Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 17:33:52 -0800 From: Amethyst Rose Subject: Final Fantasy Rosa Chapter 8 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 VIII Discoveries It was said the Meadowland was once an extension of Lumiere Woods in the East. Stories diverged when they tried to explain what happened. Some say a meteor crashed down from the heavens and wiped out a large grove of the trees, and similar natural disaster theories named fires or quakes as the culprit. Few knew the true story, because few knew that the powerful had changed history just to hide it. The Dostravi, of course, were not the only ones that delighted in changing history books. The Vindalan Empire that once made its capital in Calledone had its fair share of corruption as well. Much of it unfortunately stemmed from innovation; to be more specific, the discovery of Magic Founts, inexhaustible bastions in the earth that when harnessed, provided energy for marvelous things- electricity, power, the animation of machines. Soon control of the Magic Founts was wrenched from the mages that discovered them into the hands of the Church of Colombine, and Magic Fount distribution came entirely at their fancy. The Church of Colombine got carried away with their newfound power. Magical research reached an all-time high, as many white mages becoming researchers as they did clerics. So when the population of the Vindalan Empire boomed and food became more and more scarce, why not try harnessing magic for agriculture? The details are truly lost to the shadows of historical amnesia. However, there were a number of disappearances among the Colombine Scholars, and the reasons why were never catalogued. -+-+-+- Moonlight, soft and gentle from a crescent waning moon, bathed the empty Meadowland and transformed it into a land of white and dark blue. Inexplicably, with a sudden seizure of fear, Tori started from his sleep, his entire body shining with perspiration and his chest heaving. He looked around. Trixie was asleep, as was Adrienne. He gave Adrienne a chance glance and smiled: she always slept with her mouth open. And at her feet lay Silver. He had his head rested on his folded hands, his sleek golden hair barely falling in his serene face. Tori shook his head, repeating to himself, "He is not pretty. He is not pretty." Shivering from the sweat and eager to walk it off, Tori stood up, turning his back to the rest of the party. A tender wind made the tall grass ripple like an indigo ocean. It rustled with a sylphidine breath that caused Tori's ears to perk up. He'd never imagined he'd see things like this in his lifetime... that he'd even adventure past Calledone, through caves and mountains and mazes of grass. It was beautiful. "What's wrong?" The whisper caught Tori's attention. He spun around, his scarf fluttering with his swift motion; Silver, obviously awake in the iridescent night, sat up under his blanket. He met Tori with a wide-eyed stare. "Nothing," Tori replied with another whisper. "Go back to sleep." Silver didn't listen, quietly rising to his feet and joining Tori at his side. "You're sweating." "Yeah, I know. Look, wasn't someone supposed to be keeping watch while we slept?" "Yes. Someone was." Silver gave a chance look to Trixie, who was in fact gently snoring. "But apparently, someone also decided to pack in early." Silver didn't let the subject stray far. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" Tori looked straight ahead, meeting Silver only with averted glances in the corner of his eyes. He crossed his arms, his toned muscles shining in the moonlight. "Nothing 's wrong, alright? It's fine." "..." Silver frowned, gazed at the ground. "Tori." Tori sighed, inadvertently sounding more exasperated than he actually was. "Yeah?" "I'm sorry if I've seemed cold or distant. I just want you to know, I-" Silver swallowed. "-I haven't forgotten that you saved my life. And I want to make it up to you, but everytime I try and talk to you I come off as detached when I don't really mean to, so... I'm sorry. If it seemed like I don't like you." Tori's eyes widened in confusion. Silver continued again. "Because I do. Or rather, I enjoy your company, and I... I'll miss you. When we reach our destination." A bit more silence. Silver swallowed yet again. "Err, and sorry that sounded so awkward." Tori turned his head in his direction. Ignoring his last comment, he simply raised an eyebrow. "...You really like hanging out with me?" "Of course," Silver said, his face conveying surprise that any other answer was plausible. "Why wouldn't I?" "Well... um, I'm not exactly the brightest guy, you know. I don't know a lot. But you do." This made Silver chuckle. Tori grinned. "I'm serious! But, well..." Tori kicked a pebble with a tiny motion. "...I like hanging out too. With you. I mean, err, I also like being with- or, um, hanging with... you." Tori blushed. Silver blushed. Of course, neither knew the other was too. Tori wondered if Silver was as confused as he was. Clearing his throat, he changed the subject. "...Does something seem weird about this place?" "Absolutely," replied Silver. "A lot of the battles of the Windy Offensive took place in the Meadowland. All sorts of spirits haunt the place." He gave Tori a serious gaze. "Do you feel them?" He adamantly shook his head, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. And then, suddenly, they heard it. Tori and Silver turned around in unison; both Adrienne and Trixie abruptly woke from their slumber as well. A cry in the night. Bloodcurdling, full of fear and death. It sent chills into their bones. Adrienne looked up at Tori and Silver. "What the shit was that?" "Th- that was a fucking scream!" exclaimed Tori. "What's going on?" He decided to ask Silver. "How would I know?" A small hint of fear made its way into Silver's voice, but he quickly smothered it. "Either way, it wouldn't do us any good to lose rest over it. I'll stay awake and-" "Um, what? No. I'm not sleeping anymore," Adrienne said, even going so far as to roll up her blanket. "Then perhaps we can enjoy simply a lovely night-walk!" All of them took a moment to try and absorb Trixie's offbeat statement. Silver spoke cautiously. "...Yes. We may be able to make it by sunrise, if we go at a brisk pace." "Shit... we don't even know what's out there..." mumbled Adrienne. "Are you sure we're safe?" "No." "Tch." Tori sucked his teeth, then looked to his left and right. "We'd be safer on the move than sitting." "I guess." "Agreed." "Okey dokey then!" "Trixie, please..." grumbled Tori. Trixie jumped to Tori's side and grabbed his arm. He noticed Adrienne in the corner of his eye subtly tighten her fists. "It will be lovely!" Trixie piped. "Together, in the night-walk." "Alright, that's enough," Silver said sharply. "Let's go." -+-+-+- The brown-haired stranger didn't seem harmful, but Biggs wasn't in any position to argue either way. Seb's face was eager, his voice calming and quiet. He pointed to the picture again. "Just tell me who he is," he repeated. "...With the blonde hair? That's Master Silver. He used to be on this ship." "'Master...'" Seb mumbled to himself. "So this kid. He's a white wizard." "Well, yeah. But how would you know him?" Biggs asked. "No reason." Seb got up to leave. "Thanks." "Whoawhoawhoa, wait a sec! Who are you, anyway?" Seb acted surprised that he asked such a question. "It doesn't really matter. See you." Wedge suddenly barged into the Dormitories. "Biggs, I just heard Master Void and Winnie talking, and-" Then he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Seb. "-Who the fuck are you?" "That's the guy who robbed us," stated Biggs calmly from across the room. For a second, silence. Then Wedge started up. "...You have my bottlecaps!" he screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Seb. "You little bastard!" Seb raised his hands in concession. "Err, well, I mean I might have them..." "Hand em over, bottomfeeder!" "Hey, don't call me bottomfeeder, scum!" Before Wedge could lash out at Seb or Seb could draw a weapon in self-defense, Biggs ran in the way and pushed them apart. "Hey, you guys! Cool it!" The door to the Dormitories burst open again. Automatically and without the need of a chant, Seb vanished and Wedge spun around on his foot. Three more soldiers, involved in their own conversation, brushed by to their beds. Wedge awkwardly looked at Biggs. "Hey, Biggs! What say you we go outside?" He said robotically, fumbling for Seb's arm and grabbing it with a vice. "Uh, sure," Biggs replied. He followed Wedge (and apparently Seb as well) into the outside hall. Still not alone from other soldiers or technicians, Wedge walked with invisible Seb at one side and Biggs at the other. "You can let me go, I'm not twelve," they heard Seb's voice state. "Shut up," Wedge mumbled, making it seem like he was talking to Biggs. "We're going to the cargo bay, and I'm going to throw you off the ship unless you give me back my bottlecaps." "Man, Wedge... That's harsh." Seb tried for a second to struggle against Wedge's grip but failed. He sighed. "If it makes any difference, I can tell you about your missing White Wizard." "You mean Master Silver?" Biggs exclaimed. "You've seen him?" A pause. "...Maybe." Wedge and Biggs stopped. Wedge tightened his grip even harder. "Alright. You got us. Tell us about Silver." "Promise not to kill me?" "Err..." "Wedge!" "Alright, fine, promise." Seb smiled, even though he knew they couldn't see. "Great. Now please, let go. I'm not gonna run." Very reluctantly, Wedge loosened his grip and released him. "Thank you very much. Now, about your white wizard... it seems he's gone and run off with a very good friend of mine." "Is he alright?" Biggs asked. "Right now? Who knows? He was when I last saw him, though. He's good, by the way. Sucked the poison right out of my body. Plus I wouldn't mind sucking something out of HIS body, if you know what I mean, eh?" "Shut up," growled Wedge. "Heh. That white wizard you have right now... what's her name? There're posters of her everywhere-" "Winnie Sharp." "Yeah, her. Anyway, she tried to do a number on him and my friend, but thanks to yours truly they got off scotch free. If you want my best guess, they probably headed for Quatra." "Quatra?!" They both exclaimed. Biggs continued. "Shit... good thing we didn't destroy it when we did." Wedge nodded in agreement. "Who knows when they'll get the Rose back up and running again, though. Biggs, I saw Master Void and Winnie talking Rose Room. They were talking about some kind of 'body,' whatever that means." "Body for what? The Rose?" "Maybe, I dunno. Whatever it is, it's important. And I think that's why we shifted destination. We're going back to the Kilike Mountains." Biggs looked at the wall where Seb was. "Do you know where Master Silver is now?" No response. "Hey? You listening?" Wedge stuck his arm out where Seb once was. Nothing. "Shit! He's gone!" "Oh, shit." "Shit," Wedge repeated again. "We gotta find him. You search that way and then go up, I'll go the other way and go down." Biggs ran with caution, feeling the air as he went. "Gotcha!" Wedge went in the opposite direction. Seb counted ten seconds. Crouching down on the floor, he let down his guard and became visible, laughing to himself. "Idiots!" he sang in his head. Hearing voices from down the hall, he quickly regained his senses and let his auto-Invis conceal him. Who else but a Black Wizard and the illustrious Winnie Sharp came by, entrenched in debate. Seb smiled. "This should be interesting..." -+-+-+- "What are they?" Adrienne whispered to Silver. Trixie was already on guard, but Tori joined Adrienne in confusion. Silver shook his head in disbelief. Three enormous, five petaled flowers shone in the night, their giant white petals undulating in the moonlight. "...Exorays. They usually never wander out of the forest. Go around them and be careful. Whatever you do, avoid their pollen." There was a distinct crackling noise in the grass next to them. All four of them turned their heads in unison. Adrienne grabbed Tori's arm. "Tori, do you see anything?" Tori squinted. He thought he saw something: a pair of green eyes that flickered and then faded away. But just as he was about to wave it off, Silver pushed in front of him. "Tori, Adrienne, be prepared," he ordered. "Why?" asked Adrienne. However, Trixie had already complied, her cloth wound around her wrist. She guarded the left flank and Silver the right, and Tori, with no great pleasure, drew his knife. He tried to address Silver. "Hey, look, there's no need to be-" A high-pitched harpy shriek cut him off: neon green eyes appeared in the dark, and a female shadow materialized in the blink of an eye. Although both Tori and Adrienne yelled in surprise, Silver was prepared enough, grunting as he thrust his staff at her. The shadow blocked it with her claws, and with a powerful swipe she knocked Silver to the ground. Trixie turned to help, but then stopped when another female shadow attacked her as well. Evading with a graceful step, Trixie spun around and continued combat; meanwhile, Adrienne regained her senses, letting her electric whip loose on the shadow in front of her. It wound around the shadow's waist, making her release yet another wail- her eyes grew brighter in intensity until they reached breaking point, and with an Emerald Flash Adrienne was blinded. She yelped, covered her eyes, dropped her rod. It seemed that Tori had vanished; to be more specific, he was Invisible. Under cover of his spell and the darkness, Tori swiftly crept behind the shadow and before it could continue towards Adrienne, he stabbed it in the back. Another terrible scream, and the shadow collapsed to the ground, apparently defeated. On the other side, Trixie did very well evading every one of the shadow's clumsy attacks, but failed to get many strikes in herself. Attempting to restart a Wiznaibus, Trixie stepped and snapped; but before she could get her shot in, the shadow knocked her down with a spinning backhand. "Strip away the ground with glistening blades! Thunder!" Adrienne cast the spell from the ground, and a shower of pink lightning bolts shocked the shadow into submission. Tori, now visible, ran towards the enemy with dagger in hand. Before he could make the final blow, however, something caught his eye. On the shadow's head: a flower? Something on a stalk bloomed and extended, and suddenly it was a tentacle as large as it was powerful. Tori stopped in his tracks. With amazing urgency, Silver got up, sprinted to Tori's side and pushed him to the earth, holding his staff up to his face. "Precious light, be my armor to protect me! Pro-" Before he could finish the spell, the shadowy tentacle hit Silver in the chest. He gave a noticeable exhalation as he was hit, and the impact sent him hurtling backwards. Adrienne screamed in fear, the thing quite big enough to do some damage to her. But suddenly, instead of attacking, it began to wither. Adrienne looked at the source; Trixie had come up behind the shadow, and wrapping her cloth around her hands, she was choking her. Her teeth clenched, her cloth at full strength around the shadow's neck, Trixie looked truly intimidating. The tentacle shrunk to a flower yet again, and finally the shadow fell. In satisfaction, Trixie unwound the cloth, sighed to herself, and smiled. She helped a stunned Adrienne up, as well as Tori. "Are everyone all okey-dokey?" "...Wha? Yeah, yeah..." Adrienne pondered. She stopped. "...Where's Silver?" With sudden panic, Tori remembered what happened. He looked ahead; it was as he feared. Silver's limp body lay by the Exorays. Trixie gasped. "Get him! Get him away!" she yelled. Tori complied, running as fast as he could, but he was too late. A sparkling bronze powder wafted from the exoray petals, and it engulfed Silver entirely. Tori heard Silver scream; increasing his pace and pulling his scarf over his nose and mouth, Tori dove into the pollen storm. It stung his eyes and made them water, but Tori could still see enough to spot Silver, bundled up in a ball and almost convulsing, coughing into his sleeves with raucous pain. Tori quickly scooped Silver up and ran in the other direction as fast as he could; the pollen was already stinging his exposed skin. Adrienne and Trixie ran up to Tori and examined Silver, shivering in his arms. Tori ripped his scarf off his neck, bundled it up and gently wiped off the pollen from Silver's face. Then Trixie did the same to Tori's face and arms with her own cloth; she brushed it from his hair until Adrienne loudly cleared her throat and asked, "Will he be okay?" "He'll be fine, pronk, he only was in the pollen for a minute." "No, I meant Silver!" "Ah." Trixie frowned. "He inhaled many pollens. Our friend needs much help." "Wh-what do you mean?" Tori almost yelled. "You can't just heal him? Some kinda spell or something?" He unconsciously hugged Silver closer to himself as his speech escalated. "That is not green magic operations, unfortunately." "She's right, dammit!" Adrienne found herself screaming with rather misplaced anger. "We need another white mage!" "You require our assistance?" They all turned to see who had spoken. Five masked figures, one in red robes and the others in green, stood at attention, towering like small trees in the calm meadow. Adrienne rolled her eyes, suddenly reminded of how she met the Porrima sisters. The one in red pointed to them. "Do you know who you hold in your arms?" Tori, again, held Silver tighter to his chest and turned away. Trixie came forward. "I am Trikitixa Porrima, High Priestess of the Quatran Order. These two have been lovely escort guides for Silver and I, and he owes them his life." "Ah of course. I recognize your voice, Trikitixa," the man said. "Let's escort these four back to camp." As he spoke, two of the green figures flew to Tori's side and forcefully grabbed Silver away, much against Tori's will. The other two gathered around him and Adrienne, and they found themselves marching in a procession towards the woods. "Where the fuck are you taking us?" Tori asked, a hint pissed. The red cloaked man turned to look at him. "My, my, my... vulgar tongues breed vulgar lungs, and vulgar breath lends vulgar death. We're going someplace safe, my friend. We're going someplace safe." -+-+-+- In a sea of fireflies, in a grove of towering trees like ancient wooden guardians, the darkness glowed yellow in lantern light. Alabast was a secret city, not much of a city as a town, built from camps on the warm earth and interconnected lodges in the canopies in a web of ladders and bridges. But the enchantments surrounding the place were strong, and it would take intimate knowledge to know what spells to cast and where to cast them in order to reveal Alabast's borders. The red cloaked man, of course, knew this, and when he led them to Alabast he seemed to do so with cautious pride; surely proud of his allegiance, but at the same time weary and vigilant for that was the feeling his job required. Silver was rushed to a camp on the ground, and Tori was surprised to see two female white mages, dressed in the traditional snowy robes he remembered Silver once wore, take Silver into the hut on their own. When Tori attempted to follow, the red cloaked man stopped him with a strong grip. "Do be patient. Silver is safe with us." "Uh huh, yeah. I don't care, lemme see- gah!" The red cloaked man grabbed Tori's arm and twisted behind him, not necessarily inflicting pain but certainly immobilizing him. Adrienne, who was much more compliant with her two guards, laughed it off. "I recommend you explore Alabast. There is much to do here, and I trust that you will not stray beyond our borders." "But-" Tori was cut off as the red cloaked man pushed him towards Adrienne. "Trikitixa?" Trixie, who remained unguarded, answered him with a big smile. "Please keep these two under your sights." "Okey-dokey!" And with that, the red cloaked man and the two green cloaked guards disappeared into the hospital hut. Adrienne pouted, then looked to Trixie. "Great. So now you're our prison warden." "Oh, certainly not, pronk. I trust you dearly!" she squealed, dragging both of them into a hug. Tori awkwardly bit his lip while in her embrace, and Adrienne made a frustrated noise. "Uhh, Trixie, where exactly are we?" Tori asked. She let them go. "Alabast. It is a very secret Rebellion place." Realizing that she probably wouldn't get much more specific than that, Tori and Adrienne simply rolled their eyes and dropped the subject. "So... now what?" Adrienne asked. "There is many fun pronk-ing things to do here! Come, follow." Trixie headed for a nearby ladder and began to climb up to the canopy. Adrienne mumbled "did she just say 'pronking?'" to herself and followed her. Tori hesitated, shooting a chance glance at the "clinic" before going up the ladder himself. -+-+-+- "What makes you think it's gonna be where you left it?" Winnie asked Void coldly, not bothering to look at him. Void similarly avoided eye contact. "Nothing. In fact, if there is a body it's most likely moved on. The best thing we can do is look for clues." They rounded a corner and found a rather confused soldier waving his hands in the air around him. "Are you alright there, private?" Void asked. Biggs jumped to attention. "Uhhh... yes, Master Void." "...Carry on then." Void and Winnie swept past him, and Seb himself quietly slipped by as well. As they stepped onto the bustling bridge, their boots began to make heavy noises on the metal floor. Winnie furrowed her brow, turning around. "Did you hear something?" "No." "I could have sworn... that someone was behind us." Seb began to sweat for once, although Winnie eventually accepted that her senses had deceived her. General Morta, who was involved in the stern lecturing of one of the bridge technicians, interrupted himself to greet the two. "I take it you're ready," he said. "Yes sir!" Winnie said, suddenly bubbly. General Morta smirked. Void rolled his eyes. "Very good. We're holding position over the site right now. Take several men with you," the General ordered, dismissing them with the wave of his hand. Three bridge guards volunteered themselves quite quickly. Winnie thrust her staff in front of her. "Swift wind, sweep us away to the heavens! Teleport!" Seb, for the first time in a while, began to wonder if maybe tagging along was a bad idea, but it was too late now. In a swirl of blue wind a burst of white flashing whites, the caravan vanished from the bridge. And in less than a second, they rematerialized on a mountain top, a flat grassy plateau filled with savage breeze. The soldiers had to clasp their helmets. Winnie's golden spun hair fluttered wildly, but somehow Void's hat stayed squarely on his head. Seb, thankfully still invisible, quietly gasped to himself in wonderment, able to see Quatra and the rest of the Kilike Mountains on his left, and the grand Meadowland on his right. Above them, the hulking metal mass that was the AS Ruby, upheld against gravity only by propellors, hovered like a suspended mobile. "What are we looking for?" Winnie yelled over the wind. Void said nothing, taking his oak staff and waving it over the grass. A dark blue glow emanated from it, and after an amount of scanning Void bent over to pick something up. Winnie ran to his side. "Hey, Gramps! Talk to me!" Void's gloved hands fondled a tiny fluffy feather, downy and pure white. He exchanged glances with Winnie just briefly, both unsure as to what this meant. "You!" Winnie, Void, the guards, and Seb turned around. A strong, shirtless man with the body of a warrior and the helmet of a soldier confronted them. "Hey, who do you think you are?" Winnie asked rhetorically, not wondering who he was, much less how he scaled the mountain to find the plateau. She tried to brush the wisps of hair out of her face. "Boys, get him out of here." The three guards raised their rifles and approached the helmet man: only to be surprised when, with superhuman speed strength, the helmet man rushed forward and grabbed a soldier by the collar and threw him off the mountain, kicking and screaming in terror. Seb gasped. Both Winnie and Void suddenly stood up in defense, and the remaining two guards drew back in awful horror. They fired their weapons off, red beams of laser light pelting the helmet man, having a disturbingly negligible effect. The helmet man clapped his hands, and a bolt of white energy hit a guard square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. In another burst of speed the helmet man dealt with the last guard, subduing him with a backhand fist. "Freezing wind, speak of forgotten truths! Blizzaga!" The wind shrieked with Void's spell, and strands of it crystallized in the air, an enormous swarm of blue icicles materializing in a storm of ice and snow. They assaulted the helmet man with rage, and he was forced to block the freezing blades with his own bare hands, somehow remaining mostly unscathed. Void began another spell just as Winnie was finishing hers. "Mindless, spiritless, hear the immutable beat... Paralyze!" A deep throbbing noise began in Winnie's head, connecting to the helmet man's through her smiling eyes. It linked to his mind, beat louder and louder, even through his presumedly impenetrable defenses; he fell to his knees, trying to stop the sound but he couldn't, letting the barrage of ice crumble onto him with relentless cold. Winnie smiled. "Yeah, that's right!" she boasted. "Watch who you're messing with, big dummy!" "You..." "What's that? What'd you say?" "...let him go!" The helmet man screamed. Suddenly, the link broke; Winnie sharply inhaled from the shock, and the helmet man ran for her throat. "Punish fury with icy stasis! Absolute Zero!" Winnie covered her face, expecting her Auto-Protect to erect even though she knew it wouldn't be enough, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes. The helmet man was inches away from her, his strong hand outstretched for her neck, but he was encased in a column of pure blue ice. Winnie grinned and looked at Void. "You got some skill, don't you, grampa?" "This man..." Void began, ignoring Winnie. "...may be what we're looking for." Void studied the strange person he froze. He then referred to the two guards on the ground. "Shouldn't you heal them?" Winnie gave him an incredulous look. "Why should I? That's the nurses' job." Void narrowed his eyes in disgust. "Then take us back. I'm sure General Morta will want to see this." "Swift wind-" Winnie began. Seb, dumbstruck by the action, suddenly regained his senses. Realizing he'd be left behind if he didn't get swept up in the spell, he ran for his life; only to trip on a stone and fly forwards. "-sweep us away to the heavens! Teleport!" Just before the spell took effect, Winnie yelped as something invisible latched onto her. They reappeared in the Ruby's cargo bay. Void himself presided over the two wounded guards, and several bespectacled technicians examined the frozen helmet man. Winnie, however, was on the floor, and on her was a very visible, very harried Seb. There was a stunned silence on both ends, Winnie's pretty face about ready to burst with anger, Seb a nervous wreck. Both Biggs and Wedge rushed into the cargo bay by complete coincidence. Spotting Seb on top of Winnie, and a whole cadre of armed guards already being summoned, they spoke in unison. "Oh. Shit." -+-+-+- The canopy was surprisingly more populated than the ground, with pairs and triplets of people, mostly soldiers and mages, lining to and fro like a mini marketplace in the trees. There were certain stations where merchants were perched, and each of the isles were connected to each other by bridge and to the ground by ladder. Right now, the most crowded station was one of the weapon isles, where a busty young lady showed off a fine wall of weapons behind her and some stands of weapons in front of her. Adrienne and Tori couldn't help but marvel themselves, as Trixie stood behind them like a chaperone. "Look at these!" Tori yelled to Adrienne, as he fondled a pair of shiny light blue blades. "They make a little buzzing noise when you slash them through the air!" "Hm? Oh, yeah, that is cool... but you know what's cooler?" Adrienne turned around and twirled a metallic pink wand with a black crystal on the tip. "A rod that can shoot bolts of lightning!" "Hey!" The woman at the counter spoke loudly over a group of customers that came in with swords. "You two in the back. Are you going to buy?" They exchanged glances. "How much?" They asked in unison. "Those two? 10,000 gil each." With mouths agape and hopes thoroughly crushed, Tori and Adrienne drooped their heads and dropped the weapons back into their respective stands. One of the guards in green cloak and mask approached Trixie, whispered something in her ear, then departed as quickly as she appeared. Trixie took Tori and Adrienne by the arms. "We can see him now," she stated, grim but with a soft smile. They made their way back down a ladder, Tori's heart beating faster in his chest for some reason, his feet nearly trembling when they hit the earth. He and Adrienne followed Trixie across the court and into the hospital hut. It was just as dark inside as it was out, lit only by lanterns and fireflies. A table on the far end was occupied by several women in puffy blue dresses and aprons characteristic of Chemists, and a long line of makeshift hospital beds lay empty, except for one on the far right; there lay silver under a wool blanket, attended by the white mages but noticeably more tranquil than before. "It is a reason for jubilation to know that he'll be fine." They turned their heads to see the red-cloaked man, his arms crossed, leaning against the wall by the door. But they were more surprised to see that his mask was missing; although the red bolero hat he wore covered much of his brow, now visible was his shoulder-length white hair that contrasted with his youthful face. He was certainly dashing, for lack of a better word, and Adrienne couldn't help but briefly swoon over his high cheekbones and friendly smirk. "He doesn't look better to me," Tori said, somewhat in denial. The red cloaked man uncrossed his arms and walked face-to-face with Tori; he stood at least a head taller than him, and at this proximity Tori noticed that he was also much more muscular than he was, his hulking frame enough to fill up the presence of the entire room. "It seems he came to us in the most fortunate of timing, and for that we have you to thank. Simple remedies we administered should take effect at any moment now." "Excuse me, um..." Adrienne mousily interjected. Both Tori and the red cloaked man directed their attention to her. "...who are you, anyway?" "Dergus?" They all turned their heads in unison. Silver, strands of his hair askew in places, was sitting up in his bed, propped up by his delicate pale arms. "Dergus? Is that you?" The red cloaked man apparently named Dergus smiled as he went to Silver's side. "Yes." Something amazing happened. Silver, his crystal blue eyes, his small fragile body, began to tremble. And it was with giggles, with laughter; Silver gave a beautiful laugh and a full-toothed smile as he abruptly threw his arms around Dergus' waist. "Dergus! Thank heaven, you're alive!" Silver barely managed to say through his joy. Dergus simply grinned knowingly, stroking Silver's hair with gloved hands. Trixie couldn't help but giggle in the background, covering her mouth with her cloth. Adrienne, dumbfounded, looked at Tori. "Hey, do they-" She stopped. She had never seen Tori's face like that before: shocked, disappointed, crushed, wordless really. The hopelessness was indescribable. "-Tori? Are you okay?" she asked. Tori slowly shook his head. There was Silver, his gorgeous smile, pressed against a stranger's chest. Tori's voice was a slow, thin whisper. "I've...never seen him smile before," he remarked. Adrienne did not seem to understand, shrugging and waving it away, but it meant the world to Tori. It was the most beautiful thing Tori had ever seen. If only; if only he could have made Silver smile. If only. -+-+-+- To be continued... "Fun" fact for fans!: The concept of Alabast as a forest canopy sort of village was inspired partly by the forest moon of Endor (for you Star Wars nerds out there. You know who you are :D), and also that one place. You know, in Lord of the Rings? I donÕt even know what it was called, it was the place where Queen Galadriel was. No? Uh... well yeah, there :D. Whatevs! For any gamers, think Sindain from Dark Cloud 2. Wow, howÕs that for nerdy reference after nerdy reference? Hi everyone! Yeah, so... remember that whole fixed schedule thing? ItÕs not gonna work out :(. One hand, NiftyÕs submission policy kind of nixes the policy, on the other IÕve been kind of busy lately :(. But the stories are still going! You probably noticed that this is a slower episode... and itÕs meant to be. All the events that happened in this episode are mostly set ups for the next big surge in the story line, which will probably advance the plot quite a bit. What is the ŌbodyÕ Void and Winnie are so intent on finding? What will Biggs and Wedge do about Seb? Who is the helmet man? And who is Dergus? Plus, what about those crazy shadow creatures? Answers to these questions and more, in... the next issue! :D (PS: For those old enough, get out there and vote! And for those in California, No on 8! whoo!) 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), Hallow (Sci-Fi/Fantasy), and Crystal (Encounters, but it shouldnÕt be :P).