Pilgrimage

February 9, 2007, 7:11 PM

Pilgrimage

Rinoa sacrificed her life to save Squall. She allowed herself to get hit from Sorceress Edea's giant icicle she launched at him. But sometime later, she awakes in the world of Spira. As she progresses throughout this new world, she learns about Sin as its greatest threat. Her friends are now different from how she remembered them. They are now all caught up in defeating Sin, including Rinoa herself.

___________________________

Chapter 1: Unexpected Changes

Sorceress’s Throne, Galbadia Square, Galbadia

Time is a precious thing. A wise man had told Squall Leonhart that life goes by quickly. But he had never known it to be this quick for Rinoa Heartilly. How cruel he had been to her since he had met her. How cold-hearted he had been with her. If only he could turn back the clock …

But he could not. As the giant icicle had struck down Rinoa, she collapsed into his arms. Squall yelled her name several times, but she was drifting in and out of consciousness. For the first time in years, he started to cry.

“R-Rinoa …” he whispered. “You … did this for me? You stopped me getting hurt, but risked your life?”

“Of course, silly,” said Rinoa slowly, but smiling. “I just … didn’t want to see you … hurt like that. The sorceress … she …”

“Rinoa! Don’t say anything. Save your strength!”

“Squall, but I just know … ha … never thought I’d go like … this.”

Squall looked up at Seifer furiously. “Are you happy now? Rinoa could die now and that’s because of your loyalty to the sorceress!”

“I’ve got nothing to say,” said Seifer, pointing his gunblade at Squall. “She got in the sorceress’s way and now she had to pay the price. My loyalty is to the sorceress, Squall. Funny though, she saved your own ass.”

“Amusing how one saves the life of another …” began Edea. “I do wonder how you can survive this hit.” She shot another giant icicle.

Squall closed his eyes hoping that he would go down with her. But … he hadn’t. He opened his eyes again to see that Rinoa had taken yet another hit. However, this time, Squall could not catch her. Rinoa fell over the sorceress’s throne. She fell and Squall extended his arm. But his fingers just barely missed her own. He continued to call out her name, but the blood poured from her wound. Rinoa blacked out – and died.

Chamber of the Fayth, Bevelle Temple, Bevelle

Three fayth were currently present. The platform that they were floating above glowed orange. These three fayth were the young boy who represented aeon Bahamut, the warrior representing Yojimbo and woman who represented Valefor. They were discussing what was going on in the other world.

“It was not meant to be,” said the young boy.

“She opened the door to our world,” said the warrior.

“Then we know what must be done,” nodded the woman.

“Yes,” agreed the young boy. “Rinoa must be brought here. There is no way she can exist in her world anymore. She must stay here. She will recognise her friends, but they will be different. Our world is different to hers. So it must be done, so it shall be done.”

Unknown Platform

Rinoa opened her eyes amazed to see she hadn’t got a wound visible on her chest. She surveyed the area and found herself swimming in the air. She continued to swim into the air until she descended upon a platform.

“What?” she whispered. It’s … me.

She was witnessing a younger version of herself. That younger self was five years old sat down on the platform crying silently. Rinoa sighed. She just about remembered when her mother had died just before she had turned five years old. She had never got over it. That was all until she had met Squall. He had made her forget about her troubles in her life and made her feel warm. Unfortunately, they had spent so little time together. But even so, Rinoa felt like she knew him so much already.

Her vision became a little blurry – and then she became light-headed. Rinoa felt sleepy. She didn’t care what had happened here in this strange place seeing her younger self crying about her mother’s death. Rinoa wanted it all to end.

She thought that she was dreaming. She actually was. She had a dream that she was alone. She desperately wanted someone, anyone to come to comfort her. But no one was there. Rinoa thought of Squall hoping he would come. But still, no one came. Just like her younger self, Rinoa cried silently. She cried deep down inside of her feeling she would never hear his voice or see his face again.

Unknown Temple

Rinoa awoke several hours later seeing that she was leant against a piece of what used to be a building. She took a quick breath and did realise that she was alive. She knew that she wasn’t dreaming this time. She knew that all of this was for real!

“Hello?” she said. “Anybody out there? Squall?” A short pause occurred. When only silence reigned, she screamed out. “HEY!”

A few birds flew up into the sky in fear of her echoing voice; Rinoa saw that she was in water itself. She swam through the ruins that she was in. Several moments later, Rinoa got on to the ground and walked forwards hoping to find some clue as to where she was.

This is getting creepier and weirder with every step I take, she thought to herself.

As she walked over the bridge, something was moving underwater. Rinoa could hear it and so she stopped walking to listen to it. But however, the bridge collapsed. Shocked and splashing into the water, Rinoa expected to lose her breath underwater. She was amazed when she didn’t lose any at all. She could breathe and talk underwater!

“How cool is this?” she laughed to herself.

BANG.

Ok, this isn’t going to be good.

A giant fiend with visible ribs as a cage appeared. Rinoa swam out of its way and attached her pinwheel to her right arm. She shot it at the fiend. She was laughing at the fiend because she thought that she had down in one shot. But she was wrong. She had to think again.

The fiend came after her like a monster wanting to devour its victims. Rinoa couldn’t fight it; the fiend had barely taken much damage from her pinwheel. She looked for a possible way of getting out. There was only one way of escaping: deeper into the temple through a small hole. Rinoa swam as fast as she could. Heck, she wasn’t the world’s fastest swimmer, but she beat the fiend to the hole. It almost swallowed her whole.

She slammed against the wall and rocks tumbled down on the hole. Rinoa had survived the fiend, but now had to survive the cold. She got to her feet and ran up the stairs to a huge room. There was a huge statue overlooking it and many different ways out of the room. Rinoa noticed that in the centre of the room there were various different things lying around, including some things needed to light a fire.

It was cold in there, so Rinoa lit the fire up. It was so warm in this room now. She sat next to the fire and touched her chest. She still noticed there was no visible wound or no blood. What had really happened? And why had she ended up here? Rinoa knew no record of an ancient temple being in her world. She was so tired and confused that she fell asleep next to the fire. And that was when her mind drifted to a memory some years previously …

“What do you want now?” glared Rinoa coldly.

Her father, General Caraway, stepped into the room and sighed. He leant against the wall just looking at his rebellious teenage daughter. “You know, Squall shouldn’t have blamed himself for what you did. He can’t control you, not even I could.”

“You just never had the will to do it ever since Mom died,” said Rinoa.

“But that’s the thing,” he said. “You cried.”

Suddenly, the fayth of Bevelle appeared. The young boy wearing the purple clothing ran into the room and turned to face Rinoa. “You cried.”

The coldness of the room awoke Rinoa back to her senses. It was only merely moments since she had dozed off. She hadn’t really had any proper sleep. Rinoa noticed that the fire was fading fast. It made her desperate to find more firewood. As she got to her feet, a spider-like fiend appeared. Rinoa pulled out her pinwheel and attached it to her right arm.

“What? At least me have a rest!” she exclaimed.

It slashed her left hand and it bled. Now the blood was really beginning to show.

“You’re going to pay for that,” muttered Rinoa, shooting at it and letting the slashing edge return to the pinwheel. “Why am I getting attacked all of a sudden? And I’ve never seen a monster like that before!”

The spider fiend slashed her continuously and it was so much for Rinoa that she bent over feeling weak. The sweat poured from her forehead and the desperation to get through this was slipping away. Rinoa began to lose all hope –

Suddenly, a locked door was blown down. Several men with masks on their faces ran in with guns in their hands. Rinoa turned to see that a young girl with brown hair walked in going in her direction.

“Selphie.”

February 25, 2007, 10:25 PM

Is the next chapter in this going to be available anytime soon?

March 1, 2007, 8:11 PM

Thanks for the comment. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Welcome To Spira

Unknown Temple

Rinoa knew that it was Selphie straight away; despite the weird goggle-like glasses she was wearing over her eyes. She didn’t say anything at first and Rinoa didn’t expect that. She was expecting her to be excited to see her again and alive, too. But no, this was a different Selphie of some sorts. A great sense of confusion was going through Rinoa.

Selphie unsheathed her weapon and joined Rinoa in the fight. Now that was something she had been expecting from her. Rinoa shot the fiend with her pinwheel, whilst Selphie threw a … bomb? She wanted to say something, anything to her – but she didn’t really know how to put it into words. But for now, she attacked the fiend again with her pinwheel.

The spider fiend slashed Selphie this time. Rinoa had initially wanted to protect her, but she couldn’t. It was too fast for the pair of them. She felt that fighting in this place and alongside this different Selphie had somewhat changed to the way she was used to fighting back in Timber. She couldn’t quite get her head around it. All of this was so confusing.

Her immediate pain from the two huge icicles whilst trying to save Squall …

Swimming in the air near a platform and seeing a younger version of herself …

Waking up in the unknown ruins …

Getting attacked by that rib cage fiend thing …

… And now this. As Selphie stole a few more bombs from the spider, Rinoa tried to cast magic on the fiend. But somehow, she found that she couldn’t. As a matter of fact, she had no magic junctioned to herself! Rinoa gulped. She occasionally used magic in a fight. She couldn’t always rely on the power of her pinwheel. That was obvious stupidity. But for now, she had no choice as she shot the fiend again. But this time, the fiend went down and suddenly burst into a few strange colourful lights.

Rinoa smelt the sweet victory in the air. She had managed to do this, but not alone. As she fell to her knees in exhaustion, she laughed a little to herself and then looked up at Selphie.

“Phew! I thought we were done in then!” she smiled.

But then suddenly, one of the men grabbed Rinoa by her hair and she attempted to break free.

“Ouch! Hey! Get off me! What are you –” she began to say.

But the sounds of the guns being aimed at her shut Rinoa up. She gulped and hoped that this wasn’t truly the end. She shot Selphie a confused look.

Why isn’t she doing anything? Doesn’t she recognise me?

And before Rinoa knew it, they were all speaking in a language she had never even heard!

“Ed’c y fiend!” yelled a man, putting a knife to Rinoa’s neck.

“Fiend! Fiend! Crymm fa gemm ed?” shouted another weird man.

“Hu, tuh’d tu yhodrehk!” yelled Selphie.

Even Rinoa was staring at Selphie in a strange way. She had never seen Selphie speak in that language before. Not for as long as she had known her, anyway.

“Fuimt oui nydran dyga dra necg?” asked the man holding the knife and pointing it in Selphie’s direction.

Rinoa was very alarmed at this stage. She wanted to do something, anything to stop this man doing anything to Selphie. She wouldn’t let her guard down at this point.

Go on, have a go … try and have a go if you’re hard enough …

“Fa lyh dyga ran fedr ic!” exclaimed Selphie.

The man holding Rinoa at knifepoint let her go. She muttered under her breath, “Thank you,” and then looked at Selphie who approached her. She was amazed as to how much she had changed.

“Cunno,” muttered Selphie.

And then came the sharp piercing pain of a fist. Selphie had smacked Rinoa right in the stomach. Never had she felt so much pain from someone who looked innocent and harmless. As her vision became blurry, she fell to the ground and blacked out. The last thing she saw was the strange men approaching her as Selphie left the temple.

Unknown Ship

The first thing that came to Rinoa’s blurry vision was the ocean. It was so gentle at this time. She sat up and her vision was still very blurry. That was all until one of those strange men pointed his gun at her.

“Cdyo cdemm!” he yelled.

“Hey!” complained Rinoa. “Don’t shout at me!”

“CEMAHLA!” yelled another man.

“Ok … sure, whatever,” she gulped.

A door opened and out came Selphie with a man with strange blonde spiky hair in the middle of his head.

“Kad ib,” he moaned.

The men helped Rinoa up back on to her feet. She was now strong enough to stand on her own. He then started making weird gestures with a pair of the goggle-like glasses he was holding in his hands.

“I don’t understand,” stared Rinoa.

“Bid dras uh!” he yelled.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said I didn’t understand!” she shouted.

As one of the men was about to attack her, Selphie stopped them by raising her hand.

“Cdub!” she shouted and then spoke in English to Rinoa. “He’s asking if you want to work with us.”

“You understand me?” stared Rinoa.

“Of course I do, silly,” smiled Selphie and then turned to the others. “E’mm ryhtma ran!” As the men left to go inside the ship, she turned back to Rinoa. “They don’t understand the normal language. Fortunately, I do. My name is Selphie Tilmitt, pleased to meet you!”

“I know who you are, Selphie,” said Rinoa. “And stop acting as if you don’t know me! Don’t you know who I am?”

“Nope,” said Selphie, looking confused and shaking her head. “I have no idea who you are. Did you bump your head or something?”

“My name is Rinoa Heartilly and I’m the leader of the Timber Owls,” she replied. “I didn’t bump my head. You remember the Timber Owls, right? We’re a resistance faction attacking Galbadia for invading Timber in the first place.”

“Timber? And … Galbadia?” she whispered.

“Are you starting to remember?”

“Just what on earth are you going on about? Anyway, let’s change the subject for now. Rinoa Heartilly, I need your help. We’ve been looking at a deep underwater place for sometime now. We’re looking for something old, even ancient. Do you think you can help?”

“Um … sure, whatever,” said Rinoa.

She looked sad for one of two reasons. It could’ve either been that Selphie was playing a joke on her or that she couldn’t really remember anything about Rinoa.

“Ok then!” smiled Selphie. “Let’s dive underwater and find this thing! You in?”

“Definitely,” nodded Rinoa. What choice do I have?

Unknown Ocean

As she dived into the water with Selphie, they both swam down to where the anchor was chained to the rocky underwater surface. As they both swam, they eventually came to an underwater system. Rinoa pushed a few buttons and they managed to get through to the actual cause of this. But then … a fiend lay in their way.

Rinoa attached her pinwheel to her right arm and Selphie withdrew her nunchaku. The pair of them were now engaged in battle. As Rinoa shot her pinwheel at the fiend, it swam around them hitting them and injuring them severely. Selphie stole a few bombs and threw them at it. The fiend came flying at them again and this time, Rinoa and Selphie both decided to trap the fiend. This way, the fiend couldn’t attack both of them at the same time.

Victory was slowly coming for the two girls. Once Selphie had whacked the water fiend with her nunchaku, it slowly was destroyed and bursted into those strange lights what Rinoa had seen when that spider fiend had been killed. In her world, monsters as everyone called them were obliterated straight away. Never had she witnessed strange lights like these.

She and Selphie swam further into the ruins. It was there that they found something deep and uncovered … but it was stuck in the stone still. Rinoa looked at it with close observation. It was indeed ancient. She was fascinated by it, but there was nothing that they could do right now to release it. So Rinoa could only go back up to the surface with Selphie.

Unknown Ship

“Airship! Vyclehydehk!” exclaimed one man.

“Fa sicd namayca ed cuuh,” assumed another.

As the door opened, Rinoa followed them. But one of them turned back around and pushed her back. She was confused when the door closed on her.

“What? I did my part to help, didn’t I?” she yelled as they ignored her. “Hmph, fine.”

Several hours later, Rinoa sat on the boat on the outside. She yawned and looked up at the cloudy sky. Her stomach growled and she turned over trying to ignore her hunger.

“So hungry …” she muttered, no matter how much tried to cast it aside.

BANG.

“Hey! Don’t scare me!” shouted Rinoa as if she had been waking up.

But then she saw that it was Selphie with a tray of food that she had placed down for her. Rinoa’s eyes widened at the sight of food. She had fighting for so long now and she had gotten something in return at last.

“Oh yes! Right on!” she jumped, feeling excited at seeing food.

That was when she stuffed it all down her throat. She was going way too fast, but she didn’t care through almost choking. Rinoa grabbed Selphie’s water flask and gulped down almost a litre of water down her burning throat. She breathed calmly and normally after that. She laughed a little bit at herself.

“You looked hungry, so I fixed something up for you,” assumed Selphie. “You look like you haven’t ate for days.”

“You can say that again,” smiled Rinoa. “Thanks for this, Selphie. I really do appreciate it. But there’s something I don’t get …”

“What is it?”

“I died at her hands. She sent that icicle at him – and I took the hit. Didn’t you see me fall off the throne in Galbadia?”

“Um, Galabadia? Is that where you’re from?”

“Yeah, my father is a general there. I hate him so much, he ordered the army to invade Timber. And that’s where I joined the Timber Owls. We’re like the leading resistance faction in the whole of Timber!”

“Timber? Galbadia? What do you mean?” stared Selphie. “Both of those were destroyed a thousand years ago by Sin!”

“What? What’s Sin? What are you talking about? A thousand years ago?” yelled Rinoa, jumping to her feet straight away.

So Selphie pulled Rinoa to one side and explained everything. She told her that Sin was a powerful entity, a monster that first appeared one thousand years ago and destroyed Galbadia. She also explained that Timber had been completely wiped out and its location was now a lost page in history. Selphie had also claimed she had never seen Rinoa before. And then she went on about the Al Bhed, how she was also Al Bhed.

“How are you reeling through all of this?” asked Selphie. “You with me so far?”

“I … I guess so,” nodded Rinoa and lowered her head. So I’ve got this toxin thing?

“And you must have Sin’s toxin,” assumed Selphie. “People say weird things when they have Sin’s toxin. They’re those who have gotten too close to Sin. Don’t worry, I’ll take you to Luca.”

“Luca?” she asked.

“There’s a huge thing going on down there. Many people are gathering there. I’m sure someone there will recognise you straight away!”

“Yeah … I hope so,” sighed Rinoa.

Rinoa looked out at the ocean sometime later. She thought of all the events that had eventually led her to this place out in the ocean. Confusion was getting the best of her as she rose to her feet and looked angry.

“No way that happened! How would everyone be here?” shouted Rinoa, screaming out at the open air.

Her voice just echoed … and then the ship rocked a little. Several Al Bhed men ran out of the boat and rolled over since the ship wasn’t under any form of control.

“SIN!” they yelled.

And that was it. Rinoa looked at Sin for the first time. She didn’t like what she saw. The image of Sin stayed in her mind for a very long time. She held on to the bar on the boat as tight as she could. But in the end, it was all too much for her. The water swept away Rinoa and she fell into the ocean … blacking out into the unknown …

March 3, 2007, 7:52 PM

Is this whole story going to follow FFX's?

March 5, 2007, 7:35 PM

Mostly, but I'm throwing in some of my ideas in. Here's a nice treat for you all: the next chapter!

Chapter 3: Besaid Village

Unknown Beach

Rinoa opened her eyes slowly, but surely. She could hear the sound of the seagulls and felt the calm ocean. She saw that she was indeed in the ocean as she came around properly. She suddenly remembered what had gone on with Sin.

“Selphie!” she said.

But she wasn’t there. Rinoa looked at her new surroundings. She knew that she was in a different place. Suddenly, she felt something smack her at the back of her head. Moaning and yelling, “Ouch!” she found a small dark blue and light blue strange ball floating in the water with her.

“Hey! You ok?” shouted a voice from the sandy beach.

Rinoa couldn’t quite make out who was yelling her. But she waved and shouted back, “Hey!” right back at whoever was calling her. Her eyes were fixed firmly upon the ball. She smiled and remembered playing with a ball in her early childhood. Then she swam underneath the water right under the ball. She swam up into the air, headed the ball up and then flipped over kicking the ball right back at the beach. It zoomed right past the people who were playing with their own balls.

Rinoa swam to the beach and noticed a bunch of guys exercising. They all approached her and stared at her in awe. They started cheering her on.

“Show us that shot again!”

“You got great skill!”

“Whoa, whoa! Guys, cool it,” said that same voice from before. “Let the girl have some air.”

Rinoa noticed that a blonde, spiky-haired guy with a black tattoo on the right hand side of his face walk forward. He was wearing black metal knuckle gloves and he was wearing a smile on his face.

“Well, we got ourselves a new girl on the block,” smiled Zell cheekily.

“Z-Zell?” stared Rinoa.

“Whoa, whoa! How do you know my name?” he said, taken aback.

“Not you, too? What’s going on here?” she said, still staring at him. “You don’t remember being in Galbadia?”

Suddenly, the other men started whispering to each other. Zell stared at her this time.

“Where did you say you were from again?” he asked.

“Galbadia!” exclaimed Rinoa.

“Ah … eh, um … let me introduce you to the Besaid Aurochs!” said Zell, changing the subject. “These are the guys! I’m the captain and forward alongside Datto and Letty. Jassu and Botta are the defenders. Oh yeah, Keepa is the keeper. Do you know how to play blitzball?”

“What IS blitzball?” asked Rinoa.

“What? You never heard of blitzball, ya?” asked Botta, staring at her.

“No, I’ve never heard of it in my life!” she exclaimed.

“Then no worries!” smiled Zell. “I’ll teach you everything I know. I’m not the team captain and coach for nothing, am I? All right, team! Get back to training! We’re gonna do our best and bring the Cup back to Besaid!”

“Besaid?” said Rinoa.

“Yup, you’re on Besaid Island,” said Zell. “And judging by that, I hear you’re hungry.”

“Definitely,” muttered Rinoa. Especially through everything that I’ve been through.

“But you said you’re from Galbadia?” said Zell.

“I’m sorry about that,” said Rinoa, remembering that Selphie had told her that Galbadia was a sacred place and that she might upset someone if she said she was from there. “I got a little too close to Sin and all my head’s fuzzy.”

“You got close to Sin, huh?” smiled Zell. “Well, we’re glad you’re all ok. Praise be to Yevon.” He did some weird bowing down thing and moved his hands in a strange way. “Come on, I’ll take you to the village. We can take you to the temple and get you fed.”

Besaid Island

“So that’s what happened?” said Rinoa as they walked towards the huge water area, which was a shortcut. “Sin just destroys everything in its path?”

“It’s our punishment for a thousand years ago,” nodded Zell. “But what gets me is why we have to pay for what some morons did so many years ago! Why do we pay for everything that happens to them?”

Rinoa lowered her head. It’s just like what Selphie told me. I feel like they’re both lying in a way to me, but why would they? And I’ve never even been to this Besaid Island before. I mustn’t be in my world anymore; I’m in Spira now.

“But that was funny!” he laughed. “Saying you’re from Galbadia … but I’ve not ruled out the possibility that you’re not from there, though. So I’m not saying I don’t believe you. Have a little faith and maybe your memory might be restored.”

“Yeah … I hope,” muttered Rinoa.

The pair of them dived into the water and started swimming towards Besaid. After a while, Rinoa noticed that Zell was missing. She looked confused and wondered where he’d gone off. But then, he crept up behind her and dunked her under. Rinoa hastily swam back to the surface.

“I got an offer for you,” he said.

“What is it?” she asked. “Hope it’s something not to do with dunking me again.”

“Nah, it’s not,” smiled Zell. “I want you to come to Luca with us. I want you on our team!”

“Your blitz team?” asked Rinoa.

“Yeah, we could need someone like you,” assumed Zell.

“Hey, I was just having a little fun!” she protested. “I wasn’t really professional looking there.”

“But gosh, you’re so good!”

“You think so?”

“So come on! You wanna come on our team?”

Rinoa looked up at the sunny sky and thought about it. Maybe I can get to know Spira a little better and find my way home. My home … where my friends aren’t some idiots and pretending to be other people.

“Yeah, sure … whatever,” she nodded.

“All right! Now we’re REALLY going to bring the Cup home!”

As the pair of them came to ground again, Rinoa followed Zell to the cliff above the village.

“This is where I was born,” he pointed to the village. “I’ve lived there all my life. I joined the blitz team when I was thirteen and became the captain and coach at fifteen. But then …”

“What?” said Rinoa.

“I had another duty to my heart,” sighed Zell. “I was on and off with it. Last year, I had my big chance to bring the Cup back to the village. But something was on my mind and I couldn’t focus on the game.”

“What? The squealing fans?” she mocked.

“Hey! My reasons are personal!” he argued.

Rinoa laughed. “I’m only joking, Zell. But you know, the Zell in my world is different to you and similar in some ways. My Zell likes to beat up people just to look good and to attract girls. I only said that because I see you as my Zell.”

“Well, maybe I’m not your Zell, but …” began Zell. “You must stop seeing me like that. Your world might be different to mine, but … ah, I’m no good with these words.”

“So what? Shy?” asked Rinoa.

“Nope, just thinking about stuff, that’s all,” he replied. “Come on, there’s no fiends around. We can get down to the village safely. Come on!”

As they ran down, they saw two men in armour walking towards the village and stopped to see them.

“Fiends will be on this road!” they warned them. “Please be careful.”

“Who were they?” asked Rinoa.

“They’re Crusaders,” said Zell.

“Crusaders?”

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you know so little. They’re like warriors fighting against Sin because it’s what they believe in. They work in places all around Spira and even help to clear the fiends in some towns and villages.”

“That’s a really nice thing to do.”

“Oh yeah, I need to show you something,” said Zell. “Come here.”

Rinoa followed him to a corner outside the village.

“Do you remember the prayer?” he asked.

“Erm … no, I don’t,” said Rinoa. I don’t know any prayers.

“This is also the sign for victory in a blitz game,” said Zell. “Do this.”

He stepped back, moved his hands until they were close together and bowed down.

“You do it,” he said.

So Rinoa did it. Zell was pretty impressed.

“Not bad, eh?” he smiled. “I’ll go make you some food. Now go present yourself to the temple priest. He can help you by praying.”

I don’t have the toxin, thought Rinoa. I’m not being stupid by thinking that I don’t. I know what I see now and I know what I saw back at home. Why doesn’t anyone believe me when I say I’m from Galbadia? What is the deal with everyone here?

Besaid Village, Besaid Island

She walked into the village and saw it was quite small, but peaceful. She saw the children running around with their blitzballs, the adults at work and animals lurking around. Rinoa saw the temple straight away seeing it was in the centre. She embraced herself, took a deep breath and entered.

Besaid Temple, Besaid Village, Besaid Island

There was a hymn being hummed that was heard throughout the temple. The temple amazed Rinoa. There were so many things here! Statues were of the essence here as she looked up at the statue of a man holding a staff.

“That is Lord Laguna Loire,” said the temple priest, who appeared behind her. “He brought the Calm ten years ago and we finally get a statue for our temple. He is the last High Summoner.”

“What’s a summoner?” asked Rinoa.

“What? Why do you say that?” gasped the temple priest.

“The Calm? High Summoner? What are you talking about?” she stared. But then she saw the shocked looks of the people around her. “I … I got too close to Sin. I’ve got Sin’s, um … toxin?”

They were still shocked, but they did the prayer as a sign of respect. And so the temple priest explained everything to Rinoa.

“A person can become a summoner, but they must have the power to prepare themselves for the long pilgrimage ahead,” he said. “That person becomes an apprentice summoner and then becomes a summoner when they are blessed with the power of the fayth. The aeons are their companions and source of power. A summoner visits all the temples in Spira to receive each fayth and when they have done that, they can ascend to the position of High Summoner. That is where the Final Aeon is. Only the Final Aeon can get rid of Sin.”

Long explanation, but I think I get it, thought Rinoa.

She did the prayer and looked up at Lord Braska’s statue. When she was done, she left the temple and went back to Zell’s place. Zell glanced up at her and smiled, but sighed.

“The food’s not done yet,” he said. “Why don’t you take a rest? You look tired.”

“Yeah, I think I will,” nodded Rinoa and smiled. “Thanks.”

She got on Zell’s bed and then fell asleep …

Sometime later, the temple priest came to the hut.

“They should have come out by now,” he said.

“It’s not my business! We can’t interfere!” yelled Zell.

“But it’s been almost …”

Caraway Residence, Galbadia

“But it’s almost been a day,” said General Caraway. “Haven’t you found her yet?”

“No, we’re trying our best though,” said a Galbadian soldier. “We’ll double our search.”

“Triple your search!” he yelled.

A young Rinoa looked up at her father.

“I wish it was you that had gone,” she said.

“What did you say?” he asked. “Don’t speak to me like that! How dare you …”

“I hate you!” shouted Rinoa. “I wish you had disappeared instead of Mom!”

“You don’t mean that,” gasped General Caraway. “You don’t mean it all, do you?”

“I DO!” yelled Rinoa. “I REALLY HATE YOU!”

Besaid Village, Besaid Island

“Huh?” said Rinoa, as she woke up and found Zell was gone. “Zell? Where’ve you gone now?”

She didn’t care about the food right now; she had to find where he had gone off. She went to the temple since her instincts told her that he’d be there. And he was there standing next to the temple priest!

Besaid Temple, Besaid Village, Besaid Island

“What’s going on?” asked Rinoa.

“The summoner hasn’t come out for a day,” he said. “He’s praying to the fayth for the aeon, but we haven’t heard anything!”

“What if something happens?” said Rinoa. “What if the summoner DIES?”

“The laws must be kept!” protested the temple priest.

“As if I care!” yelled Rinoa. “I don’t even know YOUR laws.”

As everyone was shocked by what she said and did, Rinoa ran up the stairs and opened the doors to the Cloister of Trials. She wasn’t even ready for what was coming next.

March 8, 2007, 8:06 PM

*Sighs* I'm not giving up on this, so please comment on it if you DO read this. I don't want to sound desperate, so here is the next chapter. This will be going on for a long time, trust me. I have about 12 chapters already of this.

Chapter 4: The Summoner

Cloister of Trials, Besaid Temple, Besaid Village, Besaid Island

Rinoa hadn’t really thought about what she had just done. She had just ventured off into the unknown alone and she didn’t even know what was in the Cloister of Trials that Zell had told her about. She had been told that she would have to unlock the way to the Chamber of the Fayth, but in this case, she didn’t. The summoner and his guardians that had entered had already done this.

She ventured off into the unknown and eventually found the pedestal that would take her down to the Chamber. But then a familiar face interrupted her …

“Hey! Wait there,” said Zell who came on to the pedestal with her.

“What are you doing here?” asked Rinoa.

“I’d like to ask you the same question,” he giggled. “I’m here because you came.”

“So … what’s this whole Cloister of Trials thing?”

“Only apprentice summoners, summoners and guardians can enter here.”

“G-Guardians?”

The pedestal glowed and moved a little. It put Rinoa off guard a little, but then it started to go down to the Chamber of the Fayth.

Zell began to explain everything about guardians. “Summoners can’t do the pilgrimage on their own. Something or someone will get in their way. Guardians are meant to be there to protect their summoner and ensure their safety to the world’s edge … in Galbadia.”

“G-Galbadia? Isn’t that where you get that aeon thing there?”

“The Final Aeon, yeah. It’s the only thing that can defeat Sin.”

Chamber of the Fayth, Besaid Temple, Besaid Village, Besaid Island

As they reached the bottom, there were two other faces that Rinoa recognised.

“Quistis? Irvine?” she stared.

Both of them now stared at Rinoa in confusion.

“Zell, who is this?” asked Quistis.

“This is Rinoa Heartilly and she claims to know us all,” explained Zell. “Irvine! Why the long face? Get it? Long face?”

“Yeah, very funny,” smirked Irvine.

These people are really different from the ones as I remember them, thought Rinoa.

“I thought that you weren’t going to interfere,” glared Quistis.

“Well, the summoner’s in there and he could die, right?” asked Rinoa.

“I don’t know who you are, but you can’t interfere,” said Irvine.

“Yeah, you’re both very cheerful,” observed Rinoa. “You’re both like my Quistis and Irvine in my world. You’re … both weird.”

“Yeah, she called me weird, too!” argued Zell.

“She’s the weird one here,” assumed Irvine.

“Wait!” said Quistis. “Do you hear that?”

The Hymn of the Fayth had stopped playing from within the Chamber of the Fayth. Rinoa was curious about this, too. As the door opened, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was Squall Leonhart dripping with sweat on his forehead and his eyes closed as he stepped out of the door. He looked like he was about to fall … Rinoa ran forward to try catch him. But it was Irvine who had dashed forward to catch him.

“Thank you, Irvine,” smiled Squall, who then opened his eyes. He straightened himself up and stood up looking at them all. The only one he didn’t recognise at first was Rinoa. “I’ve done it, everyone. I’ve become a summoner.”

Besaid Village, Besaid Island

Rinoa followed everyone outside. Zell grabbed her ear and pulled her to one side.

“Hey, heroine!” he yelled. “Take a look at this. This is gonna be awesome!”

“Awesome? All I see is people gathering around,” said Rinoa.

“Oh boy, just watch and learn!” winked Zell and then turned to Squall. “Ready?”

“Ok,” nodded Squall and then stepped forward into the centre of the village on the shining platform.

The others were watching in curiosity. As a matter of fact, the whole village was watching. Some had their eyes fixed firmly on Squall, whilst others were doing the prayer and bowing down low throughout the duration of time. Squall took out his staff, put it close to his face and then stepped back raising it into the air. A white light glowed and then something appeared from the sky.

Rinoa looked up. What’s going … on?

A mighty winged creature swooped down from the sky and landed right in front of Squall. He walked forward to the creature a little bit nervous, but then stroked it. He turned back to the crowd and smiled. Everyone was cheering. Even Rinoa was in awe.

I’ve never seen anything like it before, she thought. That was incredible.

As his guardians congratulated him when they had approached him, Rinoa just continued to look at Squall. He looked so different to the Squall that she knew. Although a lot had happened since Sorceress Edea had shot the huge icicles at her, she still had feelings for Squall. She still felt warm deep inside for him. He had a place in her heart any day.

Nightfall came some hours later. Rinoa was sat with Zell and the Besaid Aurochs blitzball team. She couldn’t stop looking at Squall who was talking to the villagers. He did manage to sneak in a smile when he saw her.

“So what are we going to do?” smiled Zell. “We’re gonna do our best!”

“Do your best?” asked Rinoa, raising an eyebrow. “Sure, your best is all that you can do, but … there’s much more you can than just that! You got to think of victory! Just smell that sweet scent of victory.”

“Victory …” muttered the Aurochs. “VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY! YEAH!”

“Now that’s the team spirit, guys!” said Zell. “That’s going to be our team motto! Victory! We’ll bring home the Cup and show those Luca Goers just how much better that we are!”

Rinoa looked at Squall and felt that she had to say something to him. As she left Zell and Besaid Aurochs behind, she walked towards him.

“You heathen!” yelled a villager.

“Stay away from the summoner!” shouted another one.

“You’re a bad woman,” said a girl.

“No … it was my fault to begin with,” said Squall, rising to his feet.

“Lord Squall …”

“Hi, I’m Squall Leonhart,” smiled Squall. “Thank you so much for that before. I never really got the chance to show my gratitude.”

“Uh … it was nothing,” said Rinoa, blushing a little. Why am I blushing? I know Squall and no one’s ever made me blush before. She pulled herself together. “Well, it was nice to see you –”

“Again?” smiled Squall. “Zell told me that you know all of us.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that claiming to know you and all …”

“It’s no problem,” smiled Squall. “So may I ask the name of the lovely young woman who tried to save my life?”

“My name is Rinoa Heartilly,” said Rinoa.

“Rinoa, huh? Well, it was nice to meet you,” he said, continuing to smile. “I hope that you’ll be sticking around for a while.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Rinoa.

“We’re getting the same ship, aren’t we?” he said. “At least Zell told me that you were going with him to Luca as part of his blitzball team. I’m getting the boat, too. I hope that you just might stay a little longer. Well, it was nice meeting you, Rinoa.”

As he walked off, he went back to the villagers he was talking to before.