~*~Fantasy Desire~*~

December 29, 2007, 9:29 PM

FANTASY DESIRE
Written by Samuel Thompson

~ Game ~
Final Fantasy IX

~ Fiction Rated ~
T (Teen)

~ Contains ~
Mild language and violence

~ Language ~
English

~ Genre ~
Fantasy, Action/Adventure

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prologue

The room was quiet, quieter than they had ever left it. And as the four friends stared into the beak darkness of their confinement, a soft wave of pleasuring excitement swept over them. The four of them lay there. Eyes wide open, never to sleep that night. In fact, too tired to sleep that night. The night outside of the blind-covered window seemed to last for a long time, holding home to the stars, and the illuminated digits of the clock showed 1:35 am. The friends could not sleep a wink. Their hearts raced, their minds pulsated. The excitement of them fantastic world they had just undergone was droning silently on "pause". The misplacement of a memory card was perhaps a good thing indeed. They could not save their progress and turn it off. The light and picture of the television somehow relaxed them and the silent tunes of the game could just be heard at the low volume of which the game had been turned down too. The universe of Final Fantasy IX was still speeding through their heads and it made them glow with admiration. 10 hours is a long time to be playing a game nonstop. Still, they did not care.

Nick, a guest of the household, was lying comfortably on the four legged bed, his head pressing against the foot stand, breathing gently into the darkness of which was being kept a little alight by the light of the bulb peeping through the open crack of the door. Sam, of who owned his room, was lying next to the large bed on an airbed which was quite to his liking. Liana, Nick's 13-year-old younger sister, was lying next to Sam but she was lying on an un-foldable, single cushion bed which was very comfortable. She has Sam would fight over this one after Alex had stolen the other. Alex, Nick and Liana's 11-year-old younger brother, was lying next to Liana on the second single cushion bed.

While the four looked up at the ceiling, of which was the only the only thing to look at, their eyes kept twitching over to the glaring television, showing the picture of a world they knew and love. This carried on for another 15 minutes with quiet conversations of whispers and jokes until Liana broke the main subject of staring into blankness.

"I'm getting annoyed," she said in a tone quite louder than the ones she was talking with before.

"I know," replied Sam, "The ceiling's just too dull and it's giving me a headache just staring at it."

Liana gave Sam a stern look and a playful swipe over the head. The 14-year-old was used to taking playful abuses from his good friend.

"I mean the TV." corrected Liana. "It's just sitting there staring at me, taunting me."

"I think you're over exaggerating." said Nick who had turned onto his side to face the other three.

"It's also annoying me too." Said Alex, who had been silent for quite a while which was strange for he was usually the loud one.

"I can't take it anymore!" said Sam.

"I know it's too bright."

"Not that," replied Sam, "The ceiling! It's too dull!" Liana once again gave Sam a friendly swipe over the head.

"Oh right, the TV."
"My thumbs are twitching." said Nick. "I can't help it!"

"Then why don't we just play the game?" said Liana. This sentence, for some reason, made the atmosphere in the room much less tense. "We can't sleep anyway." But in the middle of Liana's sentence Sam had already reached for the controller. He grabbed it within his hands in one quick swoop of his arm.

"Come on then! We haven’t got all day!"

"You mean night."

The four friends sat up playing the game of Final Fantasy IX until the clock flipped over to 4:15 am. They took it in turns playing the game, switching at every scenario change or important event. Each of them had completed the game at least 5 times each and all of them were well aware of every secret, side-quest, mini game and event which took place within the world of Gaia. This mid-night game manifest had turned into what you would have thought would have been going on for years now. Sam and Nick had even raided the kitchen downstairs or drinks of Coke, Lemonade, Ginger Ale and the less sugary drink of Apple Juice, as well as swiping the secret stash of Sam's mum's sweet supply. The four sat there munching on popcorn, Crunchie bars, Pringles and grapes and it was surprising that Sam's parents hadn't barged into the room from being awakened by the loud slurping noises through plastic, swirly straws. The four were in their own mid-night paradise

The game was once again put on pause to allow the friends to once again raid the kitchen, mainly for more drinks. After the third 2 litre cola bottle had been brought up the friends continued with their godlike gaming. But then, a strange noise was heard from behind them.

"Kupo!"

The four span around but saw nothing. They continued with their game obsession. "Kupo!" The noise sounded again and, like before, nothing was to be seen. The sound kept on repeating itself and the four were getting quite annoyed by the event. They paused the game, switched on the light and searched the room. It was Nick which stumbled across the noise of which, quite surprisingly, was sounding from the Final Fantasy IX videogame case. He picked it up and the four peered at it. He opened it, the spaces where the first two discs of the game were staring right back at them.

"Are you sure this was making the sound?" asked Sam. But before Nick could answer the noise sounded again, "Kupo!" and this time the case shook.

"Definitely." Replied Nick. The sound repeated itself faster until the manual had lifted itself out of the case and fell onto the floor. The friends were quite frightened at this moment and the manual opened up its pages and magically turned them to the page were Stiltzkin, a character from within the game which belonged to a race called the 'Moogles', was located. The sound echoed again and then suddenly a bright light burst out from the pages of the manual and the beams plunged themselves right into the hearts of the four friends. They were stricken with warm, tingling feelings and they were lifted off the floor. They found themselves floating in mid-air, being encased by these beams of light. The beams of light circled themselves around the group, enclosing them within a bright, white ball of light and, no sooner than as it had appeared, the ball vanished with bright explosion of magic. The game was whirring away, the manual had been blown to the other side of the room and a poster of Final Fantasy IX was drifting gently down towards the floor.

"Kupo…"