Disclaimer: These characters and places are the property of Enix and/or Tri-Ace. I am not making any money off this so don't sue.
"Precis goes on a little journey...."
"NO! Poppa! Don't press the bu..." (KA-BOOM!) "....Poppa! Are you alright?" Claude was jarred from his tea-making stupor. "Precis! Graft! Are you two....!!!!!" Claude had noticed Precis was covered in soot... again. (Her clothes were also a bit charred and there were holes...but I won't say where...Use your imagination!) Graft was lying on the floor, unconscious. Claude checked for breathing. Graft was snoring, loudly. He was O.K. "Precis! Are you O.K.?" Precis turned 'round thrice and responded, "Of course! And Poppa is O.K., too. I told him not to PRESS THE BUTTON! He did not listen to me!!! Ooooh! He makes me so mad! You know what, Claude? I need some more meteorites! My old man blew them all up! Let's go, let's go, let's gooooo!!!" Claude got that big sweatdrop treatment and began to drag Graft to his bed. "We should leave a note or else he's gonna worry." Claude knew better than to deter Precis from her C.O.A.(Course Of Action). He began to pack as Precis gathered the necessary supplies. Within an hour, the couple began their "Shopping Trip".
Their first stop was Lacour. (You know, for supplies.) Along the way, who should they bump into but Leon!(See "Leon's Travels") While in Lacour, they went shopping. However, on their way out, they noticed a town crier shouting about thievery. Claude wasn't sure but, he thought he heard the guy mention Ashton's name...Nahhh! Precis noticed too, but she heard it too. However she filed that information for future reference. They moved on to Hilton, where Claude had to fight the local monsters to gain enough FOL for passage.
To her dismay, Precis found out that the ship was under repairs. "How long will it take?" The Shipmaster was getting peeved. He must've been asked that same question one too many times. "I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE... A...COUPLE...OF...WEEKS!!!!" Precis flinched. Then her face lit up like she just had a brilliant idea. (Claude: Knowing her, she probably had.) "Let me and Bobot help with the repairs!" Precis was all smiles. That is, until the Shipmaster revealed that he was sexist. "NO, LASS! GO AWAY! WE DON'T WANT ANY WEAK LITTLE WOMAN HELPING US!!!" Claude flinched and ran for cover. Precis was Pissed Off! Claude could not look. (He peeked through his fingers!) As Claude expected, the Shipmaster went flying through the air to land into the ocean. The crew laughed at their boss's plight. Precis glared at them and they immediately pretended that their work was the only thing that mattered. She asked again. "Well? Can we?" The Shipmaster made a mental note not to make fun of women again. "Ahh...sure...Go right ahead...Please don't hurt me!!!!" Precis set to work. "Claude, go kill some time at the bar." Claude walked off.
During Claude's wait, he went to the bar. Now, Claude did not really drink. He did, however, enjoy watching the drunkards make fools of themselves. While laughing at a drunk guy doing the "Barroom Blitz", Claude noticed three foreign people. (By foreign he meant NOT OF THIS PLANET.) One was dressed in purple clothes, had blond, spiky hair, and carried a nasty looking sword that made Claude's Eternal Sphere feel like a cooking knife. (It was HUGE!) The second was a man of African descent. He was big and muscular, had a crew-cut, and had a Gun for an arm. (Are they from Earth?!?) The third was a pale teenage girl with a green shirt and tan shorts. She had black hair and a nasty looking shuriken. (Sharp and dangerous!) Claude was not sure, but he thought he saw the girl's hands dart into passersby's pockets. Claude left before they saw him. He did not want to be sent back to Earth. The ship was finished.
"Claude! Let's go!" Precis had just finished the shipwork. She had also humbled a couple more sailors. The trip to Herlie was uneventful. (Claude got seasick, Bobot almost fell into the ocean, and Precis had humbled a couple more sailors. The second one was drunk and thought that Precis was a serving wench. After he grabbed her butt, Precis had proceeded to beat the crap out of him.) Herlie itself had a problem of the Zand kind. Zand had taken over the town, again. Precis and Claude proceeded to kick the crap out of him. Afterwards, the people of Herlie wanted to celebrate and they did with a feast! Our heroes stuffed themselves. The sailors and the Shipmaster got drunk and did the "Drunk Monkey Dance". Everyone laughed, hard. Precis had Bobot perform some tricks. The next morning, they left amid the cheers of the people of Herlie.
Along the way to Salva, they ran into Ashton. He had fainted and was being controlled by Ururun and Gyoro. (See "Ashton Tries Again...") The trip to Salva was uneventful. Precis purchased some iron and they went and payed a visit to Celine. (Alchemists can only be Mages.) Claude called in a favor and Voila! Celine turned the iron into much needed meteorites! Celine waved them off and went to chat with Rena, who had payed a visit.
The trip back was uneventful. (The people of Herlie had another feast, the Shipmaster was wary of Precis, the sailors steered clear, Claude got seasick again and Precis pounded on a would-be mugger.) They stopped in Lacour to see what the fuss is all about. It turns out Ashton stole from the Royal Treasury! Our heroes went to talk with the king, but Ashton emerged from the castle with Leon in tow. They got the rest of the story from them. All four vowed to help one another. They set off for Linga to look for any clues as to who the thief was.
