Fan Fiction Pilgrimage

[Amizon]

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.”

 

[Galoko Izamaku]

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

 

[Amizon]

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 …

 

[Casanova]

Is this whole story going to follow FFX's?

 

[Amizon]

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.

 

[Amizon]

*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. Rinoa was a little smitten by Squall again. Zell came up behind her and nudged her in the left arm.

“He’s a handsome one, ain’t he?” he asked.

“Yeah … definitely my type,” said Rinoa.

“Don’t get too close,” said Zell. “You’ll regret it if you do.”

“What? It’s not like I’m going to instantly fall in love with him,” she said.

“Well … he has his pilgrimage to do and you got to find someone in Luca who recognises you,” he continued to say. “Anyway, you look a little tired again. You ready to go to bed? I had a bed made up for you in the Crusader’s Lodge.”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” smiled Rinoa. “To go to bed, I mean.”


Crusader’s Lodge, Besaid Village, Besaid Island

Rinoa tossed and turned in her bed. She had enough trouble as it was getting to sleep, but now even her nightmares were giving her difficulty to fall into a deep sleep. As she tossed and turned, a certain memory cast her back to Galbadia …


Besaid Dock, Besaid Island

“Hey!” said Rinoa when she saw Squall at the docks. “Where’s that boat?”

“If it doesn’t come soon, everyone’s going to find us,” he said to her.

“Are you sure it’s ok?”

“Absolutely.”

Suddenly, Selphie appeared and ran towards them. “Hello, Rinoa? I thought Zell told you not to go over the top?”

“He did?” said Squall, turning away.

“Well, um …” began Rinoa.

“Hey!” said General Caraway, who had appeared. “You getting yourself a guy? You didn’t even get over your mother’s death. Are you going to be quiet again?”

A younger version had appeared now in her place.

“Be silent, be silent,” he sighed. “That’s all you were ever good for.”

“I hate you,” muttered Rinoa.

“What?”

“Go on, speak louder,” said Squall.

“I HATE YOU! YOU SHOULD’VE DIED, NOT HER!” yelled Rinoa.

“Huh?” said General Caraway.

“That’s the spirit! You told him!” jumped Selphie.

“You can definitely do it,” winked Squall.


Crusader’s Lodge, Besaid Village

“I hate you!” yelled Rinoa all of a sudden and waking up.

“She’s dead … she’s dead, all right,” came a voice.

Rinoa got up and took a sneak peek at the conversation that Zell and Quistis were having.

“But … they have the same eyes,” sighed Zell. “What if it IS her?”

“It’s impossible,” said Quistis. “You should have never brought Rinoa in the first place!”

“But she needed our help …” he began to say.

“I’ve had enough of your stories!” muttered Quistis. “Enough, Zell! The pilgrimage is what’s important right now. Not your dead girlfriend or even the game. It’s the pilgrimage and the safety of Squall!”

As she stormed off, Zell sighed again and walked into the Crusader’s lodge.

“Huh?” he said.

“She’s scary than ever, isn’t she?” asked Rinoa.

“Yeah, whatever,” he muttered under his breath.

The pair of them sat on a bed.

“So who’s this girl that you liked?” she questioned.

“She was a girl I grew really close to,” replied Zell. “She loved books so much and even had a library once at Bevelle. Her name was … Cassie. She had the same eyes as you.”

“She’s dead?” asked Rinoa.

“Yeah, Sin killed her last year,” he nodded. “Cassie was knowledgeable, but she also wanted to fight and get rid of Sin. She joined the Crusaders; she was with them when many of them didn’t make it last year. It was the year that we were close to winning the Cup.”

“So that’s what distracted you, huh?” said Rinoa. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Eh, it’s ok,” said Zell. “I’ve not seen proof that Cassie died, but the Crusaders told me she disappeared. A part of me thinks she’s dead, another part tells me that she’s still alive fighting her way back to Besaid. I joined the Aurochs to be a blitzer, but I also became a guardian to fight for Cassie. Now I don’t know what I want to do.”

“I feel for you, I really do,” said Rinoa.

That was when she realised something. Her friends couldn’t be lying! If they had, then the act would have been over by now. But they were still acting as if they didn’t know her. Rinoa put her hand on his shoulder.

“You can figure it out after the tournament, can’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess I can,” nodded Zell. “And hey! You need to get some sleep. We’re getting up early tomorrow for the boat. Mind you, Squall’s got his eye on you.”

“He does? Yeah right!” laughed Rinoa.

“Seriously, he’s taken a liking to you,” smiled Zell and then lay on his bed. “Goodnight, Rinoa.”

“Yeah, goodnight … Zell,” murmured Rinoa.


Besaid Village, Besaid Island

Rinoa was up bright and early, but Zell and Irvine were up far much earlier than she was. She walked out of the Crusader’s Lodge and into the main part of the village. The pair of them greeted her with a low, “good morning”.

“So,” said Rinoa. “Um … where’s Quistis?”

“She went to clear the road ahead,” said Irvine.

“Why?” she asked.

“Fiends will be trying to get in our way,” explained Zell. “That’s why you have guardians on a pilgrimage, remember? We protect the summoner and … oh, here he comes now. Here we go …”

Squall was seen to be taking a bag with him. He was having some trouble with it, but he managed to get it to the top of the steps at least.

“You don’t need all that luggage,” said Irvine. “It’s not going to be forever.”

“I just wanted to bring a few gifts for the temples,” replied Squall.

“This isn’t a holiday, Squall,” said Zell. “This is a pilgrimage and it will be dangerous. Are you coming?”

“Yes, I … I’m coming,” sighed Squall.

He left the bag there and walked to where everyone was. He smiled shyly at Rinoa and nodded towards his guardians. As Rinoa, Zell and Irvine walked forward to leave the village, they turned back to notice that Squall was doing the prayer facing the temple. Rinoa eyed him closely.

It must be hard … leaving somewhere you’ve lived for so many years, she thought.


Besaid Island

And on the road that they went, the four of them walked up the hill. It didn’t take long for fiends to attack them. Rinoa and Zell dashed forwards at the fiends. Rinoa had attached her pinwheel to her right hand and Zell was bashing his black metal knuckle gloves together.

“All right!” he said. “Ooh, look. My kind of fiend!”

A wolf fiend had appeared. He ran at it and beat it up. But then a bird kind of fiend appeared. He turned to Rinoa.

“I guess you can take this one,” he continued to say.

Rinoa shot her pinwheel at it and it went down successfully.

“Ok!” smiled Zell, jumping up and down. “Let’s carry on!”

The four of them continued to walk up the hill. But Squall hadn’t fought yet in his proper first battle. Irvine was keeping him company ensuring he wouldn’t get attacked from behind, in front or either side.

“So I wonder what comes now,” murmured Irvine. “Speaking of which …”

A blob-like monster had appeared. It was green and yellow, whilst its skin looked slimy.

“Ha! Watch this!” exclaimed Rinoa.

She shot it with her pinwheel, but it did little damage.

“What?” she said, wide-eyed.

“Told you so,” said Irvine, smirking.

“Yeah, normal attacks don’t work against that fiend,” pointed out Zell.

“Oh well … I tried,” muttered Rinoa.

Irvine intervened. He raised his hand and then waved it at the fiend. A strike of thunder hit down at the fiend. Sooner rather than later, it burst into pyreflies, those things that Zell had told Rinoa about.

“Black Magic works well against fiends that are invulnerable to physical attacks,” stated Irvine.

“Thanks for the heads up,” said Rinoa.

“Ok, now we got that cleared up, let’s carry on,” said Zell.

As they finally reached the top of the hill, Rinoa saw that Squall and Zell were doing the prayer at a holy statue. Rinoa was a little confused by what was going on, so Irvine filled in what they were doing.

“Everyone who leaves the island wants to have a safe journey,” he told her. “They pray to the holy statue since it is a guide and ensures them of a safe journey.”

“Cassie didn’t pray to the holy statue,” said Zell, with his eyes closed and still praying. “She was scared of missing her boat, so she skipped this part. And then Sin had attacked the boat she was on. If only she had prayed, then she would have been safe right now. She might have even been with us now –”

Rinoa looked towards Squall. She knew how focused he was on the pilgrimage. Whenever she found herself listening to him, all she heard was the pilgrimage and how important it was to complete it. So she decided to join in, too, and prayed to the holy statue. After all, she didn’t want another encounter with Sin on another boat like last time on the Al Bhed ship now, did she?

“That’s it!” said Zell. “That’ll do! Let’s carry on forward.”

Everyone rose to his or her feet. Squall was the last one to rise. As the guardians walked forward, Rinoa waited for Squall. She wanted to speak with him again, but guessed that she would have to leave it for now. However, he did smile at her and walked behind his guardians. Rinoa decided to take the lead and make sure no more fiends were ahead. Something or someone was ahead, however – and it wasn’t a fiend.

As Rinoa darted forward to the next area, she heard a rustle in the bushes. Before she knew it, Quistis had jumped down and almost slapped Rinoa with her black whip she was carrying. It seemed that she wanted a fight. But she was ready; she attached her pinwheel to her right arm. How different this Quistis was to the Quistis that she knew back in her own world. She only saw this as a test and had thought that this Quistis was full of riddles by now.

Rinoa aimed her pinwheel at Quistis and it slashed at her. In reaction to this, she whipped her. That was when Rinoa decided to use an ability she had been in the middle of learning since she had arrived in Spira. She used the ability Cheer and her strength as well as defence increased. This allowed her another turn to react before it was Quistis’s turn. She cast Cheer again and waited for Quistis to make her move. As usual, she whipped her again and jumped back to her position.

For the last time, Rinoa cast Cheer. But she wasn’t ready for what came next. Quistis performed a move called Jump. She stepped back and jumped high up into the air. When she was soaring in the air, Quistis spun her whip around in the air and then flew at Rinoa being able to whip her about seven times. This had severely injured Rinoa, but she was still able to hold on nonetheless. This allowed Rinoa to shoot her pinwheel at Quistis three more times – and that was when she had accepted defeat.

She walked off further into the area in the opposite direction. That was when Squall, Zell and Irvine appeared behind her eyeing Quistis slowly.

“That’s Quistis Trepe,” explained Irvine. “She was raised by the Ronso tribe.”

“Ronso tribe?” asked Rinoa.

“But that’s not all,” said Zell. “He’s another guardian for Squall.”

“Quistis has always protected me,” smiled Squall. “When I left Bevelle to come to Besaid, she was there for me and helped me get here. And he even stood by my decision to become a summoner.”

“Oh right,” smiled Rinoa. “Three guardians, one summoner … eh, not bad.”

“Shall we continue forward?” suggested Irvine.

“Good idea,” said Zell. “We have to get to the boat in the next twenty minutes. But it shouldn’t leave without us. Most of the people from the village have gathered there and there’s no way that the Aurochs would leave without their coach and captain!”

“You love to brag, don’t you?” glared Irvine.

“Definitely,” assumed Rinoa.

“So you noticed!” smiled Zell and laughed.

“Ok, seriously,” said Irvine. “Let’s carry on forward.”

As they walked past the bridge and the waterfall, a huge flying fiend appeared before them. Rinoa was about to participate in the battle when Zell intervened.

“No,” he said. “Let Squall get a first taste of a battle. He’s a summoner and he’ll need to fight at one time. Squall, you’re up!”

“Thanks for the invite,” smiled Squall, pulling out his staff from his robes.

“Ok! Let’s see what you’ve learnt!” said Zell.

“Show us your strength,” said Irvine.

“All right,” nodded Squall.

He looked up at the winged fiend and knew what to do. Raising his staff, he decided to summon Valefor. The winged aeon swooped down and Squall stroked its beak. It flew up into the skies protecting him and facing the fiend.

“Valefor, attack,” he commanded.

Rinoa looked in awe as the mighty aeon attacked the fiend with its clawed feet. Next, the winged fiend attacked Valefor. This enabled the fiend to charge up fully for its Overdrive.

“Valefor, use Energy Blast!” commanded Squall.

Valefor nodded its head and then swooped forwards and backwards to gather energy. Sooner rather than later, the aeon sent a blast at the fiend and destroyed it. So it was over.

“Well done, Squall,” smiled Zell.

“Yeah … you’ve shown some technique in your training,” assumed Irvine.

Rinoa smiled weakly and winked at Squall. The four of them continued to the beach, where they met Quistis who was waiting for them there. Now was the next test: leaving the island with the whole village bidding them farewell.

 

[Galoko Izamaku]

Keep going, this shows some promise.

 

[Amizon]

It DOES show promise? Thanks so much! Egg people on to read this because there is no way in this world I'm stopping right now! So here's a treat for ya: the next chapter!

Chapter 5: Sin Attacks​

S.S. Liki

As Rinoa walked through the crowd of villagers closely with Squall, Zell, Irvine and Quistis, she noticed that there was a mixture of sad and happy looks on everyone’s faces. She wasn’t quite sure what to make out of Squall, Zell, Irvine and Quistis so far. They definitely weren’t the same people that she remembered from her own world. She wanted to get back to her own world, but some part of her also wanted to stay here with her friends in their complete different personalities.

She was receiving several gifts for Squall, despite telling them that she wasn’t a guardian. But they didn’t care since they already believed that she was travelling with him. Rinoa was considering herself as a guardian even now. After all, she had helped battle the fiends on the way to the beach from the village. Rinoa was the last one to the boat. The faces of the children displayed nothing, but sadness. Squall was upset as well and was waving at everyone. When the boat was about to go, he bowed down and did the prayer.

“Goodbye,” he murmured.

The journey to Luca had already begun. As Rinoa watched many people surround Squall and ask him questions, Quistis was close to him watching over him. Meanwhile, Zell was at the back of the boat practicing blitzball with the Aurochs and Irvine was at the top of the boat trying to relax. Rinoa wasn’t sure what to do for the duration of the time. She started to explore the boat – top to bottom – and eventually found something familiar …

“Whoa!” she said as she came across the engine room. “Chocobos!”

“What? You sound like you haven’t seen chocobos for a long time,” said the engine worker in the room working with the chocobos.

“You can say that again,” assumed Rinoa. “I really haven’t gotten out much lately.”

“Huh? You got Sin’s toxin or something?”

“You could say that,” she nodded. Even though no one believes what I’m saying …

“Well, I hope that you get your memory back soon.”

“Thanks.”

Rinoa got bored sooner rather than later. She went up back on to the main part of the boat and then found Irvine standing on top of the boat alone. She decided to go and see him to keep him company.

“I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but stay away from Squall,” he said. “He has his pilgrimage to accomplish and I’m sure you’ll find someone you know in Luca.”

“What? I’ve not even done anything!” laughed Rinoa. “I’m completely harmless.”

“Harmless? I’ve seen the way you’ve fought,” said Irvine. “I’m starting to doubt you even have Sin’s toxin. But I’m warning you, keep away from Squall.”

“And has Squall actually put you up to this?” she asked. “And as for the Irvine that I know, he was so talkative and friendly. Nothing like you, anyway.”

“Well, I guess you must be mistaken,” growled Irvine. “I’m not the Irvine that you know. You have to stop seeing as the friends that you know in your world and start seeing us as who we are right here!”

Rinoa backed off right away. She had really ticked off Irvine, so she sighed and walked down the stairs. “I’m really sorry for bothering you,” she said just about loud enough for him to hear. Irvine cast her a suspicious look, but then forgot about her when he felt the breeze pick up.

As Rinoa walked down the stairs, she noticed the crowd of people leave Squall be. Now she felt it was her chance to finally talk to him. She saw Quistis looking out at the ocean whilst keeping her eye on Squall. Since she had defeated Quistis in battle, it seemed she had backed off from Rinoa. So Rinoa now felt a little more comfortable when approaching Squall. He saw her coming and waved brightly. Rinoa felt herself falling in love with him … but then she snapped out of her daydream.

“Hey,” smiled Squall. “How are you finding Spira?”

“Spira’s a little different to my world,” said Rinoa. “My world is peaceful and all, but it’s under threat by someone.”

“Who is it?” he asked.

“I … I don’t really want to say.”

“Why?”

“I think I might be wrong.”

“Well … you can always talk to me, Rinoa. I’m not just a summoner. I can listen to people with their problems.”

“Thanks, Squall.”

“It’s no problem at all, Rinoa.”

The pair of them just gazed out at the ocean. Rinoa saw a guy with some binoculars and had an idea. She jumped on top of him on his shoulders and snatched them out of his hands. He started stressing out trying to get them back from her. She looked out and saw the island that they were heading for.

“That’s Kilika Island,” said Zell, who appeared behind her. “We’re heading there first to go to the next temple for Squall’s pilgrimage. He can get the next aeon there.”

“So how far is it to Luca?” asked Rinoa.

“Well, we go to Kilika first and then we set off towards Luca,” said Zell. “And we can also pray at the temple for victory. Did you know that there was a High Summoner from Kilika who used to be a famous blitzer before he went on a pilgrimage? We’re going to pray to his statue to grant us victory.”

“So we’ll go pray and Squall can get the next aeon,” said Rinoa.

“Speaking of which, Squall wants you again,” said Quistis lowly.

“He does?” said Rinoa, who came to Squall’s side again.

“So …” said Squall. “Do you know how you came to Spira?”

“Not really sure,” she said. She didn’t want to tell him what happened to her back in Galbadia.

“Well, there was a man who claimed to be a general,” he said. “He became my father’s guardian ten years ago. He said his name was … General Caraway.”

“General Caraway?” said Rinoa loudly. “But … that’s … impossible! That’s my … father.”

“No way!” said Squall. “Then no wonder you’re here in Spira right now.”

“But it’s still impossible,” said Rinoa. “My mother died many years ago and he raised me right through my childhood. How come he came to Spira when I was still a child? How did he do it?”

“Do you know how you came here at all? It may be connected.”

“I don’t know. I’ll speak to you later, Squall.”

“I hope that we do, Rinoa –”

But then, the boat shook and Zell held on to a metal bar.

“WHAT?” he shouted.

“Something’s going on!” yelled Irvine as he jumped down to his side.

Quistis went rolling back right to the back of the boat and hit her head against the wooden wall. Squall was about to roll back too, but Rinoa managed to grab his hand in the nick of time. She held on as tight as she could … but then, the boat stopped rocking.

“SIN!” yelled a seaman.

Sin had risen from the sea. Everyone had seen it. It was what Rinoa feared in the first place. She didn’t let go of Squall’s hand at all. She saw a seaman run to the harpoon and aimed at Sin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” yelled Zell. “You shoot that thing and you’ll get us all killed!”

“Can’t you see that Sin’s going to attack Kilika?” shouted a villager.

“Our families are there! Forgive us, Lord Squall!” exclaimed another villager.

“If you have to do it, then so be it,” nodded Squall. “We’ll take care of Sin.”

“You’re sure?” asked Irvine.

“I’m positive,” said Squall. “Let’s think of it as a test. We can handle it, right?”

“Of course we can!” said Rinoa, although she didn’t know what to make of Sin.

“Then let’s reel hook ourselves to it!” shouted Zell.

Both villagers aimed their harpoons at Sin and before they knew it, they were reeled in to the mighty monster. Rinoa took another look at the monster that had sent her washed up all the way to Besaid Island. She hadn’t really taken much of a look of it back on the Al Bhed ship, but now she could see it. So this was the very thing that Spira feared. Rinoa knew that she couldn’t fear it as well; she would have to fight with them.

Rinoa, Squall, Zell, Irvine and Quistis all rushed to the front of the boat to face Sin’s fin. The rest of the monster was hidden underneath the water. If they were quick enough, then they could save Kilika. Sin shot some of its monsters onboard right in front of them.

It was Irvine who started the battle off. He cast Thunder on one of the fiends, which shocked it. Zell ran at the fiend and beat it up. Sooner rather than later, it burst into pyreflies. It was Quistis’s turn next to do some damage. She swung her whip around and then whacked the nearest fiend to her. But then one of the fiends slashed her. Another fiend attacked Rinoa.

“Hold on,” said Squall, who then cast Cure to heal Rinoa. “I’ll heal you next, Quistis.”

It was now Rinoa’s turn. She shot her pinwheel at the fiend that Quistis had attacked and it burst into pyreflies. One more fiend was left. Irvine looked towards the fin that was still dragging them towards Kilika.

“The fin,” he muttered and then turned to the others. “We have to aim for the fin …”

“What’s that, Irvine?” asked Zell.

Irvine cast him a scowl and then turned to the fin raising his hand aiming at Sin. He then cast Fire at the fin. Zell realised what he had meant and then beat up the remaining fiend.

“It’s not like I can just be launched at it,” he said.

“We can settle for that,” glared Irvine coldly.

“Ha … oh really?”

“Guys, let’s focus!”

The last line was said by Squall. Rinoa watched as Quistis whipped the last fiend and it burst into pyreflies. However, three more of the monsters of Sin were shot down to them.

“I say we attack the fin or else more of these monsters will be shot at us,” advised Irvine, casting Water on the fin.

“Good idea,” nodded Zell. “But unfortunately, I can’t exactly do long distance.” And so he cast his ability Aim.

“Thanks for that,” mumbled Quistis, who then cast Lancet at the fin absorbing some health and magic from the mighty monster.

“Squall, summon Valefor,” said Irvine.

“Wait a moment,” said Squall. “I’ll do it soon.” And with that, he cast Cure on Quistis.

Rinoa thought of something. “I’m long distance,” she said. “My pinwheel can do short and long distance. Maybe I can attack it?” She aimed her pinwheel at the fin and then shot at it successfully. The blade came spinning back into her pinwheel.

“Nice work,” said Irvine, giving a weak smile, but then it faded. “I say that we get ready to defend ourselves.”

So they all defended themselves and then Squall nodded as he stepped forward to summon Valefor. The mighty winged aeon came to Squall’s side and swooped into the air. It was up to Squall to end this now.

“Valefor, use Sonic Wings,” said Squall.

So it sent a gust of wind at the fiends and Sin. All the fiends, except for one, were now destroyed. Valefor then attacked the fin with its mighty clawed feet. Sooner rather than later, the battle was over. As Valefor was dismissed, the five of them watched as Sin managed to break free of the harpoon. It swam through the ocean making the waves violent. Suddenly, an enormous wave swept through the boat wetting it …

Squall opened his eyes to find that everyone was all right. But then there was one person he was missing.

“Rinoa!” he yelled. “Where is she?”

“She must have fallen over,” assumed Zell. “I’ll go find her!”

As he dived into the water, there were other events taking place. Sin had gone to Kilika Village and destroyed all in its path. Squall and the others were forced to watch, as everything was being ripped apart in front of their very own eyes. Squall’s concerns were now for Rinoa. He had no idea where she was and could only hope that she would be all right.


Kilika Ocean

Zell swam through the ocean frantically searching for Rinoa. She can’t have gone far, so where is she? Moments later, she found her just floating there. She grabbed hold of her and gave her a phoenix down, which brought her back to consciousness. Instantly, Rinoa felt the cold ocean and shook her head as she came back. She saw Zell floating there and smiled. He winked and gave her the thumbs up.

But she was still weakened by falling off the boat. She sighed as she felt a bloodied cut on her right arm and the blood had dripped on to her clothes. As Zell swam over to her more closely, a Sinspawn appeared before them. Smaller Sinspawn closely accompanied it. Once Zell bashed his knuckles together, Rinoa attached her pinwheel to her right arm. Despite being weak, she was ready for this fight.

Rinoa was the first to make her move. She aimed her pinwheel at the Sinspawn and the blade went spinning around slashing the main Sinspawn. Zell ran at the smaller Sinspawn beating them up. Sooner rather than later, they burst into pyreflies. However, more of these small Sinspawn had appeared.

The large Sinspawn was the next to attack. It dashed at the pair of them and bashed them to then return to its original position. Rinoa cast Cheer, which increased hers and Zell’s strength and defence. Zell swam at the main Sinspawn, now realising that it was their target and would get rid of the other Sinspawn, beating it up with his black metal knuckle gloves.

Rinoa began to wonder when the battle was going to end. She wanted to get this done and over with, or else she might not make it. As the smaller Sinspawn swam at them and left the battlefield, more of them appeared. Now Rinoa and Zell had to focus on the main Sinspawn to get rid of them all. Rinoa cast Cheer again, but then she had another shot at making a move. So she just cast Cheer once more and for the final time.

Meanwhile, Zell felt stronger – a lot stronger. He was ready for his Overdrive, Duel, and so executed it. He rushed at the Sinspawn making many successful combat moves hitting it faster than he normally did. The Sinspawn shook. In fact, all of them shook. Suddenly, they all burst into pyreflies. The battle was over with, but there was one last thing to do.

Rinoa felt dizzy and her vision was becoming blurry. She lowered her head and blacked out from being so weak. Zell swam towards her and hoisted her up to the surface.

“Hey! You guys!” he yelled, as he neared the boat.

“He’s got Rinoa!” said Squall. “Quick! Someone help Zell!”

“With pleasure,” murmured Irvine, who had dived in the water to help him get Rinoa onboard.


S.S. Liki

Moments later, Rinoa was now back onboard. She was unconscious and bloodied. Squall had wanted to use his White Magic to heal her, but Irvine had insisted that she only needed some rest from what was going on. Squall looked at the destruction of Kilika Village. He felt somehow responsible for this happening.

“Hey,” came a soft voice.

Rinoa had opened her eyes and was lying on the dock on her back. Squall rushed to her side.

“Rinoa! You really scared me back there, you know?” he said.

“Well, next time go to Sin and tell it that!” laughed Rinoa.

“I think … I think I will,” smiled Squall, but then his smile faded. “But look … the people of Kilika … the village itself … it’s all gone.”

“Not completely,” assumed Irvine, who was near them. “Some people managed to survive. Many are dead, but I suppose the dead bodies can be sorted out. Squall, we’re going to have to go to the village. Your duty calls.”

“I know,” sighed Squall, lowering his head in guilt.

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Rinoa. “If it was anyone who was responsible for this, it was me.” But then she thought to herself. Do I really want to say that? Was it really my fault that Sin destroyed the village? Somehow, I do. But another part of me disagrees.

“You’d be willing to take the blame?” asked Zell. “You’re new to this place. Taking the blame and being new don’t go, you know?”

“Sin is to blame,” said Quistis.

“Well said,” said Irvine. “Sin did this, no one else is to blame.”

As Rinoa was helped up by Zell and now being able to stand on her own two feet, the group came off the ship and on to the docks of Kilika Village.

 

[xxskycrasher498xx]

love this! keep them coming , ill def. read all of them . awesomeness ! lol i had too much sugar 4 lunch i think XD

come on ppl, if u read this, pls comment, it takes alot of work to do this, u gotta give faith some props

 

[Dark Fantasy X]

Sorry faith, it just isn't working out for me, i'm a big fan of FFX, but... it just isn't working out for me... keep trying though

 

[Amizon]

Sorry you feel that way, Dark Final Fantasy X. Well, here is the next chapter for you all ...

Chapter 6: Squall’s Proposal​

Kilika Village, Kilika Island

It was an awful sight, Rinoa didn’t like it one bit. Everywhere she went in the village, there was only death and destruction. She didn’t like watching these villagers cry and mourn over their precious loved ones. Although Quistis and Irvine had insisted that Sin was to blame for this, Rinoa still also blamed herself. Sin had previously attacked her before. Why else would it come here? To attack her, or so she thought.

“Look at them,” said Irvine. “They’re upset about the people they have lost. Everyone in Spira feels loss at one point in his or her life. You’d do well to remember that, Rinoa. You’re not the only one who feels threatened by Sin.”

She watched him walk by Quistis and Squall, who had already gone to where the dead bodies were. Rinoa felt an urge to join them, but was then interrupted. It was Zell and the Besaid Aurochs.

“Let’s do what we can to help rebuild the town!” exclaimed Zell. “Rinoa, you should help, too! We could need your pinwheel out here.”

“Oh right … but I just don’t really … feel up to it right now …” she sighed.

“I know how it feels to be struck down and get depressed by Sin,” he nodded. “Sin has attacked Besaid Island so many times since I was a little boy. I lost count of how many times it had come. But praise be to Yevon that we’re all still alive. I was really worried that Squall wouldn’t make it. I guess he proved me wrong, eh?”

“Squall’s got a lot on his shoulders right now, doesn’t he?”

“I’ve known Squall since I was a kid. Irvine and I were like his big brothers. Quistis was like his guardian before he became an apprentice summoner, but she also acted like a big sister to us all. She hardly ever speaks, you know? Don’t often hear a peep out of her. Whatever she says is indeed wise. I mean, after all, she was raised by the Ronso tribe.”

“Could you tell me more about her?” asked Rinoa.

“Wish I could, but we’ve got to be there for Squall now,” said Zell, as he left the Aurochs to rebuild the town. “Something’s really important to his heart now, his duty calls him.”

“His duty?”

“Just wait and come with me. You’ll know sooner rather than later.”

As Zell led to where Squall was, Rinoa saw that Irvine was speaking to him. Rinoa couldn’t help, but feel edgy. She didn’t know what was REALLY going on here. It had been a couple of days now since she had ended up in Spira. It was as if she had forgotten about her own world and now became immersed in this new world.

As Irvine nodded at Squall and reassured him, Squall did the prayer to a villager next to them and stood on top of the water. Rinoa was quite amazed. She had never actually seen any human being step on water before! But that was all about to change. Squall looked sadly down at the bodies that were in coffins. He then danced around swinging his staff around.

Rinoa thought to herself instantly. What is he doing?

“Prepare yourself,” said Zell. “You’re just about to see the sending.”

“Sending?” she stared. What’s a sending? I guess I’m about to find out, aren’t I?

“The sending is the departing of the dead,” explained Irvine, who had moved to her side. Rinoa seemed a little alarmed by his presence, but calmed down nonetheless. “The dead bodies cannot remain here. Their souls have to depart to the Farplane before they become fiends and full of anger. Think of the Farplane as a heaven and haven for the lost souls of Spira.”

“A heaven for the souls of Spira …” whispered Rinoa.

She thought it was an incredible sight to see Squall doing this, but it saddened her a little. She couldn’t quite explain it. Sure, Rinoa thought it was all good, but … there were villagers crying and breaking down. Sin had caused all of this and she felt responsible. She really did …

As Squall ended the dance, he returned to Quistis and then Irvine came to their sides.

“I hope I did all right,” sighed Squall, as if he was trying to keep it all together. “Those people should be at the Farplane by now.”

“They will be and your confidence is beaming so much,” assumed Irvine. “Lighten up, eh? Your pilgrimage has only begun, but we’ll be there with you until the end.”

“The end?” said Rinoa. “What happens then?”

She felt a nudge in her ribs as Zell appeared behind her. As she groaned in pain, Zell just glared at her coldly and went to Squall’s side.

“When he defeats Sin obviously,” he growled.

“Yeah,” murmured Rinoa, feeling so stupid not to think of that. “I should have … thought of that in the first place.”


Kilika Woods, Kilika Island

Rinoa had been awoken by the Besaid Aurochs and told that the others were waiting for her in the woods. She had gotten up immediately and after having a banana for her breakfast, she walked into the woods with a bright smile on her face. But the blank look on their faces just showed that something was up.

“Did I miss something whilst I was asleep?” she asked.

“Yeah, you certainly did all right,” nodded Zell.

“I don’t know how to say this, but …” began Irvine and sighed.

“Well,” said Zell, clearing his throat. “Squall wants you to be a guardian.”

“WHAT?” said Rinoa loudly.

“Yes, I’d like it if you do become my guardian,” smiled Squall. “I feel close and safe around you, Rinoa. I feel like … you were destined to protect me somehow.”

“And what about us?” asked Zell, looking insulted.

“Good question,” murmured Quistis.

“You think I’m destined to protect you?” said Rinoa, laughing nervously. But I thought it was just vice versa! What on earth is going on here? He was the SeeD and our resistance faction needed help. The Timber Owls needed SeeD when we needed them the most. But I guess … I’m not in my world anymore.

“Of course, Rinoa,” smiled Squall. “It’s hard to explain really, but I think you could make a great guardian.”

Quistis stepped in front of Squall glaring at her coldly. She looked like she was going to attack her with her whip. But then she backed off walking forwards deeper into the woods. Rinoa was very mystified by Quistis as of lately. She was the one that had her intrigued about her more than the others. Zell was still acting like his same old self a little, except he was more energetic than usual. On the other hand, Irvine had turned into the complete opposite of a person and had distanced himself away from the others. And as for Squall, he seemed much more sociable now. Rinoa didn’t like these changes much; she couldn’t get used to them.

“I can’t imagine myself as a guardian right now,” sighed Rinoa. “This is a really tough decision, you know. I can’t really give you an answer yet.”

“Can we leave this until later?” suggested Irvine. “We do need to get to the Kilika Temple before the fiends start to pile in.”

“Irvine’s right,” nodded Squall. “I guess we’re off to the next temple then.”

“So what’s this next temple supposed to be like, anyway?” asked Rinoa.

“I’ve seen it before,” smiled Squall. “When my father went away to defeat Sin as a summoner, I remember Quistis bringing me to Besaid Island. We saw many things on our way from Bevelle. I do remember coming here and visiting the temple. So many people look up to me because I’m Lord Laguna’s son.”

“Oh yeah, isn’t your father the High Summoner?” she questioned.

“Yeah, he defeated Sin ten years ago,” nodded Squall. “And before him, there was Lord Braska, my grandfather. Both of them were great summoners and successfully defeated Sin. Now that path rests on my shoulders and I must defeat Sin. I have to and that’s why I’m asking for your help, Rinoa. I feel that you’re a part of this world, even if you don’t feel like it’s your own world. You say you know us all from your own world, right? You should be fine, but I’ll wait for your answer later.”

What Squall had said really made Rinoa think to herself. It made her think of her friends back in her own world and then about her friends in this world. Could she really adapt to Spira? The real question only remained in her mind. Would she ever get back home to her own world?

Who knows what might happen? I can’t go back now, she thought. This all started with Sin. What if Sin’s the reason I came to Spira? What if it’s the main source of how I can get back? What if … what if I really CAN go back home? There’s only one way to find out, I guess.

“Come on, Rinoa!” smiled Squall, who had gotten ahead with Quistis and the others.

“Oh, so you’re getting ahead now?” she grinned. “Huh …”

As they walked on forwards, there were two Crusaders that stopped them.

“Halt!” said one Crusader.

“This is Lord Ochu,” said the second Crusader. “It’s a powerful fiend of the forest. You’re going to have to go around if you are to get to the temple, Lord Summoner.”

“Hmm …” wondered Squall out loud.

“We’ll fight it,” smiled Rinoa.

“We will?” stared Irvine in disgust.

“Oh, so you can’t really take this fiend? Come on, Irvine,” laughed Rinoa. “The Irvine I knew from my world was eyeing the ladies up all the time. He was a lone gunman, but he had a heart at the same time. We’d all be up for it, but I suppose you could just walk around, I guess …”

“We’ll fight it,” assumed Squall. “Right, guardians?”

“I guess we can’t argue against that then,” sighed Irvine. “All right, all right. We want a shortcut to the temple? Then we’ll make one.”

Rinoa attached her pinwheel to her right arm, Squall unsheathed his staff, Zell bashed his knuckles together, Quistis unleashed her whip and Irvine breathed quietly to himself allowing his Black Magic to get warmed up.

“All right then!” smiled Rinoa. “Let’s … ATTACK!”

“Child,” murmured Irvine.

“Aww, come on!” she complained. “Someone’s in a bad mood …”

“How about I burn you instead?” he growled.

“Guys, knock it off!” said Zell. “Lord Ochu’s the one who’s gonna get fried.”

Quistis started the battle off by whacking Lord Ochu with her black whip. It was then Rinoa who shot her blade from her pinwheel slashing the fiend and it returning inside the pinwheel. However, Lord Ochu’s turn came next. It stomped on the ground, thus, poisoning Quistis and Zell.

Squall was next to act. He cast Esuna to heal Zell. Irvine was ready next. He spun his fingers around and cast Fire on Lord Ochu. He smiled weakly when he saw that fire was very good against the plant fiend. Rinoa began to notice that all she could ever see that was good from Irvine was the occasional weak smile. Was she actually wrong about him?

Lord Ochu attacked her. She growled by being struck down, but got back up on to her feet nonetheless. She felt that fighting alongside them was actually turning into something of a test for her as a role of the guardian.

“Rinoa!” called Squall. “Are you all right?”

“I’m … I’m fine,” she said, looking a little ticked off from that last attack.

“You sure? You don’t need me to heal you or something?”

“I’ll be fine, Squall! Unfortunately, it won’t be the same case for Lord Ochu here.”

“That’s the spirit!” smiled Zell. “Now it’s my turn!”

He ran at the fiend beating it up with his black metal knuckle gloves and then returned to the position he was once in. Quistis was still suffering under the effects of Poison. She drank an Esuna and her condition was back to normal. Rinoa was next. She aimed her pinwheel directly at the fiend and shot at it. She had attacked it with much more damage than usual. Rinoa thought that it would be over by now, but she was wrong.

No wonder the Crusaders couldn’t handle Lord Ochu, she thought instantly.

“Don’t worry,” said Squall. “I’ll end this battle by summoning Valefor.”

“No,” protested Irvine. “You need to rest. There are greater things coming soon and they are much more than Lord Ochu.”

“I suppose you’re right,” nodded Squall in agreement. “Thanks, Irvine.”

“Anytime, now defend yourself!” he exclaimed.

So Squall swung his staff around and placed it in front of him as a barrier. Irvine cast Fire again at Lord Ochu. Zell ran at Lord Ochu again and beat it up just like before. Quistis whipped it … and then Lord Ochu whipped Rinoa with its vines. She went down again. Squall was feeling the pain to see her in this state.

“Rinoa, you’re not all right,” he clearly said. “Let me heal you.”

“Squall –” began Rinoa.

“Yo, Rinoa,” said Zell. “Let Squall heal you because then he can shut up about you in pain.”

“Ok, whatever,” she mumbled.

So Squall cast Cure on Rinoa and she was able to stand up properly. Everyone, except from Quistis, were happy to see that she was able to stand proudly again once more. Rinoa smiled at them and then looked back at Lord Ochu. It looked ready to finish them all off. But they weren’t about to give up. Not yet, anyway.

“All right then,” said Irvine. “Let’s heat it up.” And so, he cast Fire on Lord Ochu.

“How about we raise this battle up in Zell Dincht style, eh?” smiled Zell.

“How about we don’t?” suggested Irvine darkly.

“Now, children …” began Squall.

“You can hardly talk!” argued Zell. “You’re just having all the child’s play.”

He then bashed his knuckles together harder than he had done before. Zell sprinted at the fiend and beat it up a few times with those knuckles. The fiend finally gave in and burst into pyreflies. The battle was won. Zell jumped up and down.

“WOOHOO! I showed that Lord Ochu!” he yelled.

“Let’s not get too excited about it,” assumed Irvine.

“Come on!” laughed Zell. “You can call me Lord Zell Dincht! Lord of the Wood!”

“Hey, Lord of the Wood,” said Squall. “It was Rinoa’s idea to fight, remember?”

“WHAT?” he said loudly. “Ok, then. Fine, have it your own way.”

“I was only pointing out the obvious signs,” shrugged Squall.

The two Crusaders, Watts and Zone, ran at them. Zone was staring at them in awe.

“That was amazing! Incredible!” he said. “I know you look like you can’t fight very well, but I guess you proved us wrong!”

“Now, Zone,” said Watts. “We need to go.”

“Oh yeah, we do,” he sighed. “Hey, Zell! Teach me how to blitz sometime.”

“Yeah, hopefully I might get around to it, man!” called Zell.

“You should teach me, too,” said Rinoa. But then she noticed Watts and Zone. “What the …” Watts and Zone are here? What the HELL is going on here?

“Hmm, not a bad idea,” he said. “Best idea I heard all day. But man, were you good when I found you on the beach! You still don’t know how you did that?”

“Nope, just kind of came to me in a sort of way,” she shrugged.

“There goes Quistis again,” smiled Squall, as he pointed at her who had already walked ahead to clear the road. “Come on, guys. It’s not far to the temple now.”

“I just hope that we can get to Luca really soon,” said Rinoa to Zell.

“You excited for blitzball?” he asked.

“I don’t know what to expect really,” shrugged Rinoa again.

“Blitz is the only thing that keeps our minds off Sin,” smiled Zell. “But I guess I found another thing that keeps me off Sin.”

“And who’s that?”

“You, obviously.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, Rinoa Heartilly, Queen of the Wood!”

As Rinoa walked forward with Zell, they came to the bottom of the stairs heading towards a training ground. The Besaid Aurochs were already there and ready to do some exercise.

“Oh boy, are you in for a treat!” smiled Zell.

“What is it NOW?” moaned Rinoa. “I want to get to the temple and outta here.”

“This is the training ground where High Summoner Ohalland did his preparation for blitzball,” he continued to say. “Yeah, Ohalland was a great blitzer, a legend for the Kilika Beasts. So? You wanna race up to the top?”

That sounded weird, she thought. Racing to the top?

“I’ll be the referee,” smiled Squall, getting into position.

“Ok then!” smiled Rinoa. “I’m a pretty good runner, you wouldn’t dare underestimate a girl like me, especially that I’m now Queen of the Wood.”

The Aurochs were laughing amongst themselves. Squall stepped forward and looked at them all. “Ready?” he asked and then swung his arm. He had already darted off up the stairs ahead of them all.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” complained Rinoa.

She then noticed that Irvine was giggling to himself.

“Kids, huh?” he smiled brightly. “They just never seem to grow out of some habits.”

“I guess,” said Rinoa. You know, maybe I was wrong about Irvine. He DOES seem to be brightening up a bit …

“HELP!” came a voice.

“What? What’s going on?” yelled Rinoa.

“Quick, everyone!” yelled Zell. “Sinspawn!”

“Sinspawn?” said Rinoa. “More?”

She thought back to those monsters they fought on the S.S. Liki. They were Sinspawn, but from what Rinoa saw after reaching the top of the stairs, this Sinspawn was even more deadly. And it was even accompanied by other Sinspawn. The five of them prepared for battle. The Sinspawn and two tentacles surrounded them.

“This isn’t going to be nice,” assumed Rinoa.

“Things are about to ugly, eh?” remarked Zell.

“What happened to the Queen of the Wood?” asked Irvine.

“Ha … she just switched nerves, that’s all,” gulped Rinoa.

“Guardians! Stay strong! We can do this!” said Squall.

Rinoa thought about what he had said. Did he just call me a … guardian?

Another battle had been started. The shell of the main Sinspawn was locked for the time being. Rinoa thought it would be useful to open it. She shot her pinwheel at it, but that did very little damage or help. One of the tentacles knocked her off her feet and bruised her legs.

“Rinoa! Are you all right?” asked Squall.

“Just a bruise,” she shrugged. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Don’t worry about Rinoa,” muttered Zell. “She’s a big girl, she even got attacked by Sin once and survived.”

“Fine then,” sighed Squall.

Quistis ran at one of the tentacles whipping it with her whip. She jumped back into her position and kept a close eye on Squall. Next, Irvine eyed the shell that the main Sinspawn was hiding in.

Perhaps there is something I can do, he thought, and cast Fire on the shell. “I’ve got it, guys! You all defeat the tentacles. It shouldn’t take too long. In the meantime, I think I’m going to burn the shell and force it to open.”

“Good strategy,” nodded Squall.

“You just cast whatever White Magic that needs doing, but apart from that, defend yourself!” commanded Irvine.

Zell was next, as he beat up one of the two tentacles. But unfortunately, it whacked him across his body and forced him on to the ground. Squall was about to say something, but Zell had jumped back on to his feet ready to fight again.

“No need to worry about poor Zell here,” he winked. “I’m gonna be all right.”

“And let’s get this party really started!” exclaimed Rinoa, shooting at one tentacle and making it burst into pyreflies. Now the rest of the party yet only needed to focus on the last remaining tentacle, apart from Irvine.

“I’d like to make a suggestion,” said Squall.

“Fire away, Lord Summoner,” smiled Zell.

“Why don’t you all attack in one go?” he said. “Maybe then it’ll be destroyed and we can all focus on the main Sinspawn here at hand?”

“I like the sound of that,” nodded Irvine. “Keep going with that. I’ll be fine here for now.”

So Rinoa, Zell and Quistis all came closer together. They all ran forward attacking the tentacle. Rinoa had shot her pinwheel and the blade had slipped out slashing the tentacle, thus, returning back into the pinwheel. Zell had run at the tentacle beating it up with his black metal knuckle gloves. In the meantime, Quistis swung her black whip in the air and slapped the tentacle with it. Sooner rather than later, the fiend was destroyed and burst into pyreflies.

“Good suggestion, Squall,” smiled Rinoa. “It just saved our butts for a bit longer.”

“Anytime, Rinoa,” said Squall, smiling back. “All right now, go for it, Irvine!”

Irvine cast Fire again. Now this time, the shell burst open and out came the Sinspawn. The five of them could now attack it since its shell no longer protected it.

“And fight, we do,” murmured Irvine.

Quistis cast Lancet on the Sinspawn, thus, absorbing some health and magic from it. She nodded towards Rinoa, who then cast Cheer on the whole group. Suddenly, the Sinspawn attacked them all weakening them severely.

“I’m going to go in for the kill if that Sinspawn keeps this up,” growled Rinoa.

“Now THAT’S some fighter talking there,” smiled Zell.

Rinoa shot her pinwheel at the Sinspawn and it growled in pain. Squall slowly began to cure the group with his White Magic. Whilst he was doing that, Zell ran at the Sinspawn and beat it up with Irvine casting another Fire attack at it.

Quistis then sprinted at the Sinspawn whipping it. Angry and frustrated at how often they were getting attacked, Rinoa took aim at the monster. She shot her pinwheel at the Sinspawn and then it fell to the ground to burst into pyreflies. The battle had been won.

“Phew!” she said. “I suppose we’ll be fighting plenty of them then?”

“Depends on where Sin decides to attack,” shrugged Zell. “I guess Queen of the Wood isn’t really much of a rookie when it comes to fighting after all. You did pretty good, Rinoa.” He turned to the others. “Now let’s get to the temple!”

Rinoa smiled at what Zell had said. But then she saw Squall smiling at her. She found this strange, but comforting. As far as she could tell, the Squall from her own world had NEVER smiled.

“Come on,” urged Irvine. “We don’t want Sin returning for its Sinspawn.”

“Can I ask something?” said Rinoa.

“Sure, shoot at us,” nodded Zell.

“Why are Sinspawn left here anyway?”

“As you know, Sin attacked Kilika Village,” explained Irvine. “It leaves vicious fiends known as Sinspawn around where it attacks. If they’re left here for a long time, then Sin will return for them.”

“You have to be quick or else Sin could attack again!” exclaimed Zell.

Oddly enough, Rinoa began to think about her father, Caraway. Did he really come here to Spira? It has to be impossible, right? I mean … it just can’t be true, right? He looked after me so many years. Yeah, the father who couldn’t control me.

She walked up the stairs and followed the group closely.

“So I hear that your father came to Spira ten years ago, huh?” smiled Zell.

“Where did you hear that?” said Rinoa.

“Someone let it slip,” replied Irvine. “You told Squall, right?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“So General Caraway was your father?” questioned Zell.

“Yeah, sure is,” said Rinoa.

“What? He’s still alive?” stared Squall.

“Of course he is!” protested Rinoa. “He’s looked after me all these years and he even asked for SeeD to –” But she stopped right there and realised what she was about to say. They might not understand if I tell them what happened. I suppose I’ll just have to keep the truth to myself for now.

“SeeD?” he said. “Rinoa, what’s SeeD?”

“Ah, you know what?” smiled Rinoa. “That’s the toxin talking, right? Never mind.”

“No, tell me,” said Squall. “I want to know what SeeD is.”

“Well, according to some people, I have Sin’s toxin,” assumed Rinoa, looking a little upset. “So … let’s just leave it at that, ok?”

“But …” began Squall.

Rinoa walked forwards looking upset. She didn’t like it that she was actually telling the truth and that they said it was all lies. Squall was about to catch up to her, but was stopped by Zell.

“No way, man,” he said. “Let the girl have some space. She’s just confused right now.”

“But, Zell,” complained Squall. “What if she’s REALLY right about what she says?”

 

[xxskycrasher498xx]

watev, i think it rox . so i guess ppl can say wat they want cause theyre entiltile to their opinions well thats at leats wat it says in the us constitution. unless my teacher and my ss book is lying lol

 

[F. F. Fan]

Very interesting. Yes, I'm enjoying the stories as well, I especially like the mix of FFVIII characters in Spira. Thanks for sharing your talent and please keep em coming.

 

[Amizon]

Thanks for your lovely comments once again! Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 7: Haunted Memories​

Kilika Temple, Kilika Island

As Rinoa followed Quistis’s lead into the temple, Squall was still going on about what Rinoa had been saying to Zell. Irvine had not intervened at this moment in time. He was keeping quiet just like Rinoa and Quistis. As the group walked up the stairs to the temple with the Besaid Aurochs, Rinoa suddenly saw another group approaching them.

She thought to herself. Who are they? They don’t look really friendly.

“Whoa, whoa!” said Zell, running in front of the Besaid Aurochs. “Let’s do this, guys. Let’s just show them how well we’re gonna do this year!”

“What’s going on?” asked Rinoa.

“Here we go again,” sighed Irvine. “Just watch and learn, Rinoa.”

The group of guys approached Zell and the rest of the Aurochs. The leader of the guys, someone called Bickson, laughed and just mocked them.

“What do we have here?” he asked. “The Besaid Aurochs, right? Oh, hold on a second … it’s the Besaid … LOSERS.”

“Bickson,” glared Zell coldly. “Oh, so what are you doing here? I thought that the Luca Goers weren’t meant to need luck with the tournament. I thought that they won it every year without praying at the temple.”

“Oh really?” said Bickson. “We don’t need luck, we’re the Luca Goers. We were praying for some competition this year.”

“Competition, eh?” smiled Rinoa. “Well, you’re about to get it!”

“And who’s this rookie then?”

“Rookie?” she laughed. “You should be shivering in your boots right now because you just looked at the Aurochs’ secret weapon!”

“Secret weapon? Hidden in a girl?” smiled Bickson. “Nice one, Aurochs, but not enough to scare us Goers off. You Aurochs are just sore losers.”

“They’re not losers,” cut in Squall. “They’re better than what you Goers will ever be. Believe it!”

“Oh, I will believe it, Lord Summoner,” he nodded and bowed his head. “Such an honour to meet you. Well, we’d best get off for the boat. It’ll be leaving by the end of the day.”

As they left, Rinoa took one more glance at the Luca Goers. She was really beginning to despise of them right now by their comments shot right at the Besaid Aurochs. “We’ll beat them,” she said. “We just have to prove them wrong.”

“And I know you will,” smiled Squall. “You’ll beat them at their own game.”

“Huh? You think, eh?”

“I don’t think, I know, Rinoa. Now let’s get to the Cloister of Trials.”

Rinoa followed the group into another part of the temple. She saw that Zell was on his knees praying to the statue of Lord Ohalland. She looked around to see that another small group of people were here; they were also blitzball players.

“They’re the Kilika Beasts,” said Irvine, who appeared next to Rinoa. “I guess that their work ethic is going to go up, especially since their homes were destroyed by Sin. I expect that we could face them in the tournament.”

“Well … we’ll beat anyone that dares to challenge us!” exclaimed Rinoa.

“Since when did you decide to play blitzball?” asked Irvine.

“Since now!” said Rinoa. “Hey, no one dares messes with my friends.”

“You still consider us your friends, although we’re different in this world?”

“Of course I do! Friends are friends, after all. It’s hard to replace good friends.”

“Well said,” smiled Squall and nodded. “Zell is praying to Lord Ohalland now.”

“Isn’t Lord Ohalland the great blitzer from Kilika?” asked Rinoa.

“Yeah,” nodded Irvine. “Everyone looks up to him as a blitzer and High Summoner.”

“Lord Ohalland, guide our feet,” said Zell, with his eyes closed. “Guide us on our way to victory. Fill us with the strength to overcome our fears and pursue our goals.”

Wow, thought Rinoa. These people really do look up to these people as idols and role models. Spira is a completely different world from my own. Why haven’t I gone home yet? Why am I still here? Why am I even still alive now?

As she sighed, the door to the Cloister of Trials opened. Rinoa, Squall, Irvine and Quistis looked up to see two figures come out of there. It was none other than Biggs and Wedge. Rinoa wondered about the pair of them. She had been told about them both.

“Wedge, today!” moaned Biggs. “I want my massage before we leave Kilika!”

“Yes, I know, Lord Biggs,” sighed Wedge. “But I don’t know if my skills are up to speed …”

“Biggs and Wedge?” whispered Rinoa.

“Did someone mention my name?” said Biggs, as he looked down at them all. “Ah, another Lord Summoner, I see!”

“Yes, I am,” nodded Squall, as Biggs and Wedge approached them. “My name is Squall Leonhart and I am from the island of Besaid.”

“Biggs,” said Biggs. “The name is Lord Biggs. So I see you have a numerous amount of guardians. Unlike you, I only have a need for one guardian. Isn’t that right, Wedge?”

“Yes,” sighed Wedge.

“So you’re Squall Leonhart … right,” continued Biggs. “You’re the son of High Summoner Laguna Loire, aren’t you? And I can’t forget the grandson of High Summoner Braska as well. You have such a legacy to look up to, Squall. But just hope that having too many guardians isn’t a burden.”

Squall crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment, but then he opened again. “I suppose some people can be so stubborn at times. Unlike you, I have a few guardians more. However, my guardians are my friends as well. My friends will help me through this pilgrimage, even if they have to sacrifice their lives. It does take care to have several guardians for a pilgrimage. So, Lord Biggs, please leave in peace and good luck on your pilgrimage.”

“As if I need luck,” yawned Biggs. “I’m so tired right now. Wedge, we’re leaving NOW.”

“How dare he even say that!” said Rinoa when they both left. “Squall, you’re gonna be the best summoner that Spira’s ever seen! You’re going to be even greater than your father AND your grandfather! Just wait and see how wrong Biggs will be.”

“Thank you,” said Squall and smiled. “I guess sometimes it doesn’t hurt to express your mind, huh?”

“Ok, I’m done,” smiled Zell. “I suppose I missed a lot, huh? I would’ve defended you, Squall, but –”

“Zell, I can take care of myself,” laughed Squall. “I’m not a child anymore. You and Irvine were the ones who were like big brothers to me. Now it’s time that I stood on my own two feet and stand up for myself.”

“Well, you showed him all right,” assumed Irvine. “Ok, cowboys –” But then he saw Rinoa raising an eyebrow and Quistis growling under her breath. “– And cowgirls, whatever. Let’s go.”

As they opened the doors to the lift that would take them down to the Trials, Rinoa was thinking about, quite oddly, of Squall’s offer. She was considering herself to be a guardian, but wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to go ahead with it or not.

“You can’t come,” said Quistis, as she pushed Rinoa away.

“Oh yeah, not a guardian,” sighed Rinoa. “Yeah, I know.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be a guardian?” asked Irvine.

“I … I still need time to consider it,” she said.

“Well, we’ll try not to be too long,” smiled Squall. “Let’s do this, guardians.”

As the lift glowed, Rinoa looked down and sighed calling after them.

“Soon! Oh yeah, sure! Come back tomorrow!” she said.

She leant against the wall twiddling her fingers and feeling quite anxious. A considerable amount of time passed by. Rinoa was becoming bored. She wondered if they had actually reached the Chamber yet.

“Today,” she mumbled.

“Oh, still here?” came a familiar voice. It was Biggs.

“Are you a guardian?” asked Wedge.

“No, I’m not,” sighed Rinoa.

“Is something wrong?” he asked again, but was nudged by Biggs. “OUCH!”

“Well, we can do something about that,” smiled Biggs.

Suddenly, Wedge grabbed hold of Rinoa and hoisted her over his shoulder. Despite Rinoa’s pleas to have him let go, Biggs just laughed as Wedge threw her on to the lift.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” shouted Rinoa. “Don’t you know how to treat a lady with respect?”

“Oh dear,” sighed Biggs. “I’m afraid that you’ve disturbed Wedge.”

“WHAT?” said Rinoa loudly.

“Then I suppose Lord Squall may have some difficulty in his pilgrimage now. Oh well, I guess you might have to be a guardian sooner than you think. It was nice meeting you, Lady Rinoa, and I hope we meet again … not.”

As the lift went down, Rinoa gulped and watched the pair of them leave. She looked up at the ceiling blankly and sighed. This is great, just great. If I just wait for this to go back up, then maybe I can go back into the temple and pray for victory in blitzball?

But as the lift reached the bottom, Rinoa was curious. She looked towards where the Cloister of Trials was. She felt very tempted to go inside. But … Rinoa knew that it was wrong. She went to the lift, but it did not do anything.

“Up! Up!” she shouted. “Get up now!”

But it was still no use. Rinoa turned back towards the door leading to the Trials. She opened the doors and entered the Cloister of Trials.


Cloister of Trials, Kilika Temple, Kilika Island

Rinoa sighed as she saw the Trials lay out ahead of her yet again. But this time, they had already been solved. The path ahead to the Chamber of the Fayth just lay right ahead for her.


Chamber of the Fayth, Kilika Temple, Kilika Island

As she entered the room, Rinoa was then shot shocked looks by Zell and Irvine. In the meantime, Quistis was stood next to the entrance.

“What the hell?” yelled Zell.

“You’re not supposed to be here!” said Irvine.

“Oh yeah,” sighed Rinoa. “It’s only for GUARDIANS, right?”

“And you’re not a guardian,” stated Zell.

“Did you come because you’ve made your mind up?” asked Irvine.

“It was that Biggs and Wedge’s fault,” shrugged Rinoa. “I was forced in here against my will.”

“All right, we’re gonna kick their asses when we get outta here!” shouted Zell.

“Fighting won’t help,” assumed Irvine. “Besides, Squall could be excommunicated! He will be the one to suffer the consequences!”

Moments later, Squall emerged from the Chamber and then fell to his knees. Quistis helped him back on to his feet. Rinoa sighed and just smiled when he saw her. Could I be really thinking about becoming a guardian? But then again, I might see someone in Luca just like Zell said.

“We have a new friend,” smiled Squall. “His name is Ifrit and he is the fire aeon.”


Kilika Village, Kilika Island

The group had returned to the village straight away after Squall had received the next aeon. Rinoa was beginning to have her doubts about seeing someone that she recognised in Luca. If the friends she had here didn’t even recognise her, what were the chances that she’d find someone who did ACTUALLY know her in Luca?

This is their world, thought Rinoa. This is an alternate world to mine. I just might be stuck here for good.

She had gone to different places around the village to avoid Squall and the others for the time being. She felt like she had to stay away from them for a while to have some time for herself. Sure, it saddened her to distance herself away, if not for a little while, but didn’t she need her own space?

Rinoa sat at the docks staring out into the sunset. She let the ocean flow in and out of her legs softly and slowly. Another thing that was really beginning to bug her was her father, General Caraway. Could he really have been to Spira before? She still couldn’t believe it, not until she had actually seen him in this world, too, just like she had seen her friends here.

“Mind if I join you?” asked Squall.

Rinoa gazed up at him. He was smiling and was so full of life. This wasn’t the Squall that Rinoa knew. She didn’t really know if she wanted to know this Squall more or just return to knowing the Squall she knew from her own world.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” said Rinoa, smiling weakly. But her smile soon faded away.

“You’re really quiet, aren’t you?” he said.

“Yeah,” she nodded, and then turned to face him, “and I’m really sorry about before. I didn’t mean to barge in like that. I just –”

“Rinoa Heartilly, you just try to explain yourself too much,” laughed Squall. “Zell told me all about Biggs and Wedge. It’s not your fault and hey, I wouldn’t even blame you if I had to suffer the consequences.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Now stop blaming yourself for everything, ok?”

“Yeah, but these things are happening because I’ve come to Spira.”

“How so?”

But Rinoa turned away from him. She didn’t want to tell him what had happened before she had ended up in Spira. It was too much for her to handle right now just as well as it would be too much to handle for him, too.

“Rinoa, you mentioned something about SeeD,” said Squall. “What did you mean?”

“Squall, there are just some things that I can’t tell you,” she sighed. “People would think I’m crazy to say them.”

But Squall grabbed her hand and as she looked at him, he smiled. “But not me, Rinoa. I’ve always been curious to things that don’t relate to Spira. Things that … things that aren’t really mentioned. They might say that you have Sin’s toxin, but that might not be the case. I think that whatever you’re trying say could be the truth.”

“You think so?” asked Rinoa.

“I know so,” nodded Squall. “So tell me, do you remember anything before coming to Spira?”

“Well, you still might not believe me though,” she said.

“Trust me, I’m ready for anything.”

“Ok, here goes the overdramatic story of how I got here to Spira then. SeeD is an elite force destined to defeat the powerful sorceress in our world. I first met you after you became a SeeD, although you never told me how you did it. I was looking for the headmaster of Balamb Garden …”

“Balamb Garden?”

“The home where you, Quistis, Zell and Selphie went to.”

“Who’s Selphie?”

“She goes to the Garden with you, Quistis and Zell. Quistis is an instructor there at Balamb Garden. You, Zell and Selphie are now SeeDs, but I guess it’s fair to say that’s not the case anymore since I’m here. But anyway, back on to my story. I’m from a place called Timber. In my world, Galbadia invades any free place. So that included Timber, Dollet … but not Balamb, Trabia or Esthar. Anyway, I’m from a resistance group in Timber and we call ourselves the Timber Owls.”

“Fascinating,” smiled Squall. “Why the Timber Owls?”

“I don’t remember now,” shrugged Rinoa. “And I was their “princess” if I remember clearly.”

“If you remember clearly? I’m in the presence of a princess right now.”

“Can I get back to the story?”

“I’m sorry. By all means, go ahead.”

“It’s ok, Squall.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, you, Zell and Selphie came to Timber. Headmaster Cid deployed you three new SeeDs to come and help us. We managed to get the President’s train and try to negotiate with him to liberate Timber. It was your mission to stay with us and assist us in that liberation. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.”

“What happened?”

“To help with our plan, we made a fake President. You gotta thank the crew at the Timber Owls for that. They’re geniuses! So yeah, we got the President’s train to link with ours. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the real President we had.”

“It was the fake one?”

“Bingo! And you fought him alongside Zell and Selphie.”

“So me, Zell and this Selphie are SeeDs?”

“Yeah, in my world you are, anyway,” nodded Rinoa.

“So that’s what you meant by SeeD!” exclaimed Squall. “Carry on with this, Rinoa. It’s starting to get really interesting.”

“Yo, Squall!” came a voice.

It was Zell.

“The boat’s all fixed now,” he said. “We can go now.”

“But can’t we stay a little longer?” asked Squall.

“We got to go now or else we might not make it for the next morning!” he said and then turned to see Rinoa. “Hey, Rinoa! The Aurochs are all psyched up for tomorrow! The tournament starts tomorrow, you know?”

“Oh, it does?” smiled Rinoa. Then maybe I can find someone in Luca …

“And we’re going to cheer the Aurochs,” nodded Squall. “Rinoa, carry on with your story, will you? Can’t we wait a few minutes, Zell?”

“We have to leave now or else we won’t make it,” urged Zell.

“Listen,” said Rinoa, rising to her feet. “I’ll tell you the rest of my story later, ok?”

“Yeah, thanks for telling me,” smiled Squall. “It’s nice hearing your story.”

As Rinoa smiled and walked on to the boat, Zell poked Squall in the ribs.

“So you think she’s cute, huh?” he asked and whispered.

“Zell, you know what I have to do,” sighed Squall in a low voice, so that Rinoa couldn’t hear them. “You know what will happen to me. If Rinoa finds out the truth, it’ll break her heart to hear and know it.”

“Well,” shrugged Zell. “If that’s the way you want it, then I can’t stop you. You’ll tell her when you’re ready, right? Because we don’t want to tell her. The burden is on your shoulders.”

“Thank you, Sir Zell,” smiled Squall.

“Sir? Not even properly back into the fold yet,” he smirked.


S.S. Winno

Nightfall came. Rinoa sat at the front of the ship looking out at the stars. She remembered doing this with her mother and father when she was very young. It pained her to realise that she was doing it now without the pair of them at her side. Thinking about her mother made Rinoa sigh.

Why did things have to be this way? Why can’t I go home and stop the sorceress from taking over the world? What did I do to bring me here to Spira? Sorceress Edea just couldn’t hurt Squall! I wasn’t about to let him do something stupid like sacrificing his life to be a hero!

“Hey,” said Zell. “You better go and get some rest. You need your energy for the game tomorrow.”

“I know, but I always used to do this when I was little,” said Rinoa. “Looking up at the stars just hoping for a shooting star to appear …”

“Ok, but you know you need some sleep soon, ok?” smiled Zell, as he let her be.

“Rest?” muttered Rinoa. “As if I could sleep down there!”

As Squall was at the back of the boat talking to the Luca Goers and Quistis being by his side, Zell and Irvine had gone upstairs to talk to each other. Rinoa was alone now. She sighed and got to her feet once she was bored. She saw Squall at the back of the boat talking to the Goers, who she currently despised. But she let him be. However, as she was walking past, she began to hear a most peculiar conversation …

“What will happen tomorrow?” asked Irvine.

“Rinoa will find someone she knows,” said Zell.

“And what if she can’t?”

“Then she can join a blitz team, you should see her skill.”

“Stop going off topic, Zell. You know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, Squall wants her as a guardian, right?”

“She seems so keen to defeat Sin just as well as we are. I think we need her.”

“Need her? What? The Lord of the Wood isn’t good enough for you?”

“Dare I say it, but … that was Rinoa’s idea, Zell. She’s the Queen of the Wood, queen of … a lot of things, I would expect. She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

“What? You like her?”

“As a friend, yes, but … she might pose a threat to Squall’s pilgrimage.”

“And that’s a reason why she shouldn’t be a guardian then?”

Irvine sighed and looked up at the sky. “I don’t know what to think,” he said. “Rinoa likes Squall and it’s vice versa at the same time. I don’t know what we’re going to do about this, Zell, but we have to be careful. Rinoa said she got too close to Sin, right?”

“And that could mean Sin could attack us again,” sighed Zell. “Sin has to take everything away from us!” He slammed his fist into the wooden floor. “I hate that monster! It’s a reason why I became a guardian, but I became a guardian to protect Squall from harm.”

“But you’re a blitzball player as well,” stated Irvine. “Sin … the monstrosity of Spira, taking all we have. We have to keep hold of the most precious things, Zell. But I suppose everything you had is gone?”

“It ain’t over until it’s over!” shouted Zell. “I might have lost Cassie, but … I still believe that she’s alive, you know? They never did find her. And I still have you, Quistis and Squall! My purpose in life is to serve and deliver.”

“Serve and deliver … not a purpose really.”

“I suppose you’re right. I guess because Sin is here, we’re all puppets unable to decide our true paths in life.”

“Do you ever remember the orphanage that we were all in?” asked Irvine.

“Orphanage? Sounds familiar, but I don’t remember,” sighed Zell.

“There used to be an orphanage off the seaside in which all of us used to live in,” he said. “You, me, Quistis, Squall and a girl named Selphie … we lived there together.”

“Was that before or after the Calm came?” asked Zell.

“After. We had lost our parents. You and I had lived in Besaid for so long, Quistis ran away from Mt. Gagazet because of her discrimination, Squall’s father had been on the pilgrimage and Selphie was there, too.”

Rinoa thought about what they were saying. They used to be in an orphanage? But …

Suddenly, a future memory supposed to be in her mind occurred …


Trabia Garden

“All of us were there, except for Rinoa,” said Irvine.

“It can’t be …” whispered Rinoa under her breath.

She was seeing a memory after when they had encountered the sorceress, escaped prison, split up on different missions, met up again and had now come to Trabia Garden, which had been partly destroyed by the Galbadian missiles. She listened closely and heard that the five of them had been in an orphanage, after all …


S.S. Winno

Rinoa opened her eyes and walked away immediately. Zell was coming down the stairs when he spotted her.

“Hey,” he smiled weakly. “You better get some rest soon. It’s a big day tomorrow.”

As the Luca Goers had left Squall alone, the Besaid Aurochs had come out. Rinoa saw Squall waving at her. Knowing that Squall would be safe, Quistis left his side and went down to the lower deck. Rinoa walked over to him rubbing her hair and smiling.

“Hi,” she simply said.

“Hey,” smiled Squall. “So … time at our hands at last, eh? You want to finish telling me what was going on in the time building up in landing in Spira.”

“It’s too long to tell really,” shrugged Rinoa.

“I don’t mind long stories,” he said, and sat down on the deck. “I find them really interesting and I’m curious about you, Rinoa Heartilly. It’s not everyday that you find someone like you. You must come from a world where Sin doesn’t exist.”

“A far greater evil exists in my world and yet she’s only human,” she sighed.

“So tell me more,” urged Squall.

“We couldn’t liberate Timber, but neither could you three return to Balamb Garden,” said Rinoa. “Wait a minute, I’m jumping way too ahead of myself. There was to be a television broadcasting of the President of Galbadia announcing his new ambassador.”

“I see,” nodded Squall. “Who was the ambassador?”

“The sorceress,” said Rinoa. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. SeeD is destined to defeat the sorceress or so the headmaster told me at the Garden. But then … someone just HAD to butt in, didn’t they?”

“Who interrupted?”

“The one and only Seifer Almasy, your greatest rival and threat … the one who gave you the scar on your forehead …”

“What do you mean? Seifer isn’t my enemy, he’s my friend.”

“WHAT?” she said loudly. “Don’t tell me Seifer’s in this world, too.”

“We’ve known each other since we were children,” said Squall. “After my father defeated Sin ten years ago, I lived at an orphanage with him. There was me, him, Zell, Irvine, Quistis and Selphie there. We lived there until we went our separate ways. I remember Irvine reminding me a few weeks ago.”

“It’s the same in my world!” exclaimed Rinoa. “Although I’m not sure how exactly I knew this when I almost got myself killed –”

“What?” said Squall.

“Back on topic, please!” she said noisily. “Seifer had his gunblade to the President’s throat. He came to Timber when he heard you, Zell and Selphie had been deployed to liberate Timber. He was so furious. It wasn’t long until Quistis went after him.”

“Quistis went after … Seifer?” stared Squall.

“She sure did,” nodded Rinoa. “She was the one who burst into the television centre and tried to stop Seifer from doing something stupid. She was the one who gave you all permission to get inside. I followed you all soon after. But I guess Seifer took things too far. He dragged the President into another room and then she … appeared.”

“She? The sorceress?”

“Yeah, the sorceress came.”

Even the thought of seeing Sorceress Edea in her mind sent chills up Rinoa’s spine.

“She was the ambassador for Galbadia. But … we thought that Seifer followed her to his death. She persuaded Seifer to go with her. He disappeared and we didn’t see him again until we reached Galbadia.”

“So,” said Squall. “All of this happened in your world?”

“Uh huh,” nodded Rinoa.

“Tell me more.”

“Squall!” called Irvine. “You need your rest and so does Rinoa.”

“Understood,” smiled Squall. “It was nice learning some more from you, Rinoa. I’ll see you later.”

As Rinoa walked forward to the front of the boat, she was faced with blitzball and haunted by memories of her father, General Caraway.


Galbadia Square, Galbadia

A young Rinoa was kicking a ball at the wall just playing alone. General Caraway was laughing at her attempts to do this.

“Trying to do something here, I see,” he smiled. “Watch how it’s done.”

He began to kick the ball violently at the wall and then shot it right up into the air.

“You’re not alone in not being able to do this,” he smiled and turned to face her. “Every general is expected to be able to play at least one sport in his lifetime. You might never be able to play a sport. You’ve not even been able to do anything since your mother died.”

“I HATE YOU!” yelled Rinoa.


S.S. Winno

“I’ll prove to you that I’m not worthless,” muttered Rinoa. “I’ll prove to you that I’m not the piece of dirt that you always thought of me as. Mom was my reason for living, but when she died, I hated you because you always put me down. You blamed my mother for dying as my reason as being weak. In a way, you were right, but not this time. My reason for living is … freedom. The freedom to be able to do whatever you want.”

She began to kick the ball violently at the wooden wall angrily being haunted by her father’s voice in her head.

“You can’t do it!”

“You couldn’t do anything since your mother died.”

“Why don’t you give up?”

Hitting the ball against the wall with her hands and then heading it up into the air, Rinoa jumped up into the air spinning around. Once she stopped spinning it around, she kicked it right ahead into the ocean at high speeds. She was amazed by what she did.

“I couldn’t do anything since Mom died?” smiled Rinoa. “Yeah right, Dad. Look at what I just did! I proved you wrong after all. I guess you don’t need to be a general to be able to do a sport.”

“Whoa!” said Zell. “Awesome!”

Rinoa spun around to see all of the Aurochs. It seemed that they had seen what had been going on.

“How did you do it?” stared Zell.

“Incredible!” said Datto. “Show us again!”

After she was handed a ball, Rinoa performed the move again with much more courage and enthusiasm. She smiled as it went soaring right through the ocean until it was no longer seen. Rinoa turned to see Squall smiling and clapping.

“I thought you was supposed to get some rest!” she said to him.

“Likewise,” smiled Squall. “General Caraway used to play blitzball when he was in Spira. He did that same move you just did. He used to show me plenty of times before he left on the pilgrimage with my father.”

Rinoa didn’t say anything; a part of her was shocked.

Dad used to play blitzball? Now I’ve seen everything, she thought.

 

[xxskycrasher498xx]

great! i think this was the best yet. keep going

 

[Kain]

This is a great story. I look forward to reading more.

 

[Amizon]

Chapter 8: Rise of the Guardian​

S.S. Winno

Morning came quicker than usual for Rinoa. She had gotten so much rest that she was the first one to wake up, apart from the cabin crew. She was standing at the front of the boat watching the sunrise and seeing Luca in the distance. The feeling of peace and harmony brought a smile to her face. She hadn’t felt so calm for a long time now.

So this is Luca, she smiled and thought. I guess this is where I find someone, right?

“So I see you found Luca then,” smiled Zell, who had randomly appeared.

“And good morning to you too,” said Rinoa. “Thanks for sneaking up on me.”

“No problem, man,” he said, beaming. “It’s been a year since I’ve been here. We’re gonna take that Crystal Cup from the Goers and they’ll be goners before they can even blitz!” He then turned back to face her. “The way you acted yesterday towards them in the temple yesterday … that was some guts, huh? Thanks for sticking up for us.”

“Hey, any time,” she shrugged. “They’ll be goners, all right. Because I’m your secret weapon!”

“Huh?”

“I mean … you all need to get through until the finals, right? Then I can come in!”

“Huh, maybe you’re right,” assumed Zell. “We’re almost there. And gee, the cameras are gonna be rolling real soon …”

“Cameras? Ooh! I gotta get myself a shot, I wanna be famous!”

“Slow down, cowgirl. We gotta get ready first.”


Luca Docks, Luca

“And it’s yet another year of blitzball, eh?” said the first commentator. “Here is the last boat!” A pause occurred and then he began to speak again. “Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you … the Kilika Beasts!”

The Kilika Beasts walked off the boat and waved proudly at everyone. There was so much determination on their faces.

“Their island was recently attacked, wasn’t it?” asked a second commentator. “It seems that it gives them the determination to bring back the Cup this year to Kilika.”

“Yup, and look who it is! It’s the Besaid Aurochs! I’ve never seen a team this BAD!”

“Ten years without going through the first round and what a record that keeps going.”

Rinoa walked forward with Zell and the Besaid Aurochs. She was looking intently at the camera. “Yeah, that’s right!” she said, putting her face right into it. “This girl might look pretty here, but she’s not all what she appears to be! Appearances can be misleading.”

“Moving on from that …” coughed the first commentator. “And here we are! The moment you’ve been waiting for, folks! Give it up for the Luca Goers! They’re back home on their soil and ready to blitz! These are the champions you should be looking to! Ten years winning the Crystal Cup, this team just keeps getting better and better! Look at them go! Look at them go!”

“Why do you keep putting up with this?” demanded Rinoa to Zell and the other Aurochs who were just stood there around the dock boxes. “It’s stupid and … insane!”

“Don’t let it bother you,” said Zell. “It’s like this every year.”

“Oh yeah? Well, watch this!” exclaimed Rinoa, who got on top of a dock box and grabbed a microphone. Zell’s eyes widened with surprise as he watched her begin to talk through it. “Hey! Stop that right there, you Luca Goers! Yeah, that’s right! You’ll be goners by the time we get to you!”

“Oh no,” muttered Irvine.

“What is it?” asked Squall.

“Take a look,” he sighed. “It seems your friend there has a liking to the attention.”

“You might be holding on to your Crystal Cup right now, but not for long!” shouted Rinoa. “Because the Besaid Aurochs are taking the Cup this year and there’s nothing you can do about it! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Sometime later, everyone left. Zell laughed at what Rinoa did and gave her a nudge on her head. “You pickle!” he laughed. “You really got me going there for a good scrap.”

“We were on the screen!” said Datto.

“We were?” asked Letty.

“Hey, guys,” said Jassu. “Maester Mika is here!”

“Already?” asked Keepa. “Let’s go see him.”

“What’s going on now?” said Rinoa. “Who’s this Maester Mika?”

“Maester Mika is the grand leader of the peoples of Spira,” said Squall, explaining it to her. “He governs Spira with his strength and knowledge. He is one of the four maesters in Spira, but he has been around for a long time and so he has the title of Grand Maester.”

Sounds like a boring old guy, thought Rinoa. “And why are they so special?”

“They follow the teachings of Yevon and can give us blessings,” said Irvine. “This maybe our chance to get some blessing before we leave Luca and carry on with the pilgrimage. Come, let’s go see him.”

The group continued on towards the next few docks until they came to where a big crowd was waiting. Rinoa jumped up and down trying to see what was going on.

“I can’t see!” she shouted. “God, move, bonehead! Can’t you see I can’t see anything?”

“Shush,” whispered Zell. “He’s coming!”

Suddenly, everyone had his or her heads bowed and there was an eerie silence. A man with blue hair walked down from the ship. He turned back to face the ship and did the prayer of Yevon.

“Isn’t that Maester Seymour?” whispered a man.

Moments later, an old and aged man walked down from the ship.

“Rise, Maester Seymour,” he said, and turned to the rest of them when he did rise. “And the rest of you, please rise. Such an honour to be here today on a glorious day when the blitzball tournament begins. May I present to you … Maester Seymour Guado, the son of Maester Jyscal Guado, who passed away a fortnight ago.”

“I am Seymour Guado,” said Seymour, eyeing the crowd closely. “In life, my father did all he could to unite human and Guado alike together. I will learn from his teachings in life and continue his work as a maester.”

Rinoa didn’t find anything special about Seymour. She did wonder about him since she saw him as a complete mystery. Guado? Jyscal? What’s going on here? But then she noticed that he had his eyes on her. Seymour stepped forward and the crowd parted revealing Rinoa with the summoner and his guardians.

“Ah, Lord Squall Leonhart,” smiled Seymour. “It is such an honour to meet you.”

“Thank you, Maester Seymour,” said Squall, bowing his head. “But the honour of meeting you is even greater.”

“I see that you are on a pilgrimage,” he continued to say. “You have a great taste in guardians. Friends, are they not? Alas, you do have great taste in guardians and great taste in friends.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

But then Seymour turned his attention to Rinoa. “And who is this lovely lady, I see?” he smiled. “What is your name, lovely one?”

Rinoa felt flattered by being called “lovely one”. “My name is Rinoa Heartilly,” she said coolly. “But I’m not a guardian, Maester Seymour.”

“Please, call me Seymour,” whispered Seymour in her ear. “There is no need for formalities with me. You can call me whatever you wish.” As he backed away from her, he turned to the other guardians. “Protect Lord Squall well. I wish you luck in the pilgrimage and –” He kissed Rinoa’s hand. “– I do hope that we meet again, Rinoa Heartilly.”

Squall felt like he could throw up at that point and hit Seymour in the face, but he kept himself under control. He didn’t want to do anything rash right now. After all, Seymour had only been friendly towards Rinoa … well, at least for now, anyway.

“So,” said Irvine when the crowd had left and the maesters were gone and turned to Rinoa, “and I see that Maester Seymour took a liking to you, Rinoa. How interesting.”

Squall coughed loudly. “Interesting? As if.”

“Someone’s getting jealous,” sang Zell and muttered it under his breath, so that he could hear.

“Come on, lighten up, guys,” smiled Rinoa. “We got a blitz tournament to win, remember?”

“Oh … yeah! I have to go to the match up draws!” said Zell, realising it. “Wait here, guys. Go to the Aurochs locker room and I’ll meet you there later.”


Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

The door opened. The Aurochs looked to see if it was Zell, but it was just Rinoa.

“Isn’t Zell back yet?” asked Rinoa.

“He’s still at the match up draws,” shrugged Botta.

“We’ve played against the Luca Goers for the past few years in the first round,” said Letty.

“But they kept beating us!” exclaimed Datto.

“I guess it would be the same with anyone else,” sighed Keepa.

Suddenly, the door opened again – it was Zell.

“Captain!” said Jassu.

Zell had a proud look on his face. “Oh yeah, boys!” he said and jumped up and down. “You’re gonna love this, man! We’re against the Al Bhed Psyches. If we win this one, then we’re in the finals. You hear me, boys? One game and we’re in the final! Two games and we’ve won the Cup!”

Everyone was psyched up for the game. Zell smiled and nodded.

“All right, boys …” he said.

“And girls,” added Rinoa.

“Whatever,” shrugged Zell. “Let’s go back to the basics.”

But Rinoa felt she knew all that she needed to know. She lay back on the bench and fell to sleep having a nap. Before she knew it, she had a dream … or rather a vision.


Unknown Holy Ground

Sat around the fire were Rinoa, Squall, Zell, Irvine, Quistis, Selphie and another mysterious face that she couldn’t quite make out. Their weapons were stuck in the ground for the time being. It seemed that they were going to take a rest from all the travelling that they had done.

Without warning, Rinoa got to her feet and then Squall looked at her with a sad and concerned look in his eyes. She turned back to face him and placed a hand on his shoulders. She felt like she wanted to say something – anything – to him, but the words wouldn’t come out.

When Squall looked at the ground blankly, Rinoa had walked up the hill away from the rest of the group to eye the holy ground that she was standing upon. Her eyes showed determination and sadness.

“I’ll save you,” she whispered. “I know, even if it ends here … in Galbadia.”


Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

Rinoa snapped out of her vision when she heard the door open. It was Squall who looked excited and happy at the same time. She sat up straight and saw that Quistis was with him as well.

“I’ve heard a legendary guardian is here!” he said. “Want to come with me to find her, Rinoa?”

“Whoa, whoa!” said Zell. “What about the game?”

“We’ll be back soon, trust me!” smiled Rinoa. “Listen, Zell. Calm down, you need to make sure you don’t do anything stupid, like I dunno … endanger Squall or something?”

“What do you mean?” asked Squall. “You’re hiding something from us, aren’t you?”

“No, why would I?” shrugged Rinoa. “You said it yourself you want to find this legendary guardian person.” But then it struck her. What if it’s someone I know?

“It maybe Sir Fury Caraway!” he exclaimed. “Or Sir Caraway as he liked to be called.”

Is it even possible that he’s alive here? I thought he was pretty much dead when we failed to assassinate Sorceress Edea back home in Galbadia. Rinoa’s thoughts were taking over her mind. Is he really here? What if … what if my life in Galbadia is all lies? What if I’m really insane? Nah, I can’t be!

“Are you coming, Rinoa?” asked Squall. “I’d also like to get some air before the game, anyway.”

“Yeah, me too,” nodded Rinoa. Wow, first time I agreed with Squall on anything.

“Let’s go then,” said Squall.


Luca Square, Luca

“I hope we don’t get lost,” said Rinoa, who was walking ahead of Squall whilst Quistis was behind him.

“Then there’s one thing for that problem,” smiled Squall. “Just whistle.”

“Whistle? How’s that gonna solve anything?”

“Well … I could whistle for you and you’d come running as soon as you hear me.”

“Yeah, sure thing! If you whistle, I’ll come running for you.”

“Now THAT’S how we’re gonna find each other.”

Suddenly, Quistis was attacked from behind. Rinoa and Squall turned to see two female Ronso surrounding her.

“Hey!” shouted Rinoa. “Leave her alone!”

“Quiet!” yelled Quistis, and turned to face the two female Ronso. “Lela, Kris.”

“So you remember us, Quistis?” laughed Lela. “You left Mount Gagazet to join these fools? You’re such an outcast to the Ronso tribe now!”

“You are a fool to show your face here, Quistis,” growled Kris.

“No longer are you of the Ronso tribe!” roared Lela. “You are a disgrace. Filthy human!”

“Now just wait a minute!” interrupted Rinoa. “Filthy human? Excuse me, but you’re in the presence of humans all around you. That’s racist!”

“Not you,” glared Lela coldly, and pointed at Quistis. “Quistis Trepe is a disgrace to the Ronso tribe. Abandoned the tribe to go to that orphanage, returns later … and then leaves again.”

“I have my own reasons for leaving Gagazet,” said Quistis, crossing her arms.

Suddenly, Lela punched Quistis in the face and laughed. “You cannot defend yourself? Fight, Quistis Trepe! Fight! Fight like the mighty Ronso you were meant to be! Or are you a filthy human?”

“That’s it!” yelled Rinoa, attaching her pinwheel to her right arm. “I’m fighting, too!”

“No!” shouted Quistis. “This is my fight.”

“Talk about you finally coming out of your shell,” muttered Rinoa.

But Quistis pushed her back. “I told you that it’s my fight!” she shouted.


Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

“Where ARE they?” said Zell, feeling worried and nervous at the same time.

“Relax, Zell,” said Irvine. “You guys stay here. If I’m not back by the time the game is about to begin, then go ahead and –”

But then the door burst open. Zell, Irvine and the rest of the Aurochs turned to see that some Al Bhed men had come into the locker room.


Luca Square, Luca

“Quistis! Quistis! Get up!” said Rinoa, looking frantic and panicking. “Squall’s gone! We have to go and find him!”

Quistis jumped back up to her feet and growled at her former two Ronso friends.

“We’ll settle this later,” she said, and then ran with Rinoa to find Irvine just ahead.

“Where have you two been?” yelled Irvine. “The Al Bhed Psyches have kidnapped Squall and in return for his safety, they want the Aurochs to throw the game to them.”

“As if we’ll do that!” exclaimed Rinoa, but concerned for Squall’s well being at the same time. I hope that we can find him soon because I want to kick some butt!

“That’s what Zell said,” said the Black Mage. “The Aurochs are taking care of the Psyches now, all we got to do is rescue Squall and that’s that.”

“But I’m coming, too!” shouted Rinoa. “There’s no way I’m leaving Squall with those Al Bhed! Who knows what’ll happen?”

Quistis pointed towards the Al Bhed dock. The three of them hurried there as soon as they could.


Luca Docks, Luca

As Rinoa ran towards the docks with Irvine and Quistis, strange machines surrounded them. As Irvine prepared himself and Quistis withdrew her whip, Rinoa already had her pinwheel attached to her right arm from before. Before they knew it, they were thrust into the face of battle.

Irvine began the battle by casting Thunder on one of the machines. Rinoa successfully shot her pinwheel next and that machine burst into scrap metal. One of the machines zapped Quistis with its electricity.

“What are these things?” asked Rinoa. “They look pretty nasty.”

“They’re called machina,” explained Irvine. “They’ve obviously been sent by the Al Bhed.”

With that, Quistis whipped one machina with her black whip and it burst into pieces. Irvine turned his attention to the last machina and cast Thunder again since it was most weak to that spell. Then Rinoa shot her pinwheel again and it was destroyed.

“So the Al Bhed knew we were coming?” she questioned them.

“Possibly,” nodded Irvine, seeing Quistis shrug her shoulders. “I knew they’d have a backup plan.”

The three of them continued on towards the Al Bhed dock fighting their way through the machina and then on to the dock. The ship was about to leave –

“HURRY!” yelled Irvine.

He jumped on to the ship, having been followed by Rinoa and Quistis sometime later.

“Prepare yourself,” he said to them. “I think we have more company.”

Then the middle of the ship opened up to reveal a blitzball-shooting machina.

“Not another machina!” said Rinoa. “These guys don’t seem to give up.”

“Remember, we’re here to rescue Squall,” reminded Irvine. “We’re not leaving this ship without him!”

The machina shot a ball at Irvine just as he said that. Rinoa reacted to this by casting Cheer. Now their strength and defence would increase. Irvine looked at the machina angrily.

“You’ll pay for that one, machina!” he shouted, and cast Thunder.

Quistis was the next to attack, as she swung her black whip around and whipped the machina. She was too quick to give Rinoa an angry and fiery look. But Rinoa just glared back at her. It wasn’t her fault that Squall had been taken by the Al Bhed! Yet she still knew that Quistis wouldn’t admit that to her.

But then the machina shot several balls at Irvine. He suffered under the pain and went down on his knees. “G-Guys!” he said. “Carry on … attacking the machina! I’ll b-be fine!”

“No, you won’t!” said Rinoa, as she gave him a Potion.

“Concentrate on the machina, Rinoa!” said Irvine angrily. “I can take care of myself and so can Quistis since she can cast Lancet. Now focus! We have to get Squall back before they do anything to him!”

“But of course,” muttered Rinoa, who then watched Irvine cast Fire at the machina.

Quistis growled angrily as she cast Lancet at the machina enabling her to absorb health and magic from it. This, in turn, caused the machina to shoot several balls at her just like it had done with Irvine. She went down to her knees, but she didn’t go down so easily.

“This is going nowhere,” said Irvine.

Rinoa had an idea, however. “Irvine!” she said. “I got an idea! Cast your magic at this crane here! Keep casting Thunder and try to power it up!”

“What? Are you crazy?” asked Irvine. “We have to keep attacking the –”

“Trust,” said Quistis. “And see.”

He nodded. “I see what you mean. Ok then, let’s get on to this.” He cast Thunder at the crane, but nothing happened. Rinoa tapped a few buttons, but still nothing happened.

“You’ll have to do it a few more times, Irvine,” sighed Rinoa, as she was then attacked by the machina. Her arm was slashed and blood poured down, but she didn’t care. She just had to do this idea of hers because she thought it was ingenious. “Don’t worry about me, just focus on the crane.”

Quistis continued to attack the machina over and over, whilst Irvine cast his Thunder magic on the crane and Rinoa kept running over to see if anything would work. After a few more minutes of magic being cast, Quistis attacking the machina, the machina attacking them and Rinoa pushing the buttons, something did finally happen. The crane picked up the machina and shook it. Part of it fell off and the other part was thrown into the sea. Now the machina was severely weakened.

“I rock!” smiled Rinoa, jumping into the air.

“Don’t get too cocky from when we fought Lord Ochu,” reminded Irvine.

“Ha! You just want all the credit all for yourself,” assumed Rinoa.

Sooner rather than later, the battle was over. It was Quistis who got the last blow before the machina finally blew up. Still having their weapons out, the three of them were cautious when the door inside was opened. An Al Bhed man stepped out and fell to the ground. There was Squall behind him smiling and looking proud of himself.

“Are you all right?” asked Irvine, who ran to his side. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I beat them up pretty fine,” giggled Squall, but also noticed Rinoa. “Hey, Rinoa! I thought you were taking care of the game! What’s been going on? I heard that Zell was getting beaten up pretty bad!”

“Oh, damn it …” muttered Rinoa.

“Zell!” said Quistis.

“The game!” said Irvine, who snapped back into reality.

“Let’s hurry and make sure those Aurochs win!” shouted Squall.

The others agreed with him. Rinoa looked up at the sky and her thoughts were for him. I know you might not hear me, Zell, but we believe you can do this. Those Al Bhed Psyches kidnapped Squall just to get you Aurochs to throw the game! You can’t give up on us now, Zell. You have to believe in yourself!


Blitzball Stadium, Luca

Zell opened his eyes after getting beaten up so many times. He saw that the other Aurochs were doing their best to defend, but the score was one to one at the moment. He smiled and thought of his friends.

They’re counting on me, he thought, and I’m not about to throw in the towel. I came to the blitzball stadium for one reason only! To take the Crystal Cup back to Besaid and bring some hope to the team! Now it’s time we did this.

“Letty!” he shouted to him. “Steal the ball! We’re going in!”

Letty nodded and then swam at the Al Bhed defender who had the ball. He stole the ball right from him and then threw it to Datto who managed to dodge one of the defenders. Although his passing wasn’t good as his shooting, he managed to throw a long distance throw to Zell who was going in for the kill.

“There’s only ten seconds left and the Besaid Aurochs are going in!” yelled the commentator. “This is a really heated game! The Aurochs have great offence and defence, whilst the Psyches are about to go down! Here we go, folks! This must be the big finish!”

Zell smiled when he heard the commentator and the villagers from Besaid showing their support. It gave him the courage and determination to win this game. After jumping over one of the defenders, he threw the ball up and then shot it bang right into the net. It was game over for the Al Bhed Psyches.

“I can’t believe it!” yelled the commentator again. “THE AUROCHS HAVE WON! THE BESAID AUROCHS GO THROUGH TO THE FINALS! WHAT A GAME THIS HAS BEEN!”


Luca Docks, Luca

“We won!” shouted Rinoa, as she, Squall, Irvine and Quistis had been watching from a screen outside the stadium. “I can’t believe that we won. Gee, did Zell look beat up, but hey! We still won!”

“We did it!” yelled Squall louder than he had done before. “We’re in the finals!”

“I can’t believe that Zell managed to get himself beat up as a sore loser and then come out as a hero at the same time,” said Irvine. “How amusing.”

“Lighten up, Irvine!” smiled Rinoa. “We still won! What difference does it make?”

“What difference it makes is that Zell’s injured,” he replied. “Who will take his place?”

 

[xxskycrasher498xx]

omg ... great spin offs specially with seymour .. cant wait 4 more ..

 

[Amizon]

Chapter 9: The Dream​

Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

Rinoa, Squall, Irvine and Quistis had returned to the Besaid Aurochs locker room shortly after the Aurochs had won the game against the Al Bhed Psyches. As Zell kept on arguing about being fit to play in the finals for the next day, Rinoa couldn’t help, but think to herself.

A legendary guardian, she pondered. What did Squall mean? I don’t get any of this.

“Yo, Rinoa!” said Zell, who called her.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Well, uh … the Aurochs had a discussion about what we’re going to do for tomorrow in the game,” he said. “They think I can’t even play the game in this state! How ironic is that, eh? Anyway, my point is that they want you to lead them in the finals.”

“What? Me?” she stared. “You have to be kidding me, right? We need you, Zell.”

“Zell’s in no state to be playing blitzball if you didn’t notice already,” assumed Irvine, glaring coldly at Rinoa. “He’s been beaten up so bad only because the Psyches wanted the game for themselves. They’re up against the Luca Goers tomorrow! You want to wipe the smirks off their faces, right?”

“Yeah, but … we need Zell and …” began Rinoa, but then hearing about the Goers made her blood boil. “We have to win, but we need Zell. But I guess because he’s not fit enough, then … well, I’ll have to do it, won’t I?”

“That’s the spirit!” smiled Squall. “With you there, we can win the Cup!”

“Are you sure we can?” asked Irvine. “Last time I checked, Rinoa didn’t want to do this without Zell.”

“Irvine, you’re just jealous of my looks, fighting and skills,” giggled Rinoa.

“Since when do you need looks, fighting and skills?” he asked.

“Ah! Just forget it!” said Zell. “Tomorrow, we’re taking the Cup! Don’t strain yourselves tonight, guys. You need to relax and make sure we’re in top shape for tomorrow. So go to the hotel, get some rest and we’ll take it from there.”

The Besaid Aurochs was in high spirits. “VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!”


Luca Docks, Luca

That night, Rinoa had arranged to meet Squall. She felt slightly responsible for what happened that day and wanted to make it up to him, although she didn’t tell him that. And so she waited at the docks of Luca to meet him. As she waited for him to get ready to meet her after sorting a few things out with his guardians, Rinoa found herself oddly thinking about Seymour.

He seemed pretty interested in me today. I wonder what his deal is? Oh, speak of the devil …

“Rinoa Heartilly, what a pleasure to meet you here,” smiled Seymour.

“Maester Seymour!” jumped Rinoa. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, I love Luca,” he said and looked at the sun that was setting. “Such a splendid place to come, would you not think? It is perfect to see the sun set, but not as perfect as watching from the Al Bhed shop on the Mi’ihen Highroad –”

“What’s the Mi’ihen Highroad?” asked Rinoa.

“Hmm? You do not know?” he stared.

“About that,” she said nervously. “I, um … I have Sin’s toxin and –”

“You do not need to pretend that you were once from Galbadia, Rinoa Heartilly,” smiled Seymour pleasantly. “I hear that you mentioned a lot of things.”

“What things? What do you mean?”

“Ah, forgive me. I must leave immediately, the time has passed so quickly and yet I must leave a fair lady behind unprotected. Be careful, the Al Bhed are up to no good again. Please ensure that you get inside soon, Rinoa. I must depart now since Grand Maester Mika has requested my presence. This is the only reason why I even passed through here. Until we next meet, Rinoa Heartilly, farewell.” And with that, he left Rinoa alone.

“The Al Bhed up to no good again?” said Rinoa out loud. “What did he mean?”

“Sorry I’m late,” said Squall, who had just arrived. He was out of breath and panting. “It seems that my guardians were so reluctant to escort me here, but I gave them a good reason not to.”

“And what was that?” she asked.

“I said that the Al Bhed had gone,” he smiled. “And they didn’t believe me, but I can only tell them the truth, you know?”

“I see your point,” nodded Rinoa, who looked like she was in deep thought.

“Something bothering you?” he asked.

“Nothing really, just the Al Bhed,” she shrugged.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Yeah, that’s why I brought you here. I’m sorry about today, Squall, and I accept full responsibility for what happened to you. It was my entire fault. I got too distracted by what was going on with Quistis when I noticed you were gone. Everything just happened so quickly that I –” began Rinoa.

“Rinoa, it’s not your fault … partly, anyway,” shrugged Squall. “I wasn’t on my guard either. Although a guardian has to watch his summoner, it’s also up to the summoner to be on his guard as well. You’re not the only one who believes it’s their fault.”

“Well, least we covered that,” said Rinoa, sighing and feeling relieved.

“Oh, so you’re not going to tell me anything else of your story?”

“Now that you mention it …”

She tried to remember where she was up to, but couldn’t think.

“Um …” she said.

“I remember you saying that you needed to go to Galbadia?” said Squall.

“Oh yeah!” said Rinoa, snapping her fingers. “Well, we left Timber. I mean you, Zell, Selphie, Quistis and I left. We couldn’t go through the main road because it was blocked at the time. So we found another way through the woods. But that was when you, Selphie and Quistis sort of blacked out.”

“We blacked out?”

“Yeah, Zell said you went into the dream world or whatever it was. From what you guys told me, you all go into the dream world to relive the experiences that Laguna, Kiros and Ward went through.”

“Laguna is my father,” said Squall. “He’s the High Summoner that defeated Sin ten years ago. Kiros and Ward were his best friends. The three of them used to be in the Crusaders for a few years back. I remember going with them on their adventures, but my father left sooner than planned. That was when my mother was killed.”

“Who’s your mother?”

“Her name was Raine and they got married after Dad came back from a very risky operation in the Crusaders. He got himself severely wounded and Mom got him back up to speed. They fell in love and got married. Also, Mom had adopted a girl called Ellone after her parents were killed by Sin. She came to live with us. She was like my big sis all the time, I really loved her …”

“So what happened after then?”

“Mom got killed by Sin when going back to Bevelle from Luca,” said Squall. “The boat she was on got obliterated, literally. Dad was angry and frustrated. He left the Crusaders, placed Ellone and I in an orphanage, went to the temple to become a summoner and then set off on a pilgrimage. I never saw him again, but I was so happy that he defeated Sin. I haven’t seen Ellone for many years now. After Dad defeated Sin, I was sent to Besaid for my own protection and Ellone got separated from us. I never felt so alone in my life –”

Poor Squall, thought Rinoa. There’s still a similarity going on between the Squall I know and this one. They both feel so alone and have lost people close to their hearts.

But Squall smiled and turned to face Rinoa. “I know I’ll find Ellone someday,” he beamed. “She’s alive, I just know it! It’s just like Zell believing Cassie’s alive. They’re both alive, I just know it!”

“Ok, I’m getting back to the story now!” she said and sang. “You three woke up and then we went to Galbadia Garden. A Garden is a place where people like ourselves learn how to fight and defend ourselves as well as learning things about our world. It was there that we found out that Seifer was actually rumoured to be dead. The headmaster at the Garden gave us an assignment: to assassinate the sorceress.”

“And this would do good for the rest of the world?” he questioned.

“Of course, the sorceresses are feared and are … well, BAD!” exclaimed Rinoa. “We were then introduced to Irvine, who would shoot the sorceress with a special rifle gun. Anyway, we got the train to Galbadia and met General Fury Caraway.”

“So you mean …”

“Yes, my father was behind the whole operation. I was quite edgy then because we were waiting for him for a long time. But then he came in and saw us, he saw … me. I just left right away and they found out that I was his daughter. I just wanted to avoid you all at that point. You got told what to do and then I came back to the house. I didn’t want any part of the plan; well … I did make my father believe that. He locked me in the house! Well, he almost did. I managed to get out, but Zell, Quistis and Selphie got locked inside! How ironic is that?”

“Didn’t they see you?” asked Squall.

“No,” replied Rinoa. “I got away over the wall outside. They didn’t even seem to notice me. Heck, I had a great idea to get rid of the sorceress! I showed Quistis, Zell and Selphie what I was going to do, but they didn’t want me involved. It really upset me because I knew it had to work. I had a Doctor Odine special ring to repel powers.”

“And tell me if you think this is weird, but Doctor Odine is also in this world,” stated Squall, sighing. “Why is it that you know people from our world or make references to them? Maybe you’re right about your world and maybe this is just … just a dream we’re feeling here.”

“A dream? Hmm,” said Rinoa, as she touched his hand. “It seems real to me.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he nodded. “Doctor Odine is a genius. When he was younger, he helped to do things such as building the blitzball stadium, discovering the puzzles behind Yevon and its teachings, researching into the aeons … he’s well respected in this world.”

“I guess because he’s well respected in my world, too,” said Rinoa.

“I guess that …” began Squall, but saw the sun nearly beyond the horizon. “I guess that we better go and get some rest. The game is tomorrow, after all, and you’re going to need all the strength you can get, Miss Heartilly.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?” asked Rinoa. “I just wanted to ask before we go.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Why is your father’s surname Loire and yours is Leonhart?”

“That’s complicated, but it’s because my mother and father wanted to keep their marriage a secret. They didn’t want anyone to know for reasons I’m not even sure of. My mother’s surname was Leonhart.”

“Ah, so that explains it.”

“And may I ask you the same question?”

Rinoa sighed, thinking of her mother. “I never got on with my father after my mother died,” she told him. “My mother’s surname was Heartilly. When she died in a car crash, I didn’t even want to know. I just … well, I wanted to keep her surname. I didn’t want to be Rinoa Caraway. I wanted to be known as Rinoa Heartilly.”

“Who knows? We might end up meeting your father,” smiled Squall. “He might be alive, but we just have to keep our fingers crossed.”

Rinoa smiled, but smirked at the thought of her father being alive in this world. She very much despised of him already.


Crystal Hotel, Luca

Rinoa and Squall got back to the hotel sometime later. Once they had received their keys again for their rooms, they bid goodnight to each other going their separate ways to their rooms.

Closing the door behind her, Rinoa yawned and just slumped on her bed. She was so tired from the action today. It had started off with being on the ship and had ended with a nice conversation with Squall. Her mind drifted in her dreams …


Sorceress’s Throne, Galbadia Square, Galbadia

“WHAT?” glared Edea, as she gave Rinoa a cold look. “She survived?”

Rinoa couldn’t believe it. She was back in her own world? She looked up at Squall and then at the blood on her stomach. She could feel hardly any pain and she looked angrily at Edea.

“I know this isn’t real at all to me, but you’ve really ticked me off this time!” she shouted, aiming her pinwheel at the sorceress. “It’s fine time that you paid the price for taking over Galbadia, Sorceress Edea!”

But Seifer had risen again and pointed his gunblade at her. “Not a chance, Rinoa!” he shouted. “I’ve finally achieved my childhood dream and you want to take it all away from me? What kind of person are you? I thought that you liked me.”

“You liked Seifer?” asked Squall, holding his gunblade in two hands, and had now been able to let Rinoa stand on her own two feet. “Wait, isn’t this the thing you had with each other in summer?”

“I don’t care about that anymore,” said Rinoa. “I know what’s going on here and it’s plain obvious that Seifer would tie his loyalties to the sorceress rather than the girl he had a thing for!”

“Rinoa, you don’t understand …” began Seifer.

“ENOUGH!” yelled Edea. “I will take care of this imbecile.”

“You’ll have to go through me,” said Squall, who stepped in front of Rinoa. “It should have been me protecting Rinoa, not the other way around.”

“Squall, but I’m meant to protect you!” shouted Rinoa. “You’re the summoner!”

“Wait a minute,” muttered Squall, and stared at Rinoa. “What’s … going on? Rinoa?”


Crystal Hotel, Luca

Rinoa and Squall woke up, near enough, at the same time. They were sweating in their beds and panting by what they had both seen. Now both of them just wondered if the other one had seen what they had seen already …


Luca Docks, Luca

Rinoa was facing the ocean. It was early in the morning and she was watching the sunrise from the horizon. There were many thoughts buzzing around in her mind.

Did Squall really appear in my dream? Was it the Squall I knew or the one from Spira? I’m so confused right now, but I can’t let this bother me. I have an important game to win today for the Aurochs and for Besaid, but also for Zell. I can’t let them all down just because of a silly dream that I had.


Crystal Café, Luca

Squall was sat with Zell, Irvine and Quistis grabbing a bite to eat before the game would begin in the next hour. But Squall’s thoughts were also on the dream that he had experienced during the night.

So is what Rinoa trying to tell me true? Does her world really exist? Then it must be an alternate world to our own, it must be! Right? I can’t really stop thinking about her. What is this that I’m feeling for her? I was jealous of Maester Seymour and now I appear in her dreams? Gee, let’s just try to think of the game …

“Yo, you going to eat that?” asked Zell, indicating to Squall’s boiled egg.

“Of course he is!” said Irvine. “You’re not going to play today if that’s what you’re thinking of. And if I have to set Quistis on you to make sure, then I will.”

Quistis scowled at Irvine and Zell before getting back to drinking her cup of coffee.


Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

Rinoa sat with the Aurochs in the room. She was feeling the tension and nerves going on in the guys. She was feeling nervous herself, but had to pull herself together. It was good that she was feeling nervous since she wasn’t thinking about that dream for once. But then suddenly, the door burst open. Squall walked in.

“Can I speak to you for a moment, Rinoa?” he asked.

“Whoa, whoa!” interrupted Zell, who walked into the room. “The game’s gonna start in a few minutes. Talking to them can’t be allowed. Irvine, Quistis! Take him out of the room! They won’t let people in the stadium pretty soon.”

“But I –” began Squall.

“Come on, let’s go,” said Irvine, grabbing Squall’s shoulder and closing the door.

Rinoa looked blankly at her hands, she was hearing the cheering of the villagers who had come to support the Besaid Aurochs. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t only them who were supporting the Aurochs at that moment. The whole crowd, except for those supporting for the Luca Goers, were cheering for them in the stadium! It brought some nerves to Rinoa, but also drew out her courage and determination to see this through.

“All right, guys!” said Zell. “This is it! This is the big one! I can’t play, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t watch, you hear me? I want you guys to go out there and blitz like you’ve never blitzed before! Ok? Take Rinoa’s lead and listen to her. She’s the captain for now, so work together as a team, all right? Now go on! They’re calling for you, guys! They’re cheering for you! They’re yelling your names!”

The Besaid Aurochs went out of the room jumping up and down getting psyched up for the game. Rinoa was now left alone with Zell in the room.

“Hey, you ok?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” smiled Zell. “Wish I could be for the guys, but this is the first time they’ll have to cope without me. Give them everything you got and bring that Crystal Cup back to the island!”

“Yes, coach!” nodded Rinoa, as she went out to the Aurochs who were waiting anxiously to enter the sphere. “All right, guys! This is it! We’re gonna make those Goers into goners, you hear me?”

“YEAH!”

“Now who’s gonna take the Cup back to Besaid?”

“THE AUROCHS!”

“Who’s gonna win the game?”

“THE AUROCHS!”

“Who’s your captain?”

“YOU, RINOA HEARTILLY!”

“Who’s going to lead us to victory?”

“YOU!”

“And what’s our goal now?”

“VICTORY!!!!”


Blitzball Stadium, Luca

The atmosphere was intense. The crowds, apart from the Luca Goers fans, were cheering on the Besaid Aurochs. Squall was among the crowd sitting next to Irvine and Quistis. He was waiting for both teams to swim into the sphere and start the game. For some reason, he seemed very anxious.


Luca Square, Luca

A pair of yellow eyes looked up at the screens that were being displayed all around the city. This mysterious woman walked up the stairs into the main lobby. People were staring at her in awe, as she made her way to the blitzball stadium.

“Where are you?” she whispered in a most strange voice.


Blitzball Stadium, Luca

“This is it!” said the first commentator. “We are finally through to the finals, folks! Who would have ever thought that the almighty Luca Goers would be facing the losers-turned-superstar Besaid Aurochs? It’s the match of the century! And boy, does my gut tell me that something UNEXPECTED may happen here.” There was a slight pause for a moment or two.

Grand Maester Mika sat down on his throne and Maester Seymour sat down beside him. He was gazing at the sphere as if he was expecting something to happen.

“Most peculiar things happen,” he whispered.

“What do you say, Maester Seymour?” asked Mika.

“I hear from the crowd that Zell Dincht cannot play in the game,” said Seymour, turning his attention to Mika and bowing his head. “But then there is another who is replacing him. Her name is Rinoa Heartilly.”

“Rinoa Heartilly … ah yes,” nodded Mika. “You speak of the woman whom you met yesterday? Is she the one that was with Lord Squall and his guardians?”

“Yes, Grand Maester,” smiled Seymour pleasantly. “It will be most interesting to watch this.” And so, his thoughts began to consume his mind. Perhaps she might be of some use to Spira after all. I hear many great things about her since her arrival. Claiming to be from Galbadia and a great fighter who fought alongside SeeD, hmm? This is most peculiar.

Suddenly, the two teams had dived into the sphere pool. The crowd were cheering wildly, as the second commentator spoke. “Well, folks! The game of the century, isn’t it? It’s exciting, isn’t it?” he said. “And I’d like to mention that this is the most well sold out game of the entire history of Spira! All seats have been filled up by many people around the world and all for a chance to witness the game that will definitely be going down in history.”

Rinoa smiled and felt the warmth of the sphere pool, but thought to herself when she heard the second commentator speak. Going down in history? It will be just as good as when Squall defeats Sin with the Final Aeon! She then turned her attention to the Luca Goers. Let’s just show them what we’re really made of. I hear the referees are corrupt here and support the Goers. Well, that might just change.

The Aurochs followed Rinoa to the centre of the sphere pool just as the Goers followed Bickson to the centre as well. Bickson extended his hand and Rinoa was about to take it when he looked like he was going to smack. She ducked just in time and put her leg to his head. He stopped right away. The Besaid Aurochs was laughing amongst themselves.

“We’ll see who’s laughing by the end of the game!” snarled Bickson, as everyone went to take his or her positions.

The ball spun around at the bottom of the sphere pool and then was flung up to the centre. Letty managed to catch it just in time and swam in the direction of the goal, yet Bickson and two defenders were on their way to attack him. He threw the ball towards Datto, who caught it easily. However, there was another defender on his way. It was Bickson.

“You piece of dirt!” yelled Bickson, kicking him in the stomach and trying to steal the ball.

Unfortunately, Datto was strong enough to withstand that attack. He then passed the ball back to Letty.

“Letty, go ahead with Rinoa to the goal!” he called to him. “I’ll defend with Botta and Jassu!”

Letty nodded and gave him the thumbs up and then he turned to Rinoa. “It’s you and me, captain!” he said, nodding towards her.

Rinoa nodded back. She swam with Letty towards the goal. Unfortunately, there were four people defending on the goal!

“I got your back!” said Letty, as he let himself nearly get knocked out by two of the four defenders. He went flying back, but managed to gain control and swam back up to the right level.

“What are you going to do now?” laughed a pretty female defender.

“Ha! Just watch and learn, girls!” smiled Rinoa, as she decided to perform the Fury Shot, the very shot she had performed on the S.S. Winno.

She kicked the ball at one defender and she went down, knocked out. She kicked it again at the last remaining defender and she also blacked out. Rinoa let it go spinning into the air. She spun around herself and then kicked the ball bang right into the net. It was now one nil to the Besaid Aurochs!

“And the crowd is going wild!” yelled the first commentator. “The Aurochs lead one nil to the Goers!”

As the game progressed on, the yellow-eyed woman crossed her arms and just watched at the top of the stairs in the stadium. “How interesting,” she said. “The Besaid Aurochs actually managed to get to the finals. But this might get ugly …”

“And it’s halftime!” announced the commentator. “There’s so much excitement going on and we’ll be back in another half hour for the rest of the game!”


Besaid Aurochs Locker Room, Luca

Rinoa was wiping her forehead and the rest of her face with a white towel when Zell burst into the room smiling.

“Hey, guys!” he said. “Great start to the game, I’ve never seen you guys play this well before! Everyone’s counting on you to get the game in the bag. But most importantly, I am. I’m counting on you guys and you as well, Rinoa. It’s all started with you why we’re here now. Thanks for being here for us.”

“No problem,” shrugged Rinoa. Like I had a choice to stop myself dying or not …

“So you got sometime to rest, eh?” asked Zell and sat next to Rinoa. “Good, good.”

“Is something on your mind?” said Rinoa.

“Yeah,” he said. “The last time we brought the Cup home, I was just a kid then.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“The day we won the Cup, Sin attacked Besaid, you know? I don’t want that to happen. I’ve experienced too much pain in my life and winning the Cup will boost me up. It’ll also boost the rest of Besaid up. I don’t want Sin to destroy Besaid anymore. We only just recovered a few years ago, you know? I’ve lost count on how many times Sin has attacked Besaid, but I want the people there to be safe.”

“I understand how you feel,” nodded Rinoa. “Believe me, I’ve been there.” And so, she thought to herself. I wanted everyone in Timber to be safe from the Galbadian army, so that’s why I got SeeD to help us liberate the town. I might have failed there, but I’m not going to fail in this! She then turned to Zell. “Nothing’s going to happen, I promise you that!”

“How can you promise something like that?” asked Zell.

“When I was in Timber working with the resistance group Timber Owls that I led, I promised to liberate that small town,” she said. “You might not believe in my world, but the hell who cares! I promised to stop the Galbadian forces terrorising the people of Timber. I failed in a way since I asked for help. But I partly didn’t fail because I just know that we’re still fighting. We’ll never stop fight. And that’s why I’m going to carry on fighting in this world. It’s just a different purpose … to help you do something for your home. You deserve it, Zell. Anyway …” She laughed. “… I’ve seen jerks, but not as bigheaded jerks as Bickson.”

Zell giggled to himself. “Yeah, I guess Bickson has no real ambitions, I guess,” he shrugged. “Ok, just a few more minutes now. I’ll be cheering you on from in here. Squall and the others are still in the stadium resting from all the cheering that they’ve been doing.”

“Has Quistis been cheering? And what about Irvine?” asked Rinoa.

“Quistis is in a really bad mood since her run-in with those Ronso friends of hers,” assumed Zell. “And Irvine’s actually been cheering for once. You don’t get much out of him, but when he starts going –”

“Believe me, I DO know!” laughed Rinoa.


Blitzball Stadium, Luca

The game had resumed, but Seymour was eyeing Rinoa closely when she had been attempting to shoot in the goal again repeatedly. As well as fighting off Sinspawn with Lord Squall and his guardians, I see she has taken an interest into blitzball as well. I love the smell of a new fresh face in Spira. Rinoa Heartilly is certainly not of this world … she knows of a world without Sin! How is it even possible?

“It’s no damn use!” yelled Rinoa.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jassu.

“The defence is too strong,” sighed Rinoa. “I can’t get through and if I don’t think of something quick, then we’re as good as toast.”

“Don’t panic,” said Letty. “We need a plan and maybe you could help us, Jassu. You’ve got endurance and good attack, right? Rinoa, pass the ball to him.”

“If you say … so!” shouted Rinoa, launching it at him.

Jassu flipped over and caught it. He swam forward with Rinoa and Letty keeping on swimming towards the goal without the Goers even noticing anything going on. They were trying to seize the chance to attack Jassu and steal the ball with little defence to defend Keepa from missing the ball.

However, Jassu was quicker than that. He passed the ball right at Letty, who caught it without any problem. He also flipped over and the Goers were too far now to even pursue Rinoa and Letty.

“Let’s do this!” said Letty. “Get ahead and then score!”

Rinoa kept on swimming and Letty just floated there in the water. He was trying to trick the Goers into coming back for the ball. So far, it was working. He then threw the ball at Rinoa as hard as he could. Rinoa jumped up and caught it. Now she had her eyes on the goal.

“You’re mine!” she said, and then shot the ball.

The keeper just barely missed it by an inch or more. The ball went right through the goal and it was two nil to the Aurochs. Everyone was cheering so much! Now even the Goers were losing support in their own turf. They were angry with this. They were even angrier at the Aurochs and especially Rinoa.

“That’s it! THE AUROCHS HAVE WON! THEY’VE WON THE GAME!” yelled the commentator.

“We did it!” shouted Rinoa, swimming around the sphere pool cheering. “We won!”

As the Aurochs left the sphere pool to go and celebrate, Rinoa suddenly saw Bickson swimming right at her.

“You’re dead meat when I see you!” he yelled.

Damn, and I didn’t even bring my pinwheel, thought Rinoa.

But then his attack was intervened. Rinoa looked to see that Zell had come into the sphere pool. He had his fist in the way of Bickson and his punch had ended up smacking the metal part of Zell’s black metal knuckle gloves. Zell laughed, as Bickson left the sphere pool clutching his sore hand.

“And he is a bigheaded jerk,” smiled Zell, winking at Rinoa and giving her the thumbs up.

“Told ya so!” giggled Rinoa, but then suddenly, fiends appeared in the water. “WHAT?”

“Don’t worry,” said Zell, giving her pinwheel back to her. “I was gonna let you take a smack at Bickson with this, but I was a little late. I was still healing up pretty much by the time you were about to finish and it took forever to find this thing! I guess we can make some use of our weapons now, huh?”

Rinoa shot her pinwheel at the water fiend and then Zell beat up another. As both burst into pyreflies, they swam on to escape the sphere pool. Somehow, the sphere pool was being infected with more of these fiends. But it wasn’t just the sphere pool that was being infested with these fiends; it was also the stadium.

Squall withdrew his staff, Irvine had his Black Magic ready and Quistis had withdrawn her black whip.

“Guardians! Let’s stay strong together!” said Squall, encouraging them both.

 

[Galoko Izamaku]

Please continue.