Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:01:34 -0700 From: Amethyst Rose Subject: Final Fantasy Rosa Chapter 7 Disclaimer: All rights for the Final Fantasy series goes to Square Enix. This story is a fan fiction in this franchise universe, categorized under fan fiction. This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place. I mean, seriously. Come on. Final Fantasy: Rosa VII A Bad Day White Mages from Calledone's hospital paced back and forth in the Rose Room digging out survivors. Other mechanics began work on reconstructing the Carbunkle Siphon, very carefully working around the Rose still suspended in an orange bubble. General Morta, astute as always, postured himself in front of his Wizards. "...The Rose backfired?" The General inquired. "Yes. I said the incantation word for word but it destroyed the Siphon instead." Winnie said. She puckered her lips and put a hand on her hip. "And you have no idea as to why." "No." Winnie leaned in. She pointed to Void and covered her finger with her palm as though it would prevent him from seeing. "But I think he does." Void rolled his eyes. He beat General Morta to the punch and spoke up on his own. "Master Silver and I had a theory. It was very early on, during the first Kilike expedition." "Go on." "When we scanned the Rose we felt amazing emanations. In fact, they felt like they belonged to a living thing." "Of course it's a living thing. It's a rose." The General was met with a rather sarcastic mugshot. "I meant sentient. A thinking thing. But it was asleep. The first incantation woke it up. What we just saw was the Rose wide awake." "So, Gramps. You're saying that thing's got a mind of its own." "Thank you, Winnie, that's exactly right. Get yourself a cookie on your way out the door." Winnie decided to ignore Void's comment. General Morta cut to the chase. "Then tell me how to put the Rose back under our control." Void shrugged. "We can't. With all factors in mind, sir, I uphold my previous stance on the Rose. Keeping it on the Ruby, much less here in Calledone, could result in disastr-" "Blah, blah, blah." It was Winnie's turn to be rude. She cut in front of Void and looked up at General Morta. "Sir, I'm twice the wizard my replacement was. I'll find what you're looking for." Although she thought the General would find her confidence cute, Winnie was disturbed to find it caused his face to shrivel with scorn. Still, she got the impression he preferred her answer to Void's. "Then get it done." he spat. With that, he turned on his heel and walked out into the hall. Just as Void anticipated, Winnie turned on him as soon as the General stepped out. "You idiot! Why didn't you tell me about the Rose sooner?!" "Well. You're twice the wizard Silver was, I figured you knew already." "You know." Winnie smirked. "I can send you right where your little Silver went any time I want. And I got a whole book full of spells I haven't tried out yet. Watch out," she sang. "You're pushing it, kid." Void growled. "That's what you think." She giggled and then nearly skipped out the door. Void rolled his eyes and followed her out, leaving the destruction behind him. Biggs and Wedge, huddled outside the metal door, saw Void walk past. They exchanged nervous glances. "I told you. I fucking told you," said Wedge. Biggs pouted. "I'm sorry! I didn't know, how could I have known?" "Whatever." Wedge stood up and reslung his rifle behind his back. He walked down the hall past some more harried technicians and slowed so that Biggs could catch up. "You wanna go out while we're docked?" "...Alright." Wedge looked over at Biggs. Biggs averted his eyes in embarrassment. Wedge sighed. "Look. I'm not mad." Biggs gave him a funny look. "Alright, well, maybe I am mad. But I guess it wasn't all completely your fault that we almost died." "Thanks. I think." "That wasn't a concession!" Wedge yelled. "Never mind. Let's just go." Navigating through the panicking crew of the AS Ruby, Biggs and Wedge made it to the docking bay doors and exited the ship. Only one airship could dock at Calledone Palace at a time, considering how Calledone was only recently retrofitted to accommodate Dostravi military forces. The biggest docks still at the Impirium's formal capital, Windhelm. The only problem was that Windhelm was all the way across the continent, and the malfunctioning killer rose was a little bit too much of a problem to wait. The docking bay was a hulking cylinder of metal, built almost crudely on an unused tower of the Palace. Although the building material was certainly shiny and new, the layout didn't look like it- hastily thrown together by engineers at the very last minute. From out the docking doors Biggs and Wedge could see a panorama view of Calledone, which was either spectacular or depressing depending on their outlook on humanity. More technicians dressed in black body suits entered the bay from the multiple tower elevators, heading straight into the Ruby. Biggs, Wedge, and another small group of soldiers gathered into one and took it to the bottom. It seemed that the docking bay tower was purposely sequestered from the rest of Calledone Palace. The rest of the Palace, grand and glorious in its royal design, was only connected to the docking tower by a thin bridge about twenty stories up. Even from far below, the soldiers could see a small contingent of white mages traversing the bridge from the Palace's clinic. Taking a fresh breath of air, Wedge looked for the morning sun. "We gotta get back before twilight. So we better make the most of this." "Yep." And with that, the soldiers made their way down to town. -+-+-+- The day seemed perfect for a journey. Blue sky with a perfect rationing of fluffy clouds, a cool breeze embracing the crystalline sunlight. But after three hours of winding, mostly uphill walking, it got a little old for Tori and Adrienne. Silver seemed to have a surprising amount of stamina, considering the fragility he inadvertently purveyed. Tori liked to blame it on the fact that Silver's staff was a perfect walking stick, but he secretly knew better. However, Trikitixa was the most surprising. Dressed in nothing but sandals, a tight, brown, two-piece dancer's dress, and a long hazel cloth draped around her arms, she seemed to be doing perfectly fine. In fact, Trikitixa was leading with verve and a spry pace that Tori had never seen in any normal person forced to climb a mountain. "Trikitixa..." Adrienne panted at one point, hugging the staggering rock wall to her left. "It's Trixie, pronk!" She couldn't laugh anymore at that ridiculous catchphrase. But from that point on, ÔTrixie' it was. "Uh, Trixie," Adrienne continued. "Aren't you tired? Or, um... I dunno... immobile? In that dress?" Trixie blinked in confusion, then laughed. "Of course not! This is how all Polichinelle dress when we mountain climb!" And with the matter settled in an apparently logical manner, Trixie moseyed on. Adrienne grunted with frustration as she brought herself to move in tandem. The path itself was actually pleasant. Weaving in and out of a particularly tall mountain, it was a convoluted and narrow path. But it was paved with green grass and earthy rocks the whole way, and when it wound around in just the right way, the view was gorgeous. Tori in particular found himself glancing over his shoulder constantly, just to get chance peeks at the city of Quatra from a bird's eye view. Once they got high enough, the wind grew stronger, and Tori could see the very far edge of the Mountain Range- perhaps even the top towers of Calledone's palace. "Tori." Tori turned his attention back to the front. Trixie and Adrienne had already gone far ahead, and it was Silver who was patiently waiting for Tori. "Are you coming?" he asked. In overemphasized frustration Tori glared at him. "Yeah, don't get your panties in a knot." Silver decided to ignore Tori's comment. He waited a little for Tori to catch up and then matched his same pace in front of him. Tori gave a heavy sigh before breaking the silence. "Hey." "Yes?" "What happened to Mysidia?" Tori didn't realize what a blunt and uncalled for question that was until it escaped his mouth. Still, Silver seemed reasonable. He didn't bother to meet eyes with Tori, instead gazing over his shoulder at the pristine view while tracing the rock wall with the fingertips of his left hand. "You remember how the Ruby was about to destroy Quatra, don't you?" "Uh, yeah." "They're using an artifact that we found in this mountain range: The Rose." "And that is...?" "We didn't know. Void and I only had hypotheses... but what's important is that it has enough power to destroy an entire city with one blast." That was something worth talking about. "So wait. Basically, you discovered a super-weapon." "None of us knew that's how it would be used. But I suppose you could say we had, at least accidentally." "So what is this thing, anyway? A gun or something?" Silver shot Tori with a unbelieving face. "...Didn't I just tell you? It's a Rose." "But you said it was a weapon." "Yes. And it's a rose." Realizing he wasn't impressing Silver much in the sphere of wit, Tori fumed a little before deciding to redirect the subject. "Well, what does this thing have to do with Mysidia then?" He would end up regretting it. Silver continued, albeit cautiously. "Mysidia was a test. To see if the Rose could be used as a weapon. General Morta told me to do it, but I couldn't, I-" Silver sharply inhaled and made extra effort to avert his face from Tori. Tori raised an eyebrow. "-I couldn't stop it." As soon as he said that, his inflection became clinical and detached. Tori saw the edges of his blue eyes as they now turned to the mountain at their left. "It was all for nothing, really. The lives saved, everything... Void and I were the ones who found that thing. I guess I'm responsible. Ironic." He softly chuckled without a smile, a sarcastic laugh that seemed like a personal attack on himself. Tori bit his lip. Silver had fallen silent. "...You were from Mysidia, huh?" Tori asked. "Yes." A simple response, no convoluted feeling. Tori ran up to Silver and narrowly squeezed to his side, trying to glance at his face. He was surprised to find him amazingly emotionless. He put a gloved hand on Silver's shoulder. "Hey... you okay?" Silver looked over at Tori, who with dexterous balance somehow kept his footing on the narrow ledge next to him. The look of concern Tori had was tantamount. Silver looked away before he could let it affect him. "No." And that was the end of the matter. No heartfelt explanation was needed, only the frankness of his answer. Tori frowned. "That's it?" he thought to himself. Again trying to break the second silence, Tori fumbled to think of something else to blurt out. "Uhh... sorry." What a stupid thing to say. Oh, well Silver was only instrumental in the destruction and complete obliteration of his entire hometown, so "sorry" should be fine. Stupid! Still, Silver mask his own reaction with an awkward sideways glance and a polite comment anyway. "Thank you." Now throughly embarrassed, Tori let Silver pass him up. With enough speed they both caught up to Trixie and Adrienne, who seemed engrossed in their own conversation. "What's that scarf around your arms, Trixie?" Adrienne asked. "Hm? Oh, this! It's a pronk, dear." "..." Adrienne wrinkled her brow. "...What?" "A pronk." You said Ôpronk' was a term of affection." Trixie gave a dumb smile. "It is. It is also a traditional Polichinelle cloth. Surely you heard the difference in inflection, pronk." She slowly shook her head. "There wasn't any inflection. You said it exactly the same way both times, I don't know what you're-" Suddenly, Trixie stopped, raising a hand to signal the others. Adrienne, Tori, and Silver ceased in their tracks as well. The mountain path branched into a small plateau before turning directly into the mountain itself. The grassy way turned rocky as it entered the cave, and inside a winding stone path stood out among towering stalagmites and stalactites. Rays of sunlight filtered in somehow, saving the cave from being completely pitch black, but the path otherwise seemed safe. However, an unknown someone blocked their way; he was tall and wide in stature and he was shirtless, exposing the muscular, sculpted upper body of a warrior. In fact, what clothes he did have on only entailed a full metal helmet that obscured his face and the cotton slacks that came standard under most armor. His skin was tawny and browned from the sun, his arms dotted with vague scars. But he was weaponless, only standing in the path with his bare hands. Adrienne pulled Tori next to her. "Hey, HE'S cute..." she mumbled. "Kinda scary, if you ask me." Tori replied. "You can't even see his face, how would you know?" "Tori, you don't even know girls... that just makes him hotter." Trixie took a careful step forward. "If you'd please excuse us, we would enjoy passing you on this lovely mountain path!" she yelled with a friendly tone. Said from any other mouth, her statement would have seemed sarcastic or at least ridiculous. Still, there was no response from the man. Silver pushed past Adrienne and put a hand on Trixie's arm. She looked at him intently. No word was spoken, but the caution he exposed in his eyes was enough for her to acknowledge. "Where is he?" The man's voice boomed and bounced off the walls of the cave, strong and deep. "Oh!" Trixie yelped. "Ah, where is whom?" "Enough." What could he have meant by that? No one had the time to contemplate on the matter further, for their thoughts were cut off by the sound of the man clapping his hands. An enormous bolt of white energy suddenly flew out of his palms, threatening to topple Trixie and Silver. Adrienne shrieked in panic. Tori reflexively reached for Silver, but the movement was redundant; Trixie, with unreal speed, suddenly took her cloth in one hand and spun in a quick pirouette. The cloth seemed to magically elongate and engulf the four of them as Trixie twirled twice or thrice, and when her cloth returned to her hands again they found themselves safely on the rock path behind their attacker. "What the-" "Green Magic warp spells." Adrienne answered Tori's question before he even finished it. She tried to get Trixie's attention quite inappropriately. "Hey, I know some Space warp spells!" Trixie duly ignored her. Taking advantage of their narrow escape, now resolute Trixie again took her cloth and thrust it at the cave ceiling. It stretched like a serpent and wound itself around a particularly large stalactite. Trixie grunted and pulled the end of the cloth coiled around her wrist. With a furious shout she wrenched the cloth toward herself, and the stalactite's foundations crumbled to the ground. The entire stone pillar fell from the ceiling, heading straight for the mysterious man. Silver put his staff in front of him. "Precious light, be our armor to protect us. Protect." Before they could blink an eye, pure shining luminescence embraced the four of them in a safety net of light. The stalactite hit its mark. From the sheer force of the impact, a flurry of rocks and dust flew at them, but did no harm because of Silver's spell. Adrienne and Tori laughed from the overkill, even going so far as to high-five. Then the dust began to settle. The smiles were wiped from their faces; the man was still standing. And with superhuman strength, he proceeded to throw a boulder that had broken off the stalactite straight at them. Trixie, perhaps reflexively, twirled yet again, this time taking Tori with her. They warped out of harm's way to the position they had started out at. Silver and Adrienne, however, were not so lucky. Reflexively covering their faces, they were scattered as the boulder plowed straight through them. Silver's Protect, a robust shield, prevented it from crushing them utterly. But Adrienne was knocked painfully on her back, and Silver was thrown straight off the edge. He barely caught the ledge with his fingertips, on the brink of falling into the mountain's depths. "No!" Tori screamed, spotting Silver in danger. He ran at full speed down the path, despite the fact that the mysterious man was about ready to target him next. But before their helmeted foe could make a move, Trixie stopped him. She grabbed her cloth in both her hands. She forcefully stomped her right foot on the ground in front of her, followed by a quick turn and several quick steps following. With a strong spin she snapped her fingers and thrust her palm out. "Wiznaibus!" Trixie yelled. She stepped again, her sandaled feet merciless on the ground. Each step of her dance pounded him with flurries of magical force, bursts of iridescent energy exploding at his chest whenever Trixie willed it, offset by a stomp, snap or clap. Tori raised two fingers in front of his face as he ran. "Restore lost time in the spiral line. Quick!" His motion increased exponentially, his ability of velocity magnified. Tori whizzed past the opponent distracted by Trixie's dance, and went straight to Silver. He kneeled down and grabbed Silver's wrists. "Hang on!" Unused to major physical exertion, Silver merely winced and grunted as he attempted to pull himself up. Tori mustered his own strength and used the position of his legs as leverage. With an uproarious struggle, Tori pulled Silver up by his wrists. However, their locations inevitably led to Silver being pulled directly on top of Tori's body, both of them heaving from the effort. Of course, neither was in the right mood to realize what was happening. Or at least, Silver wasn't. Tori, perhaps in his Quickened state of mind, took the whole thing in quite slowly. Silver thanked him with his eyes; kind blue, grateful ones that lasted longer than a second. He felt warm, thank goodness. He felt very small. Tori took the chance to embrace him just a little bit, under the pretense of dragging him to safety. He put a hand on Silver's back and pulled him in just a little... "Trikitixa!" Silver's scream and averted face forced Tori back into the battle. The helmet man was stepping through Trixie's storm, crossing his arms in front of his chest and trudging ever closer to her. Trixie, realizing his growing immunity, increased the ferocity of her dance, but to no avail. Adrienne regained her senses and stood up. She twirled her rod in front of her. "Strip away the ground with glistening blades! Thunder!" Pink shards of lightning fell from the ceiling, falling on the helmet man like candy glass. He jumped a little from the shock and then turned around, infuriated. Silver and Tori, still kneeling and obviously harried, looked to Adrienne. Adrienne, with an awkward smile, waved hello. The distraction was all Trixie needed to go back on the offensive. She threw her cloth as if it were a chain, and with a mind of its own it grappled onto the helmet man's left wrist. Trixie tightened it and tugged with all her might. Simultaneously, Adrienne sprouted her whip of pink electricity from her rod. She spun it above her head before swinging it at the helmet man. With a sharp crackling noise it took hold of his right wrist, burning into his arm. Adrienne pulled the whip like a fishing rod. Their now helpless opponent was hung between Trixie's cloth and Adrienne's whip, at the mercy of both their weapons. Silver shot a glance at Tori. "Do something!" he said to him. Tori, not sure exactly what he meant, did what he was told anyway. He reached into his belt and procured a nasty looking dagger, then swiftly cast it at the enemy. With a noticeable fleshy noise that made Tori flinch, it embedded itself in the man's back. The noise that the man made could be described as nothing less than a roar. All four of them wavered in fear. With a renewed burst of strength, he first wrenched his right wrist in the air. Adrienne's lightning whip blinked and burst, then dissipated completely. She yelped a little as the residual momentum from her tug caused her to stumble. Trixie foresaw what would happen next too late. Mustering power, the helmet man yanked Trixie towards him. She screamed as she flew through the air, taking her cloth with her. Tori, Silver, and Adrienne couldn't move in time. Trixie plowed through the three of them and plunged them straight out the other end of the cave and off the ledge of the mountain itself. Wind rushed past their ears, gravity pulled them to the earth miles below, their screams blended into each other. Silver, however, somehow kept his head. He grabbed Adrienne, who gave him a frantic look. "Adrienne! Space magic!" Adrienne understood. She grabbed Tori and Silver, who then grabbed Trixie. Adrienne screamed at the top of her lungs. "Gods of cosmos, rend space with swiftness! Warp!" -+-+-+- "Okay, so like, I'm kinda buzzed," Wedge announced. He hiccuped and gave a humongous grin to Biggs. Biggs shifted his eyes. "You should stop drinking. You scare me when you drink." "Oh, shut up! Like YOU'RE really smart, huh?" he yelled in response. Biggs tuned Wedge out a little as he proceeded to rant on a diatribe about his stupidity. It was the afternoon now, still too early to get drunk on Biggs' watch but apparently early enough on Wedge's. A majority of the people on Calledone's streets met them and their uniforms with angry stares, certainly a bit disconcerting. Biggs didn't know what to think anymore. He really did assume joining the Dostravi Royal Guard was the right thing to do. He was looking forward to admiration, respect; but the way things were going it was hard to have any pride in his job. His own mother refused to talk to him. But why? He was, after all, protecting Calledone, its people, and the entire Impirium. Right? "And MOST of all, your face! It's stupid!" "Wedge..." Biggs mumbled, embarrassed from the attention he was gathering. "Would you please stop?" Suddenly, a man in black with short brown hair bumped into both of them. He turned around and smiled. "Sorry." Wedge just giggled. "It's alright." Biggs said. They went on their way. But Biggs felt different somehow. He padded his pants: his wallet was missing. In panic, he turned to Wedge, as if he could help. "That guy pickpocketed us!" he exclaimed. Inebriated Wedge simply hiccuped again in response. The back of the thief's head still in sight, Biggs grabbed Wedge by the arm and took chase. He was surprisingly easy to catch up to. Or at least, Biggs thought he was. "Hey, stop!" he yelled as he seized the thief by the shoulder. Only to turn him around and find a sixty year old man with the hair he was chasing. Biggs cleared his throat. "Err...sorry, sir." "Eh? Wha's that?" "Sorry! Sir!" "Oh, no problem at all," the elderly man said. Biggs stomped his foot in frustration. "Shit..." he murmured under his breath. Taking Wedge he plunged back into the crowd headed in the opposite direction. As soon as the soldiers were gone far enough, Seb reached into his pocket, took out a remedy and drank it. The aging tonic he took wore off and he was back to normal. With a tick of his neck Seb continued on, whistling a satisfied tune. He emptied out one wallet. Ten gil. Seb sighed. Didn't they pay soldiers anymore? Throwing the empty bag behind him Seb took the other one in hand. This had a bit more in it. Besides sparse amount of gil and a good load of bottle caps, Seb found several pictures. One was a woman: pretty, young, sophisticated. Seb put it back in the wallet. The other was a class photo from Altamine Academy. Seb made out the face of one of the soldiers he had just robbed- the drunk one. However, several rows back, he saw someone he definitely recognized. Tobin! A young Tobin, with recognizable blonde hair and robes of a White Mage adept. Seb raised an eyebrow in curiosity. This was new. So-called Quatran refugee Tobin was an Altamine-trained White Mage? Squinting his eyes in the crowd with almost superhuman vision, Seb picked out the two soldiers still bumbling through the crowd. He briefly crouched down. "Meek light, be my graceful guide... Invis." Feeling the cold tingling all over his skin, Seb prepared to stalk. -+-+-+- "Could I have some of your... uh, Insta-Sobriety?" Biggs asked cautiously. The shopkeeper gave a wary look to Wedge, who was dozing off in the back of the store. She went to a wall in back of the counter and picked out a small green bottle with the words "Insta-Sobriety!" emblazoned on the label. She nearly slammed it on the counter. "That's 25 gil." Biggs clenched his teeth. "Uh, yeah... here's the thing. My friend and I kind of got robbed earlier-" "You got Ôkind of robbed?'" the shopkeeper asked, quite deadpan. "Right. Yeah. We got robbed. Anyway, so, I was wondering if there was some sort of... I dunno, I-O-U system we could use, or... uh, maybe we could work to pay it off, cos my friend really needs it, so I really need it, and it would really help if we could have it." The shopkeeper continued her monotonous gaze. Biggs, uncomfortable, topped his case off with a smile, as if it would help. Suddenly, Wedge upstarted with a harrowing shout. "Chocobos! Chocobos everywhere!" He drew his knife from his boot and swung it left and right like a sword. The shopkeeper widened her eyes in fear and put her hands up. Biggs gasped and tried to calm Wedge down while simultaneously addressing the shopkeeper. "Oh, no! No, no, he's not trying to- see, he sleeptalks, and he does this all the time cos a chocobo bit him once when he was little and-" "Just take it! Take it!" The shopkeeper yelled, pushing the Insta-Sobriety towards Biggs. "Huh? No, no, I'm really sorry, he just-" "Giant chicken bastards! Graarraaahhh!!!" In panic, the shopkeeper took the bottle and threw it at Biggs. Biggs managed to catch it without breaking it, and the shopkeeper went towards the back door behind the counter. Before exiting, she glared at the two. "You people should be ashamed!" With that, she was gone. Biggs frowned. Wedge finally quit his tantrum and fell into Biggs' arms. "Thanks. That was great." Biggs said sarcastically. Now he felt really bad. Dragging Wedge back into the streets, he did his best to wedge the bottle of tonic into his mouth and pour it down his throat. Wedge almost instantly woke up. Although he was still noticeably woozy, he could now stand on his own. "Wh-wha happened?" he slurred. Biggs crossed his arms and pouted. Wedge grinned. "You... you look like a fish." Evidently the tonic wasn't so instant as Biggs had hoped. Biggs took Wedge by the arm again and headed down the street. "Come on, let's go back." As the journey back to Calledone Palace progressed, Wedge also grew increasingly more sober. With each step his aloof drunkenness became replaced with his more characteristic cynicism until his entire personality became intact again. Biggs could tell it was back by the time they got to the lift. "Can you believe the shithole the Dostravi have turned Calledone into?" Wedge asked. And that was a good indicator. "Nope." "Hey, what happened to my wallet? Shit! We got pick-pocketed, didn't we?" "Yeah." "Fuck!" Wedge clenched his fists. "My bottlecaps were in there!" The two came out of the lift, flashed their IDs to a guard, and stepped onto the Ruby. They decided to pass by the Rose Room, which much to their surprise, was already repaired. A batch of new technicians was already inside, managing the containment field for the Rose. The door was open and there was no guard contingent, so they decided to step in. In the corner of the room, behind one of the manned control stations they heard voices: Void and Winnie Sharp. Wedge nudged Biggs. "Hey. Let's hear what they're saying." "No, let's just go, I'm tired." Wedge threw his hands up in frustration. "Well I'm terribly sober now, thanks to you, so I don't have much to do. You go and I'll stay here." "Sure." Biggs certainly had enough for the day, and he took pleasure in heading out the door towards the living quarters. As soon as he was sure he was unnoticed, Wedge discreetly edged his way to Winnie and Void, pretending that he was on guard duty. Although the technician at the nearest control station gave him a funny look, eventually he was within earshot. "'Theory,' huh? You think I'm stupid or something, gramps?" "I don't know what-" "Shut up. I could get my assistant nurse, Betty, who might as well have the IQ of a cricket, to cast Libra on that thing. You didn't think I could?" Void turned away in concession. Winnie pursed her lips. "Tell me where it is." Realizing his cover was blown, whatever cover that was, Void spoke more quietly. "We couldn't find it." "Excuse me?" Winnie slowly grabbed her staff with two hands. "...You might wanna think a little harder about that." "Don't be ridiculous. You obviously don't realize it, but the body can take the guise of anything. It could just as much be a human as it could a sparrow or a blade of grass." Wedge furrowed his brow in confusion. Surely they were referring to the Rose, but in what way, Wedge didn't know. Winnie gave a piercing gaze at Void. Void didn't flinch. "Believe you me, this isn't over," said Winnie. "You're hiding something else, old man. I'm gonna find it." She ticked her head, smiled, and walked away. As she walked past Wedge quickly covered his face. Once she was gone, he looked at Void. He was rather motionless, standing contemplatively still in the corner. Void looked at the Rose rather thoughtfully before readjusting his hat and continuing to monitor the technicians. -+-+-+- What a horrible day, Biggs thought to himself as he strode down the halls alone. That was definitely the last time he went to a bar with Wedge, at least. Maybe some sleep would help. He opened up the door to the dormitories. He quickly found his bunk and sat down on his bed, rubbing his face in his palms. No one else was around, evidently. "Hey." Biggs nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Suddenly, next to him on his bed, was the thief. "What the fuck?!" Biggs yelled. Seb leaned forward and shushed Biggs with his hand. "Sh!" Biggs glared at him. Seb took out the photo in his back pocket. "Sorry about robbing you earlier. Look, I just wanna ask you some questions." He flashed the class photo to Biggs, then pointed at Tobin. "Do you know who this is?" Biggs rolled his eyes. Just when this day couldn't get any worse... -+-+-+- Pink electricity crackled and fizzed in the field below. Adrienne fell first, then Trixie. Silver fell next to her, and Tori on top of him. Trixie was the first one to her feet. She jumped and grinned enormously. "You never told me you knew warp spells too!" "No. I did." Adrienne said, abysmally disappointed. "You just weren't listening." An abnormal amount of tension floated between Adrienne and Trixie. It then flew between them and Silver and Tori, who were almost glued to each other. Tori very noticeably cleared his throat and jumped off of Silver, then offered a hand to him. Silver opted not to take it, getting up himself. "Erhm. So where are we, anyway?" Tori asked, eager to change the subject. "We're in the Meadowlands." Silver replied, just as eager to continue along the said changed subject. "Nice warping, Adrienne." "Yeah... thanks," said confused Adrienne. "I guess this means we scaled the mountain. But would someone please tell me who was up there?" Trixie shrugged. Silver opened his mouth to say something, however decided not to at the last second. Everyone noticed though, and looked to him accordingly. Silver frowned. "I'm sorry. I don't know. But remember the question he asked us? I think that's a clue." "Right." Adrienne pondered for a second. "Maybe he looking for a family member? Or a friend?" "Perhaps." "Or a lover? Ooooh, that's sexy." Tori gave Adrienne a funny look. "The guy said Ôhe.'" "Exactly!" "Whoever he was-" Silver started, interrupting the conversation. "-or who he was looking for, the point is that we're back on track. We should continue posthaste." The four of them took a moment to scan over the vast Meadowland. Although it was certainly beautiful- long golden green grass making waves of sunlit color in the hills -it was also amazingly homogenous in every direction. Although the Kilike Mountain Range was behind them, that was perhaps the only land marker they had to go by. Tori looked at Trixie. "Hey, Trixie. You know where we're going?" "Me? Of course not!" She declared, then laughed, as if it were a ridiculous notion for her to continue being a guide. "I haven't adventured out of Quatra for a decade! Adventure!" Trixie squealed, making the rest of her companions very uncomfortable. "Although Quatra is certainly lovely, I do not enjoy life making in a statue-town." Tori and Adrienne scratched their heads. Evidently Trixie's grammar was not yet completely perfected. It appeared time for Silver to yet again phase into a navigation mode. This time he pointed straight ahead. "It looks like we warped to the East side of the mountains. That means all we have to do is go straight into Lumiere Woods." "Ahh. I see." Trixie realized Silver's intended destination, even though Tori and Adrienne were still partially in the dark. "Great. So we're almost there. Right?" Tori asked. Silver thought about it. "Yes." Adrienne sighed. "Sounds good. No offense, Silver. This journey's been fun, but it's also been a big, confusing load of crap." "I understand." Silver said. "When we reach our destination, I'll do my best to give you two amnesty." He gave Adrienne and then Tori a lingering look before continuing forward with Trixie. Adrienne brushed dirt off of her skirt and walked with Tori. "This is all your fault, by the way." "Huh?" "'Huh?' Putting us on the Impirium's death list, I mean. Whatever. It'll be over soon anyway, I hope." Confused by Tori's silence, Adrienne glanced at him and nudged him in the chest with her elbow. "What's up with you?" "N-nothing." It was obvious Tori was lying. He blushed. "I just... I dunno." He stopped himself from mentioning how he'd miss Silver. However, he did let his gaze wander to Silver walking ahead of them. Adrienne saw Tori's eyes. Or at least, she thought she did, assuming they lay on Trixie. She giggled. "Oooh. I see." "What? What are you talking about?" "Ha! Believe me, you are way out of your league." Tori almost choked on his words. "Wh-hey-huh?! It's not like that!" He continued to hastily glance from Silver to Adrienne, making sure he wasn't listening in. "It's platonic!" he whispered. "Psh. I see the looks you give each other. Talk about Ôcome hither.'" Was Silver really looking at him like that? Tori vehemently shook his head. "You're lying." "No, I'm not! But besides, you're looking for everything you're not. Pretty, classy, a little kooky, but nice. Believe me, you don't have a chance." Tori wouldn't call Silver "kooky," but he agreed with the rest. Tori sighed. "It's not true," he upheld. "Hey, it's not your fault. If I were a guy, I'd probably flirt with Trixie too." Silence. Tori put two and two together. He wagged his finger at Adrienne. "...You were talking about Trixie." Adrienne raised an eyebrow. "Of course I was. Who else would I be talking about, Silver?" She shook her head and laughed. "You know what, it's ok. If you like that Trikitixa woman, I won't get in the way. Just don't need to be so immature about it." With that, she increased her pace and trudged through the grass to Silver's side. And so it was Tori was left in the dust. "What the shit was that all about," Tori thought to himself. Adrienne seemed to be a little defensive when talking about Trixie. If Tori didn't know any better, he would say he detected a hint of jealousy in her last epilogue. But then, why did he himself deny so throughly that Silver meant a lot to him? Well, only because he really didn't care about him anyway... right? Tori rolled his eyes into the back of his head. He held his arm out and let the endless sea of grass tickle his fingertips. The sun and wind kissed his face with pleasant tenderness. Ahead of him, Adrienne and Trixie engaged in heated conversation, with Silver in between. For just the briefest moment, Silver craned his head back to look at Tori. Time stood still for one second. Tori and Silver locked eyes. The sunlight filtered in Silver's, making them sparkle... What was he thinking? -+-+-+- To be continued... "Fun" fact for fans!: Anyone know about a mangaka named Kazusa Takashima? Well I'm a really big fan of her stuff for some reason, in fact, a lot of her stuff influences my plots, characters, etc. So if you're ever interested in a good read, look up scanlations by Kazusa Takashima. BUT, don't read Last Client! Don't do it! Graararajkrhkadfkjip! What happened was Kazusa Takashima stopped writing after someone plaigerized her work, so Last Client? Never got finished! jaifjapoijfekwjfdkafjnkjckjhpa!!!!! I'm sorry, I got too into it. *sigh* calm, calming down. Hey all, Aww, I feel kind of sorry for Biggs. He's not the smartest bulb, but he just wants to be nice. Sorry for the long wait, but... hopefully, that should all be over now, thanks to the instatement of... a fixed schedule! w00t! I'll probably send an email out to all FFR readers about the details about that later, however, I may not have internet access next week, which is a problem :/. Eh, it'll happen sometime. There'll be more stories (oh god!), but I swear, it won't impede on the releases of any other ones! Really! :D Thanks for reading this far ^^. Questions? Comments? Recommendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail, maybe? Wanna just chat? Email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to hear from you! If you like FF Rosa, maybe there's the very vague possibility you'll like other stories I've submitted: Charmed Reborn (Celebrity), Pokemon: Amethyst (Celebrity), Teth (Fantasy), Diana Celes (High School), and Hallow (Sci-Fi/Fantasy).