Although this was an unexpectedly vile welcome for the Doman refugees on board the carriage, a lone Ahriman was hardly a challenging foe for a seasoned adventurer. So when Teruko saw her fellow Scion and good friend Pascal Laurent sauntering up to the creature, she felt no need to intervene further.

Outside, the fisher-turned-pugilist casually sauntered between the carriage and the voidsent. He cracked his knuckles before taking a bare-knuckle fighting stance. “Alright ya ugly bastard of a one-eyed willie, I’ll give ye a beatin’ so hard yer slimy little family’ll feel it!” Leaping as far as his midlander legs could take him, Pascal introduced his fist to the Ahriman’s side, producing a loud and disgustingly liquid squelch.

As she recoiled slightly, Teruko felt a furious tug on her arm. Yozan, the oldest of the Doman children on board, had an all-too-curious look on his face as he tried to push his way towards the open canvas flap. “Teruko! Miss Teruko! We want to watch Mister Pascal beat up the monster!”

Teruko turned her gaze upwards to Hozan, the boy’s father and impromptu caretaker of all the refugee children. She met eyes with the beleaguered ex-ninja, busy trying to keep a few of the other overexcited younglings from peeking through the flap at the fore of the carriage, and both quietly shook their heads at each other.

Closing the flap behind him, Hozan cleared his throat and spoke in the stern voice only a father could have. “Absolutely not. The Scions are doing very dangerous work to keep us safe, and I need you four to sit quietly and calmly, okay?”

Yozan blinked twice, before throwing his arms up. “But dad, we want to see our new friends defeat the evil!”

The younger girl in red, Koharu, joined in. “Yeah, Yozan’s right for once! Besides, Teruko is here to protect us! We’re safe! Right Miss Teruko?” All four children turned their heads to the adventurer in pink, and rushed towards the flap she had halfway closed.

Teruko’s eyes darted back and forth as she thought of something to say. But she was not allowed even a second to think as the children pushed towards her. Worse, she caught a glimpse of Pascal being grazed by a stone spike as she closed the flap shut. That could only mean one thing...

“Gah! Me mum just stitched this shirt up a week ago! GET YER FILTHY ARSE OVER HERE YOU CROSS-EYED CYCLOPS I’LL PUT A NICK TEN TIMES AS GHASTLY IN YA!”

The creature outside shrieked wildly as it took several more blows. It was getting closer, though still focused on the pugilist giving it a thorough thrashing.

“Whoa! It sounds like it’s getting good!” Yozan jumped up and down, causing the entire carriage to shake.

The shyest of the four kids, Rokka, tugged lightly on Teruko’s sleeve. “Miss Teruko, what does ‘arse’ mean?”

Shaking her head, Teruko gently pushed the children away from the side of the carriage. “L-look, kids! Mister Pascal is fighting a very dangerous creature called an Ahriman! And…. and…” Puffing up her chest and taking on an overly serious tone, she continued. “Everyone, raise your hands up! Come on, show me your hands. Now!”

The four Doman youths immediately followed her directions. As the youngest looked to Hozan, he followed suit as well.

“Do you hear that screeching? It’s about to do a horrible screaming attack! Everyone cover your ears or you’ll never hear again!”

The kids collectively threw themselves backwards to the other side of the carriage.

“W-what? But I like hearing!”

“Is that why Pascal is screaming so loud? So he can’t hear?”

Teruko put on a stoic face, nodding sagely as she covered her own ears. “Yes, yes! Very good! Now-”

Suddenly, the mangled Ahriman was flung mere ilms from the exterior of the carriage. The two chocobos at the front grew restless, causing the entire vehicle to shake violently. Those inside could make out every fang and claw through its sharp silhouette. The panicking voidsent snarled and wailed.

As the children started to scream, Teruko tried to regain control of the situation as she put herself between the children and the creature outside. “Don’t be scared! If your turn around and keep your ears closed, it won’t be able to hurt you. And I’m still here!”

The four children obediently followed her directions. All except Yozan, who turned around to peek at the monster’s silhouette. He vaguely witnessed the monster’s last moments as Pascal drove his fist directly into its great eye, splattering… something over the canvas. The creature’s limp body disappeared from view as it fell under the carriage.

Pascal casually tapped the carriage with his bloodied hand. “Whew! All clear, now!”

Teruko and Hozan released a collective sigh of relief. The kids turned back around, finally lifting their hands from their ears. Except Yozan, with his face frozen forward, mouth agape, and eyes wide.

Teruko waved her hand in front of the elder child. “Hey, Yozan are you alright?”

Raising a shaking arm, the boy pushed Teruko’s hand down and began jumping up and down. “That. Was. Awesome!”

The four kids started shouting at each other in boundless excitement. “We saw a monster! It was so close!” “We can all still hear!” “Eorzea is the best!”

Teruko leaned back on her seat, and smiled towards Hozan, who was shaking his head. The man looked relieved as he opened the canvas flap, where his father Homei and the Ul’dahn coachman seemed completely unfazed by the past few minutes.

All was finally well, and the caravan could finally proceed to Mor Dhona. That is, until the floating carriage sank lower, the rear door flung open, and Rokka screamed loudly.

Pascal, the hero of the day, heaved himself up on board the carriage with a proud look on his face. The right side of his shirt was torn, revealing a bloody gash. His entire right arm dripped with voidsent viscera and a strange liquid that… whatever it was, was not red like normal blood, and filled the room with a nauseating smell.

“A good fight, I’d say! Ey, Teruko, wanna swap with me? I’m cravin’ a drink!”