"Crystal caravan approaching!"

Curt looked up at the shouting guard standing atop the watch tower. The guard waved, and Curt waved back. They had finally reached Deloam.

"It's about damn time! This woman needs serious medical care, Colton," Paul noted.

"I know, Paul, I'm heading straight to the clinic," Colton noted as he glanced behind him at the woman lying quietly in the wagon bed.

Colton navigated the busy city streets and finally stopped the wagon in front of a large building with a sign that read: "Deloam City Health Clinic". Paul gently lifted the woman out of the wagon and began to carry her inside. Paul had only taken a few steps when the woman opened her eyes and held up her hand slowly, signaling Paul to stop.

"Please...this letter...deliver..." the woman uttered, procuring a sealed envelope from her pocket.

Curt jumped down from the wagon and moved next to the woman. He gently took the envelope from her grasp and smiled. Curt looked at the name on the envelope: "Smithy Bumblebee".

"Don't worry, ma'am. I will deliver it," Curt assured.

"Thank you," the woman whispered.

Paul continued on into the clinic, and Buddy followed behind. Curt turned back to Colton.

"Well, I guess I'll go on ahead and mail this for her. What do you think?" Curt asked.

"Sure. I'll wait for Paul and Buddy. I hope she'll be ok," Colton sympathized.

"I'm sure she will be, Colton. Well, I'll meet you all at the inn!" Curt said.

As Colton watched Curt walk away, he mused to himself, "Funny kid...he doesn't even know where he's going...never been outta Brighton since he and Cid arrived!"

Colton was right. Curt had never been to Deloam before, so he had no idea where the Moogle Post was located. But it did not matter because Curt was loving this city life. He had only been in Deloam for maybe 15 minutes, and already he had seen more wonders than in all of Brighton and its surrounding countryside. Shops, restaurants, houses, people bustling through the streets on various errands, carts and wagons making deliveries - you name it, it was here. Curt stopped in front of a flower shop where a young woman was arranging flowers on a stand.

"Excuse me, miss. Would you kindly point me in the direction of the nearest Moogle Post?" Curt inquired.

The woman turned to Curt and gave him an apathetic look.

"Ask him," the woman said as she pointed over Curt's shoulder.

Curt turned and looked around the crowded street. Suddenly, he saw what the woman had been pointing at. There running through the maze of legs was a moogle - a short, furry creature of about knee height that resembled a cross between a small bear and a large, whiskerless cat that walks on two legs. This particular moogle was sporting little tan trousers, a sage green waist coat, and what appeared to be a mail bag stuffed with documents. On the top of the moogle's head bobbed a small, furry pom pom atop a whisker-like protrusion that connected the pom pom to the moogle's head - a standard defining feature of all moogles. Curt took off running in an attempt to catch up to the moogle.

"Excuse me, Mr. Moogle!" Curt called when he had gotten close enough.

Instantly, the little furry fellow stopped and turned around as Curt trotted up.

"How can I be of service?" the ball of fluff asked Curt.

Curt took a moment to catch his breath and then said, "I need to mail a letter..."

"Well give it here, son! I'll take it in. I'm headed to the Moogle Post as we speak," the moogle stated.

"Thanks! Say, would you mind if I tagged along with you. I'm new in town," Curt asked.

"Not at all. I'd be glad to show you around!" the moogle said with a cheery smile. "The name's Stiltzkin, but you can just call me Stiltz!"

"Pleased to meet you, Stiltz! I'm Curt!" Curt replied as he gently patted Stiltzkin's pom pom - he had heard that doing so was a sign of great respect similar to a handshake greeting.

"Kupo!" Stiltzkin chirped in response. "That means 'thank you' in moogle speech! Well, let's get a move on, shall we?"

Stiltzkin led the way, pointing out various areas of interest to Curt. On one corner there was an age old cathedral, on one block there was a famous armor shop, down one alley there was a pub of ill repute, behind an old stone wall there was a haunted cemetery, and in the city center there was the city's crystal chalice - a huge crystal fountain in the shape of an eagle. As the two new friends passed one area of the city, Curt noticed that there seemed to be quite a few people of dirty and ragged appearance. The streets of that area also seemed to be strewn with trash.

"Stiltz, what's with this part of town?" Curt inquired.

"This is one of the ghettos...a poor part of the city...you'll find many homeless people living here on the streets..." Stiltzkin sighed.

"So there are other parts of the city like this as well?" Curt was a bit taken aback.

"Well, there are two main areas of poverty here in Deloam...it's a shame really..." Stiltzkin trailed off.

The companions continued on in silence for a while. Eventually, they passed into a more affluent area of the city. Finally, Stiltzkin stopped in front of a small cottage.

"Well, here we are! The Moogle Post!" Stiltzkin said.

"Thank you, Stiltz! I enjoyed the tour. Here's the letter," Curt said as he handed the woman's envelope to Stiltzkin.

"Kupopo! You're welcome, Curt! See ya around. Take care now!" Stiltzkin skipped off into the cottage.

Curt peeked into one of the cottage windows and laughed at what he saw. There were several moogles dancing and prancing about the cottage, sorting mail, and shouting "Kupo!" and "Kupopo!" every chance they got. With all that fun chaos going on, it was a wonder the Moogle Post was such an efficient mail service. Curt turned away from the cottage and continued down the road in the direction Stiltzkin had told him the inn was located.

As Curt walked, he thought about Stiltzkin and the Moogle Post. Moogles had always been around and had always been friends of humanity. However, when the miasma blight came, humanity learned just how important that friendship would become. Moogles were one of the few creatures that remained unaffected by the miasma. It was this blessed fact that led to the creation of the Moogle Post not too long after humans began falling ill to the effects of the miasma. Fortunately, the moogle community - a closely knit network of friends and family - was only too happy to help and already quite organized enough to handle the job. And as Curt had just witnessed, the moogles took pride in their new-found role in the world and had great fun carrying it out.