her. She had wanted her daughter to get the experience she’d always talked about, but what were all these black-tented buildings? Were they under construction? What was this wolf logo everywhere? And most importantly… why wasn’t anyone acknowledging it?

Try as she might, it kept her from immersing herself, or having as much fun as her daughter- who herself, though she hadn’t admitted it to herself just yet- was just the tiniest bit disappointed with this confusing blemish on her dream.

Until they came.

“ATTENTION! ATTENTION! Make way for the VERDANT KNIGHTS!”

The teenage boy- almost a man’s- voice rumbled through the marketplace like a trumpet of war. He marched in line, bearing a flag that all his accomplices followed. These gold-armored warriors, boys and girls wielding sunlight blades, paraded through the city like a streak of hope. And they chanted, bringing the news to all those who heard…

“The Dark Empire has invaded our land!” The black-haired warrior girl rallied. “Each day, they take more and more! But what will we do?”

“W-We will stop them!” The blue-haired thief replied.

“Join our ranks and follow our march around the kingdom!” The blonde knight called to action. “We will bring the news of the invasion throughout the land… and bring the Dark Emperor to his knees!”

Lily’s face lit up like fireworks. Suddenly, she felt like she was really here, in a world of fantasy- and her dream was saved.