Ripped at the Seams;
A Final Fantasy Story
By:
Vivi Orunitia
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Thank you for taking a look into my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it. It is not finished, and will probably have several more parts before the conclusion, if it is liked. Please take the time to review and give constructive feedback. Enjoy…
Vivi
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Darkness consumed the rocky cavern. The only light came from the pinpoint of a moon… so very far away. Reflected off the puddles of grimy water, the moonlight gave the cavern an eerie, bluish glow.
A young girl stood, her long black hair blowing in an unseen wind, her tear streamed face frozen in a silent pose. She stared at the depths of the cavern, into some unknown place in her heart.
With a sob, the girl raised her left hand in front of her face. The tears flowed like small rivers now. Sparks appeared around the girl's hand, green needles of light bounding as the ball of energy grew.
"I'm sorry, Cyril…" came the whisper from the girl.
The blinding light grew, lighting up the cave from within as the Ultima spell took hold. The resounding explosion shook the night like an earthquake. The cavern ripped apart, sending shards of earth, stone and ash flying into the night.
"So sorry…".
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25 YEARS LATER
"God damn it, Linus! Stop it!" screamed the voice from the hole. Brown sand and rust colored earth spewed from the large pit in the ground as a dirty face peeked up over the edge.
"Stop friggin' playing around! We have work to do!", spat the face, as it's owner climbed out of the hole. It wasn't a bad looking face either. It belonged to Amy Rill, college student extraordinaire. Or, soon to be extraordinaire anyway. That was why she was out here, trying to fulfill her dream of becoming someone. Hah. Off rooting through the wilderness, looking for her professor's lost 'marbles'… Lord help him. So, digging a hole in the desert floor may not SEEM like an aspiring start for a paleontologist… but everybody has to start somewhere…If it wasn't for her STUPID professor and all his STUPID obsessions… she would probably have government funding, on some trip of her own. Off rooting through pyramids or something.
Amy was brought sharply back to her senses when a clod of mud smacked her in the side of the head. The thrower, her younger brother Linus, danced around like an idiot, giggling like a little school girl the whole time.
"You little brat! C'mere!". Loosing her 'mature' mentality, Amy took off across the dig site after the blond headed teen, loosing her shoes and half of her dignity on the way.
Linus took the path straight through the middle of the dig camp, the one surrounded by all of the temporary white cloth tents that the students and professors used on their outings.
'Looks like a whole bunch of junk thrown together by some homeless desert people.', thought Amy. 'God, I hate this… chasing my stupid younger brother through what's basically my college classroom…If only I didn't have to baby-sit him all the time…'
"AGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" Amy looked up from her sprint just in time to see Linus fall over a foot sticking out from a nearby tent flap… flat on his face. He raised his head and spit out a mouthful of sand.
"Damn it, Nigel! I could have gotten away!" yelled the scraggly boy angrily.
The owner of the foot stepped outside of the tent, yawning and grinning sheepishly.
"Uh.. sorry. Thought you were somebody else." laughed Nigel. Nigel and Amy were very good friends, and had decided to do the whole paleontology thing together and the closest thing to what you could call Linus's friend at the dig site. Though it was kind of hard to tell, the way they beat up on each other all the time.
"Thanks for catching him for me…" said Amy, giving Linus a hard slap on the back of the head.
"OW! HEY!" he whined.
Nigel placed a hand over Linus's mouth, yawned again, and gave Amy another grin. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be checking out that new area over on the edge of the camp?"
"Yeah, I was… until this little crackhead thought it would be funny to screw me up. It's not like I would have found anything anyway…".
"Ah, well. I'll beat him up for you later. Right now I'm kind of hungry, you want some grub?"
Amy smiled. "Sure thing. Let's go."
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The hustle and bustle of the camp greatly increased during the night time. Small lanterns flickered outside every tent flap in their never-ending waltz with the desert wind, while tanned desert guides and pale, dust streaked students roamed the camp, laughing and just having fun after a hard day's work.
The only quiet place was in a small clearing near Amy's tent, on the south side of the camp. It was there that Nigel had built a fire and cooked some hot dogs and beans in a can. Nothing great, but… better than what some people had to eat.
And, every day, like clockwork, Linus brought up the forbidden topic.
"So what do you think these marble-things are that the professor has us out here looking for?" he garbled through his hot dog.
"You mean what he has everyone BUT YOU out here looking for… you're just kind of along for the ride…" said Amy quietly.
Nigel chuckled. "Oh, c'mon Amy. He's not that bad. Besides… think about it. The prof. Has everybody comb the same area… I mean, every class that comes out here into the desert has been restricted to this area of land… right here, to the west of the Outer Peaks." Nigel pointed to the nearby mountain range. It looked like the teeth of some rabid hound, pointing up into the night sky, like it wanted to swallow the earth…. Amy shuddered at the thought. She didn't like dogs…
"What if it's the Ehrgeiz?" munched Linus.
"Ho ho… that's a good one, kid!" said Nigel. The big 23 year old gave Linus a friendly pat on the head. "You don't honestly think that a bunch of college kids and a teenager would be looking for something like that, do you?"
"Something like what?" said Amy.
Both Nigel and Linus turned and gave Amy the weirdest look. Suddenly she felt very stupid…
"HEY! IT'S NOT MY FAULT I HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE!! IT'S NOT LIKE I CAN SPEND ALL MY TIME STUDYING! YOU PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE RESPECT FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S FEELINGS! OH MY GOD! HOW CAN YOU BE SO HEARTLESSS! I NEVER…"
"Sheesh…" moaned Linus, his hot dog forgotten in the verbal onslaught. Nigel rubbed his ears. Even the Outer Peaks seemed to retreat into the desert, cowering away from the roaring girl.
"Grr…" she growled. "OK… so what is it?"
Linus sighed and bit into his hot dog again. "The legendary weapon! I can't believe you haven't heard of it!"
"Grr…"
Nigel interrupted quickly. "The Ehrgeiz is supposed to be some sort of ultimate weapon. The power to destroy nations, armies… that sort of thing. It was supposedly destroyed during the Gothic Age, but… most people agree that if it was actually that powerful… it would have been very hard to wipe out completely. Besides. Most people believe the Ehrgeiz to be a sword, not a marble-like object."
"I doubt these dumb round things that the prof. Has us looking for have anything to do with the Ehrgeiz. What do you think is the point of having us search through three miles of desert for Dr. Fat Man's stupid lost marbles?" Amy snapped.
Nigel gave Amy his withering look again. "You really don't come to class that often, do you? He told us that these 'marble-things' were valuable artifacts. Shiny, small, round bundles of money, basically. But why would something like that be worth so much? There has to be more to it than he's letting on."
Amy pondered the possibilities for a moment. "So… what do we do if we actually find one of these things?"
Nigel coughed. "I doubt that we will, considering the other classes results. But, if one of us happens to run into one… HOLD ON TO IT! I don't think we should let the good doctor know about it right away. Maybe we can sneak it into the school's tech lab and let Mrs. Monson do some analysis."
Linus perked up. "Good idea! Maybe there's some kind of conspiracy of something going on.. you know.. one that Dr. Fat Man has been hiding from us?"
Amy glowered at her brother. "Stop being dumb. That brainless sweat bag couldn't blow his nose if brains were dynamite."
Nigel looked up from his tin of beans. "But he could blow our chances at a career."
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Maybe we should do our best to make him happy." Said Amy.
"Maybe…" echoed Nigel.
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That night, when everyone was done with their food, Amy gave Linus a hug and Nigel a peck on the cheek and retired to her tent on the edge of camp. She never had liked it that much, being so far away from both of them, but it was better than being in one of the guide tents. The guides stayed in tents further out, just in case a random sandstorm came in the middle of the night, so they could come in further and warn everyone before hand.
Amy changed into her pajamas and lay in her sleeping bag, staring at the swaying dance of the lantern outside her tent, listening to the windsong of the desert play with the camp. And she began to think.
'Why did I do this? Didn't I know I would never have a chance to do something that I wanted? Mom always said you should go for your dreams… before she left anyway. Dad always said you should take the clearest path available. The one that you know will give you what you want. But it's never that easy. At least not anymore. Out here looking for over-sized marbles. Over-sized kid's toys. It's hopeless. Her mother would be proud. Her father, pissed. But isn't that the way it always is?….."
Amy nodded off to sleep, her head filled with dreams of floating marble earrings and big, shiny swords, and a huge, fat, angry Professor screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs.
So fast asleep was she, that she never noticed the shadowy form that slid past her tent flap. Never noticed the four legs climb up and stand above her head. Never noticed the canine snout sniffing her hair, or the cold blue eyes roaming her face. Never noticed it's hot breath on her cheek…
Never noticed the gleaming, red ball that it dropped into her pillowcase… the one that glowed with an inner fire all it's own… like it's own piece of star…
As quietly as it entered, it was gone…
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END PART ONE….
BEGIN PART TWO…
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Linus woke up to the familiar clanging noises that always accompanied the professor through the camp. The guy was probably bouncing his way through camp right now, peeking in girl's tent flaps and such. Linus smiled. He didn't think the professor was THAT bad a guy… but Amy seemed to have developed a huge grudge. Linus shifted and got up to put on some clothes, when something dropped out of his sleeping bag onto the tent floor.
It was a marble. Linus almost shouted in surprise, but caught himself and bent down to examine it. It was a pale green color, and seemed to be lit from within by it's own little source of light. It seemed like the marble was filled with some kind of fog, and it shifted constantly. Linus sat admiring it…
The professor yelled outside his tent. "TIME TO GET A MOVE ON BOY!!!"
Linus quickly stuck the marble in his pants pocket, finished dressing, and went out to breakfast.
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Once he reached the center of the camp, he got some of the desert rations that were always served and went to sit down next to Nigel and Amy, who were talking in hushed tones by the research tent.
"Hey guys.. you'll never guess what I found.. it was in my tent!" he whispered. He began to bring the thing out of his pocket when Nigel grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him around to the back of the tent. Amy followed.
"HEY!"…
"Sh…. Look…", said Nigel. He reached his free hand into a pocket… and pulled out another marble. This one was a blinding, brilliant yellow. So bright, it was almost like looking into the sun… Linus looked away.
"I have one too… look…", whispered Amy. She reached into her pocket and brought out a slightly larger, red one. It was a deep, blood hue, but it glowed… like fire…
"So what does all this mean?" Linus asked as he reached into his pocket to retrieve his.
Nigel and Amy turned it over in their hands. Then Amy spoke. "I don't know, but this can't be coincidence. We have to get out of here and see if we can get Mrs. Monson to take a look at them… until then, don't show them to anyone else… I'll see if we can get the professor to send us back to the college… for supplies or something." Amy walked off in the direction of the professor's tent.
"Oh, Amy." Said Nigel as she looked back. "Do be careful…." Amy laughed as she slipped the red orb back into her pocket.
"Yeah, whatever…"
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Amy rang the bell hanging from the tent post outside of the largest tent in the camp. Soon, the professor came to the flap. He was, indeed, a very LARGE man… with lots of scraggly brown hair… and a.. um… well.. he had KIND OF a pleasant face…
Amy swallowed. "Umm.. sir.. I was wondering if you would be willing to send Nigel, Linus, and I back to the college? I left some of my research notes… and I'm sure we need some new supplies as well?"
The professor gave her a funny look. He spoke in his dribbling voice. "Yes, yes, of course… I.." he stopped mid-sentence… his eyes grew large and round, and he began sniffing the air… SNIFFING it…. Like a dog…
Suddenly he grabbed Amy by the wrist and held her close to him, covering her mouth with his other hand. He rushed out of the tent, dragging her backwards, kicking and screaming through the desert sand. He ran to the edge of the camp, to the hole that she had dug the other day. There was no one else nearby…. Still holding her around the waste and mouth… the professor's voice came… a ragged, struggling voice… an.. inhuman one…
"You, girl…. Did you think you could hide it?…. Did you think I would be that stupid?… Give it to me… I know you have one… I want it… NOW!"
Suddenly his hands were at her throat. She struggled desperately… choking on Nigel and Linus's names… In her struggling fit, she started to loose consciousness.. she looked up… Linus appeared by the edge of the camp.
The professor growled… and brought a furry hand away from her throat to slap her across the face… furry?… Blood and spittle flew from her jaw, as she saw Linus running towards her… screaming something…
She saw his hand fly out… it had the green marble in it…
Light flared from Linus's hand… and she heard him scream…. All time seemed to stand still…
It.. was cold…
The sky darkened for a moment, and she heard a crack like thunder… and then the sound of glass shattering… something hit her in the back… she fell forward onto the desert sand.
The last thing she felt… was… frost… on her back… the last thing she heard before she passed out was an inhuman roar… then all was darkness…
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"Ow. Light. Damn it. Go away. I want to go back to sleep…" Amy mumbled…
"Well, young lady, is that anyway to talk to your favorite teacher?" said a jovial voice. Amy's vision cleared. She looked up…
"MRS. MONSON!!!" she yelled happily… then she looked around. "Uh…. Where am I?"
The young, brunette professor smiled. "You're in the infirmary at the University. You seemed to have quite a shock. Nigel found you and Linus passed out, next to a big, furry reptile looking thing. It looks like a hairy crocidile. It's in the other room… and it's quite dead. To add to all this, Professor Wuldeen, the paleontology professor is missing… Do you remember anything that happened?"
Amy's mind swam.. her head hurt. "I… he… attacked me…"
Mrs. Monson suddenly looked very concerned. "The professor?"
"Yes… He.. tried to kill me. Over this…" she reached into her pocket to find the marble… but it was gone.
Ms. Monson held up a small leather pouch. "Oh. These?" Inside were the three marbles… red.. yellow… green… and… green. Another one.
"We only had three…"
Her teacher smiled. "You really have no idea what's going on do you?"
Amy shook her head. Mrs. Monson laughed.
"Come with me."
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Amy got up off the cold gurney and walked into an adjacent room, following Mrs. Monson's lead. Nigel and Linus sat in the corner of the next room, and got up to greet her as she came in. The creature that was spoken of earlier lay bloodied and very, very dead. It's entire body was covered in what looked like… frost?
"Frost? But.. it's not cold enough for anything like that…" Amy's head pounded and she had to sit down.
Mrs. Monson sighed. "It's magic…"
Amy laughed… "Magic… what? Are you feeling alright Mrs. Monson?"
The teacher looked very somber. "Yes, dear, I'm fine. But I fear for you three." Nigel and Linus looked expectantly at Amy.
Amy looked around. "You believe that? Guys.. you can't be serious… magic?"
Nigel spoke up. "Think about it Amy. The paleontology professor has everyone looking for Gothic Era items in the middle of the desert… and when they're found he suddenly disappears and isn't seen again… glowing marbles… frost in the desert?"
Despite herself... Amy started laughing again. "What the fuck? You're all crazy!"
"Amy, don't be so close-minded." Said Mrs. Monson as she plucked one of the green orbs out of her bag. She placed the orb into a piece of jewelry on her wrist. It was a bangle.. but it had many round indentations… one of which was now filled with the green orb.
Mrs. Monson closed her eyes, and raised her hands over her head. Then she pointed at Amy.
Amy's vision swam again. She couldn't see! Everything was so black! She panicked.
"I'M BLIND!!!" Amy screamed. She felt strong hands grab her wrists, and then, cold spots hit her eyes. She blinked twice, and she could see again.
Mrs. Monson smiled at her. "Blind materia…. Interesting stuff. Nothing eye drops won't fix though."
Amy blinked again. "Ok.. fine. Magic. But how.. and what's materia.. and how do you know so much about this?"
Mrs. Monson walked to a cabinet on the far side of the room. She bent down and removed three bangles, much like her own, from the shelf therein, and handed one to each of them.
"Put these on. We're going to have a new lesson today, class."
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Ms. Monson stared at everyone from her place at the front of the classroom. Nigel, Linus, and Amy sat on top of desks in the front row… Looking at her expectantly.
She spoke. "These orbs that you've found are called 'Materia'. In the Gothic Age, they were used to perform magical arts, learn otherwise impossible skills, and to summon friendly creatures. It appears that professor Wuldeen was a monster, Amy. He attacked you to get his hands on the Materia. It has not been seen for ages… but it would not be recognized for what it is by any ordinary person."
Amy laughed again. "So what exactly is going on?"
Mrs Monson pursed her lips, reached into her bag and tossed Amy the red materia. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her?"
Amy stared at the flame red, glowing orb in her hand. "Her?"
"It's a summon materia. Place it in the bangle on your wrist."
Puzzled, Amy did so. As the red orb touched the first indentation, it clicked into place and the bangle glowed red for a moment. The red flash traveled up her arm…. And into her mind. Suddenly… Amy believed. She believed in magic… she believed that they were in grave danger… no.. she KNEW it. She knew… somehow.
"Its… alive…" she said quietly.
Mrs. Monson grinned. "Yes. Now ask… ask it's name…"
While Nigel and Linus watched, Amy closed her eyes, and… well… she asked.
The whisper came… but not in her mind. It passed her lips and came out into the air.
"CARBUNKLE!"
Amy's hand flew into the air above her head. Astonished, she gasped at the sight. Her hand was surrounded by red sparks, and was shaking… like it had a mind of it's own. Suddenly, a red ball of light flew from her hand and swam around the room.
"WWWWWWHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the ball, as it flew right into Mrs. Monson's open file cabinet, scattering singed papers and file folders everywhere.
Nigel and Linus looked awestruck. Mrs. Monson laughed. So did Amy.
The files in the cabinet stirred. Out popped a little head. A little furry green one. With quill shaped things on it's head…
"AWWW!! HOW CUTE!!!!!" cried Amy.
The little thing climbed out of the file drawer and hopped onto Mrs. Monson's desk. It was about the size of a cat… and was covered with silky pale green fur. The frills on it's head stood up everytime the creature looked at someone. It also had a dazzling ruby red gem in it's forehead. It caught most of the light in the room and made it hard to look away. The creature looked up at Mrs. Monson. It squeaked out a greeting.
"So… uh.. what's up sista'? Long time no see. Got any food?"
"You little brat…" said Mrs. Monson as she gave it a cuff on the head.
Linus gave it a poke with his finger. "What is it?"…
The thing rounded on him. "Whady'a mean.. what am I? I'm a dragon.. see? Gr… grrr….."
Nigel and Linus started laughing. Amy smiled. Mrs. Monson cleared her throat.
"Yeah.. yeah… down to business. You're all in terrible danger. There's more of those big, ugly things coming… and you've all got to get out of here. You've gotta come with me. I need your help too. Our world is in trouble.. and if you don't help us… yours will be too."
Before Carbunkle could say anything else… screams were heard from the hallway as another huge.. wolf-crocodile thing smashed in the door and made a lunge at Mrs. Monson. Mrs. Monson lifted a hand in the air, and a glittering silver stave appeared in it. She brought it down hard on the creature's head. "OUT! EVERYBODY OUT! YOU MUST GO!"
"Holy shit!" screamed Nigel, as the thing scrambled across the floor and made a lunge at his knees.
"You don't have to tell me twice. C'mon kiddies… time to go!" Carbunkle squeezed her eyes shut and made a loud squeak. A beam of light flashed out from her crystal, knocking over a few desks. Where the light hit the wall, a gleaming doorway appeared, dark and forboding.
"C'mon… get your luggage and all that jazz…" she said as she hopped onto Amy's head. Resounding cracks filled the room as Mrs. Monson started trying to fend off the hoard of creatures in the hallway with her magic. She looked drained.
Nigel and Linus jumped through the portal in the wall, and disappeared from sight. Carbunkle did an about face on Amy's head and squeaked frantically at Mrs. Monson. " HEY! Aeris! Let's go! You can't do anymore!"
Mrs. Monson smacked away the groping claws of a creature that managed to grab her shoulder, and made a swan dive towards the portal. The rest of the creatures burst through the ruined doorway and crawled madly over desks and across the floor toward her at amazing speed. Amy stared in shock.
Carbunkle beat on the back of her head with a furry little paw. "OK WOMAN!!! ANYTIME NOW!!! HELLO?????"
Mrs. Monson grabbed Amy by the shoulder, pulling her backwards into the portal.
The world swam around them.
And Amy fell through the seams.
END PART TWO….