This Storm Will Pass [Marschal Leigh]

Job Description:

These past few months had been a blur to the young mage, and not just because of the constant drinking of alcohol. No, these months had been a blur to him because. . . well, he couldn't remember a damn thing that had happened between his leaving of Black Rose to now. It was as if he had one long blackout, unable to recall anything that had happened in those passing months. What a shame that was, and what a shame it was that he seemed to have lost the passport he had received back when he had been in Black Rose. However, he had retained much of the information from before all those months; important information that he had been fearful of forgetting. Such information being that he had a handsome, young son somewhere in Bosco, likely at the headquarters of Black Rose. Or that he had a few well-known acquaintances there, even one that he could officially say was his most favorite.

. . . And again with the blackouts, except this one wasn't so much a blackout as it was a simple reverie of memories. Marschal had drowned himself in the past thoughts of his life that he hadn't been watching where he was going. Of course, he had been fully functioning, no trace of alcohol in his system today, considering he had to go to Rose Garden and retrieve a new passport. Yet, it seemed that his feet had carried him there on their own, without so much as him focusing on where he was going. That wasn't such a bad thing, but time had flashed forward so quickly for him that it had left him befuddled and distraught. This only lasted for a few moments before he stopped worrying about it and decided to focus on heading down to the DSPA. DSPA, or Department of State Passport Agency, was a building located in both Rose Garden and Hargeon Town.

Unfortunately, Marschal had learned from a few passersby that Hargeon Town had been desolated by a monstrous sea entity. Ultimately, that ruled out going to Hargeon for a passport, as he was certain the building there would be destroyed if not in the remaking. This left only Rose Garden to get his passport from and it had been a very long time since he had last been here. If he had recalled correctly, it had been with some guy named Raizuko that he had been on a job with out here. Just as always, Rose Garden was a very beautiful and extravagant city, the wonder of Fiore, where women shopped to their heart's content and men took their loves on dates. Marschal found that he couldn't help, but to stop and gawk at all the florescent and glowing street lamps and even window shop a tad. In fact, window shopping helped pass the time a little, leading straight into the long line at the DSPA of Rose Garden.

The fervent line leading all the way into the building was rather displeasing to the young male and resulted in him leaving for a while. He figured the longer he was away, the shorter the line would become, so that he could quickly get his passport. Truth be told, that logic would work any other day than this day; the day that Fiore reopened its borders to the other nations. So, while Marschal was away window shopping at specific stores, the line still wasn't budging; in fact, it was growing longer. As smart of an idea as it had been, not having a place in line was a mistake that every rookie happened to make. Thus, Marschal had to return to the line of frivolous people, who danced, wiggled, and otherwise moved in annoying ways. His fuse short, the young mage was forced into waiting in the long line until it slowly began to inch forward at the pace of a snail.

One hour would pass by where no one budged and another would follow where a few people had left, dwindling the line. It was near nightfall before Marschal was able to step foot into the air conditioned building, grab a number, and take a seat in one of the many rows of chairs. There he would sit for another hour, until his number had appeared up on the screen and a woman's voice called it out. Swiftly, the half-breed would jump to his feet and rush over to the counter where a pretty, blonde-haired woman was standing. He slammed the tag with his number on it onto the counter and smile flirtatiously at the woman with glasses. She stared back at him with an emotionless look, which happened to cause him to drop the mischievous smile from his lips. Marschal cleared his throat as she took the number and set out a piece of paper, taking up a pen and quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Full name, please," she requested in a soft voice, pen held in hand as she waited.

"Marschal Leigh," he stated quickly, straightening his posture and staring back into the green eyes of the beauty.

"Date of birth," she droned out with a sigh, hand working as she wrote down his full name on the piece of paper.

"November 26," Marschal answered in a less confident tone, even biting his lip a little as he replied to her.

"Year?" she asked next, glancing up at him briefly from her writing to see a strange look on his face.

"I don't know that, ma'am," he responded quietly, his eyes dropping down from the blonde's face to stare at the counter top.

The woman only nodded and proceeded to ask him something else, "place in which you were born, such as nation, city, or town."

". . ." Marschal stared at her in confusion, then raised his own eyebrows before actually replying, "Fiore."

"Are you in any guild?" she inquired, finishing writing something down that Marschal couldn't quite see.

"No," came the short answer, as regretful as his voice sounded when he spoke.

Picking up the piece of paper, she pushed her glasses up her nose and looked Marschal back in the eyes. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be back with an official copy of your passport, then you can be on your way." She turned away from him without any answer back and disappeared through an open doorway to process what she had written down.

He drummed his fingers on the counter top as he waited for the woman to return with his passport, already sick of waiting. Just as she had said, it took no longer than a few minutes before she returned to him with a booklet-styled passport. She handed it to him silently, then proceeded to call out another number for someone else to get their passport. "Have a good night, sir, and save travelling," she would state to him before the mage took up the booklet and left.

Free at last and with a new passport. Now, he could really get things rolling with being a free mage in Fiore.