The Temple of Enlightenment

Zaph looked at himself in his moghouse mirror, he fixed his Healer’s Cap upon his head and dusted off his staff. He looked to the side nervously as he stepped out the door. He ran into the usual smiling faces from his linkshell and he made small talk. When someone asked where he was going he made up an excuse or a lie or sometimes both. He didn’t want anyone to know his secret. When they finally left him alone he checked his gil stash to make sure he had money and soon it was going to be off he went. Lower Jeuno was always cluttered and he ran past a lot of people he knew. He tried to be secretive as he ran into the Tenshodo and went into the basement. He wiped sweat from his brow as he began to softly chant to himself. He stepped his foot out of the telepoint and sniffed the musty air. “Crawler Shit.” He laughed as he walked through Yhoater Jungle. He watched his step as he looked at his map. Within the twenty minutes he’s been walking he could have sworn he saw the same crawler again and again and again. “I hate this place.” He said with a sigh. He looked at the map drawn with a blue Crayola and laughed. “The map here isn’t good for shit.” But he knew he had a purpose, he had to find the Temple of Uggalepih. That is where his meeting was and he couldn’t miss out on this one. He was going to receive a very important item to him if he met with his associate there. So he decided to ask the Goblin for directions. He pointed towards the trees and Zaph nearly slapped him for his lack of help. But yet he kept his feet moving anyway. After walking almost an hour blindly through the weaving roads of the jungle he stopped as he looked at the artifact. “Finally.” He said as his eyes gleamed at the discount he was going to receive. He looked at the tonberries and kept walking as the stalked the land with their lanterns. Finally he stepped foot inside and realized that he hated the scent of tonberries. Old candle wax and an odor that he wasn’t sure exactly what it was hit his nostrils as he stepped into the temple. A Tonberry Stalker watched the entrance and he knew that if something spotted him he would be killed. He chanted until he became invisible and walked throughout the temple, he needed to get to I-7 on the top floor and he had his map handy as he walked. He walked near a bee and it began to buzz madly at him before assaulting him, he turned and ran back for the exit, drawing the guard tonberry’s attention as he safely made it out. He breathed fresh air and held his head down and charged inside again. This time he silence his footsteps and made himself invisible again and walked onwards. He made it to a room where he observed a doll walking frantically up and down the steps. He remembered his friend telling him that he needed to go up the stairs and too his left. But beware because that doll with aggro even the highest player if he is spotted. So Zaph sat and watched his movement, he kept his magic to a standstill because he wasn’t going to just invite it to a fight. When he ran past Zaph took off, this time only to run back because he was starting to see himself and his enchantment was wearing off. He walked into the far corner of the room and chanted again. When the doll rushed passed him again he ran up the stairs and searched for the way he was to run. All he saw as a dead end, and a pissed off doll running towards him. Before he knew it the ground shook as he ran with the angry doll chasing him. He took a dive inside of the door right before it shut and sighed when the doll couldn’t get in. He waited until he heard the giant footsteps quake away before he got up and dusted himself off. “This is worth it.” He said to himself. “Can’t get a better discount anywhere.” He looked up and saw a room full of Tonberries all standing in front of a picture of an older tonberry. They appeared to be worshipping it and Zaph wouldn’t interrupt them. He opened the door and it jarred, making a noise that turned their attention but before they could react he was out the door and back into the hall.

He saw an exit and he took it, he had a claw marks on his leg as the cat chased him through the area when he spotted him. He was growing tired and getting to the top floor seemed like a suicide mission. But then he thought of the reward and man it drove his passion. After walking on the outside he entered the temple from a different area. He tried to sneak himself through it but then he noticed the elemental by the entryway. It was just a tonberry there and he knew they were slow, maybe he could outrun it. So he walked past and the tonberry tried to slip his dagger into his back and Zaph ran again. White Mage means that his best offensive weapon was his feet. He turned a corner and turned back around and ran past the tonberry again. Bees buzzed behind him, stinging him as he ran to the exit he entered. Sitting on the outside pulling stingers out of his body, he was almost ready to call it quits. “Fuck that.” He said as he realized he had gotten this far and it was time to reap the rewards. After encountering everything on his way to his destination he finally reached it. I-7 he thought as he entered the room. He saw a tonberry standing their dressed in a black robe with a lantern in his hand a smoke surrounding him. “Are you Zaph.” He heard a voice cry out. “Depends.” He said as he kept his distance, the door shut behind him and Zaph was locked into the room, he didn’t mind this scent though. “You have the money?” the tonberry asked. “You have the green?” Zaph looked around, expecting an ambush. “Only the finest leaves you’ve ever smoked. Fresh from Aht Urghan, Imperial tea leaves, the finest.” He said as Zaph lips began to water. “Is that what I smell?” Zaph asked as the tonberry turned around. His eyes were red as he looked dazedly at Zaph. “Only the finest.” He managed to choke out as he lit another one up with the flame from his candle. Zaph laughed “A pothead Tonberry.” He looked at Zaph before handing over the bag of leaves in exchange for the gil. “What?” “You really think we carry those lanterns so we can see in the dark?” he asked as they both laughed.