DREAM NEVERMORE

By Erik Sandstrom

Disclaimer- I do not own any Lunar or Square-Enix characters.

Prologue-

The story I am about to tell you is about a mystical quest. About a world called Gaia and its governing elements. In this world, the technology level is low. The only real technology is black and white televisions, stoves, and guns. They do not have automobiles, microwaves, computers, or anything of the sort, so their life is a little less laid back than ours is. The wonder of their world is magic. In the cities, magic is not used, but where the ancients live, it is used freely. The magic helps them in their daily lives. There is one problem to all of this. Every five years, the world starts to fall apart. Cracks form in the Earth's crust and demons arise from the hells. Nobody knows why this happens, but to fix this they send a girl of the ancient race on a journey. A journey to Dasbma, where they complete a trial that heals Gaia. I was a thief who meets with an ancient. The ancient asks for help and I went with her. There are many dangers that we faced on the way and we didn't even want what was in store for us in the end...

Chapter1- The Vatiulus

Josh and I panted as we ran down the dark, musty alley. "STOP! THIEVES! STOP!" yelled the merchant who was chasing them. My name was Erik Sandstrom, and I didn't know anything about my past. I was an eighteen year old boy with bright blue eyes and spiky brown hair. I was a little short for my age but I just thought that I had a normal life, kind of like everyone else in the Vatiulus. If you could call that normal. I just knew that I was a thief. And that I was in the 'Vatiulus', a group of thieves, for as long as I could remember. The Vatiulus was my only family. I didn't really like to steal, but that was my only choice. Josh was fifteen and a lot shorter than me. He had brown eyes and dirty blond hair. "HELP ME! THESE THIEVES ARE ESCAPING!" yelled the merchant. He was slowing down to a jog. Josh and I zigzagged through alleys upon alleys and they lost the merchant.

"That was a close one!" Josh said with relief.

"We could out run anyone, don't you think?" I asked as we slowed down.

"Yeah!" Josh replied. "How many merchants does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

I didn't answer. I had something on my mind. I kept on thinking that living as thieves would probably come back to harm us, and that I never really wanted to be a thief. I just wondered if there was another way.

"What's wrong?" Josh looked troubled.

"Do you actually believe that we can survive on stealing?"

Josh raised the bag of food with a smile, "Hey, we got the goods, right?"

"That's not what I mean."

"What? You don't believe in the Vatiulus??" Josh raised his voice as he scratched his head in disbelief. We were still walking.

".......welllll...."

"Come on, spit it out...."

"Well, what if the authorities find our hide out?"

"I doubt that. They would never be able to find our..."

"Yeah, but..." I interrupted as I suddenly stopped walking, "...what if we run out of different stores to steal from?" I said in a concerned voice.

"There are tons of stores in this city, and it's not like we can't steal from the same store twice..." I started walking again.

"...but what if some one follows us to our hide out and we don't notice?"

"Do you think any of the Vatiulus could be followed?" Josh stood proud as he said Vatiulus, his only family he ever had.

I sighed. "I guess not."

There was a silence among us as we walked. It seemed to me as if my body was on auto-pilot, you know, when you have been by the place so many times and you don't even have to think about where you're going because you're body does it for you.

When they were almost there, Josh brought the subject back up, "You must have a lot on your mind."

"....."

"You don't believe in the 'team', do you?" Josh questioned.

"....."

"Well, we're almost there. I'll race ya!"

"Wait!" I stopped again.

"????" Josh scratched his head. "What do you want now??" Josh asked eagerly.

"Promise you won't tell anyone about what we said," I demanded. I was nervous that some else would find out about my doubts.

"...but why??"

"Just do it! I don't want anyone to know I have doubts about the team."

"Hey, you can trust me! We're best friends, remember?"

"Yeah." Josh and I were best friends ever since we met. We have always gotten along and told each other everything. But the most important thing was we always kept our promises.

"You worry too much."

I slapped Josh upside the head. "Hey!"

"Ready?"

"Huh?" I stood, dazed.

"3...2...1..."Josh started.

"Go!" I took off as Josh stood shocked for a couple seconds, then he started to run.

We raced down the street, the wind blowing our hair all around with sweat trickling down our faces. Our faces slowly became red. I was in the lead and Josh trailed shortly behind me, both going at the same speed.

I touched the door and yelled, "Beat ya!"

"You cheated!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you stood there!"

"......come on, let's go inside."

Josh opened the door and we went in. We were greeted by the 'gang.' Yuffie, Nick, and Shamus stared at us as we walked through door. Nick and Shamus were the same age as me. Nick was a hint taller than me and Shamus a hint shorter. They were fraternal twins. They were also the goofs of the team. I got along with them pretty well, but we weren't the best of friends. They were best friends with each other.

"How did it go?" Yuffie asked. Yuffie was Shamus and Nick's little sister. She was 16 years old. She had short dark brown hair and was very skinny. She always felt left out of the team because she's the only girl. She seemed to be going through an emotional crisis at the time because her eyes were puffy but nobody ever mentioned it to her.

"Well," Josh started, "We easily stole from that idiot, then on the way back we talked about..." I coughed. "erm, we talked about stealing strategies, yeah!"

"Oh," Shamus said. "Why you guys so sweaty?"

"We raced," I answered.

"Who won?" Nick asked.

"We tied," I lied. Josh smiled.

"Are you done with our interview guys, I think you asked enough questions," Josh said. He jumped onto the couch and flipped the TV on.

"Didn't you get us anything?" Yuffie asked.

"Oh yea, we got hamburger and hotdogs," Josh replied. He threw the meat behind him and Yuffie stumbled to catch it.

"Oh, and here's the soda," I said as he piled a package of soda on the meat Yuffie was holding and ran over to the TV to join Josh.

"What do I look like? A pack mule!?" Yuffie yelled.

"Yes," I replied.

Nick and Shamus broke out into laughter.

"GRRRRRRR!!" Yuffie growled as she stomped in anger. Josh glared at me.

"Just kidding!" I apologized.

Barru barged through the door "Hey, how's everyone doing?" He yelled.

"Erik called me a pack mule!!" Yuffie whined.

"Hey, hey, hey. Why didja do sumthin' like that, Erik?" Barru said angrily. Barru was the leader of the Vatiulus and was very strict. He was a semi-plump old man with graying hair. He always wanted everyone to get along, after all he was a 58-year-old man and had a lot of stress put on him, since he is the leader of a band of thieves and all!

"I was just kidding!" I defended.

"Whatever, just don't do it again." Barru walked over to the couch and sat down. He grabbed the remote from Josh and changed the channel to the local news station.

"Hey! I was watching that..."Josh complained.

"Calm down," Barru said. "I think we might be on the news, so I wanted to watch."

"Oh," Josh said in surprise.

Everyone rushed over to the television, some standing, some on the couch. When the news started, everyone was silent, the voice of the news reporter echoed throughout the whole hide out...

"Hello, and good evening city of Milexid. The top story of this evening is about stores raising their prices and why they are. We interviewed many merchants and here is the one police have gotten the most information from. Joe?" the reporter said.

Another reporter standing by a merchant appeared on screen, "Thanks Bob, I'm here with Mr. Heindel, a merchant. So, why are salespeople raising their prices?"

The merchants voice sounded angry, "Well, lately, there are many bands of theives in this city due to poverty. Merchants are losing a lot of money from stolen goods. When this happens, merchants are in debt and they need to get more money, resulting in raising prices."

Then the reporter asked another question, "So what you're saying is that people stealing is the source of all this commotion?"

The merchant smiled, "Yes, that's what I'm saying. I also think that the police should work on this."

The reporter shook the merchants hand, "Thank you Mr. Heindel. Back to Bob."

Bob shuffled his papers. "Now May will be interviewing the head of police, George Walters."

A middle-aged woman with red hair was standing next to a Police Official. May started, "So what are you going to be doing about this?"

The police wiggled his badge, "Well, I think that this situation is horrible. We police are going to cover by being on the watch for thieving and other crimes."

May started talking again, "Do you think this will actually work?"

The policeman stood proud, "Well, I think that it will help a lot."

May continued, "What do you think is the source of all this thievery?"

The policeman cleared his throat, "I think that this is because of the poor school systems. People nowadays don't get an education, then they can't get a job, then they resort to stealing."

May sounded irritated, "Is it true that you haven't had a high school education?"

The policeman cleared his throat very abruptly. "Some say that."

May sighed, "Is it true?"

The chief whined, "Why do I have to tell you!?"

May's eyes bulged out, "You're being interviewed, sir! Is it true or not?"

The policeman sounded like a baby, "Maybe."

May decided to give up, "Whatever. Back to Bob." They did not shake hands.

Bob looked confused, "Looks to me like trouble's brewing. Anyways, thanks May. After this commercial break, are toddler's toys safe?"

A voice said, "News 74 brought to you by..." Then a bubble soap commercial came on.

At that, Barru turned the TV off. "So, time for some eats!" Barru yelled. He started to walk over to the table. Everyone just stood there, shocked. Josh ran to the table.

"What if the police catch us?" Yuffie asked.

Josh was star-struck. "You think they could catch us? Did you hear that guy? He didn't even get a high school education!"

"Exactly," Barru agreed. Yuffie looked irritated.

"Ah well, I'm hungry!" Nick stated. Everyone ran over to the table. Nick passed out the food and soda. Nick was the cook even though he didn't have to cook gourmet meals or anything.

Everyone started to eat silently. After a little, Barru started talking. "Why's everyone so quiet?" No one responded. "So, are we going to continue the schedule of Yuffie during the morning steal?"

Yuffie looked down at the ground in despair." Are you sure we should steal? I think we should lay low for a while."

"If you don't want to, then I'll do it!" Barru insisted.

"But..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I just think you're a little old to steal."

"So you'll do it?"

"I guess," Yuffie answered. She looked apprehensive.

Once Shamus finished, he cut the silence by saying, "I'm bushed. I'm going to bed. Good night." He headed towards the bedrooms. There were three bedrooms, one for Yuffie, one for Josh and me, and the last for all of the rest.

"Goodnight," everyone replied.

"I'm going to bed, too," Nick said.

"Me, too," Yuffie said. Then the two left.

Barru walked back over to the TV, flipped it on and sat down. Erik followed. "I don't feel like watching TV" Josh sighed and then he walked to the bedroom.

"You know, I used to be a master thief, the best one around," Barru informed.

I looked up, "Really?? Can you tell me about it?"

Barru looked astonished, "Of course! A month after I was born, both of my parents had been killed by a murderer named Zeke." I gasped. "Don't worry about it! Anyways, a great ninja thief named Zykall found me as a baby and decided to raise me. He was such a good thief, that people said he could swipe six stores in one day and not get caught. He raised me as a thief. As I grew, my thieving skills until I surpassed Zykall. One night, Zeke came and killed Zykall, he tried to kill me, but I escaped. I was 26. That's when I met Yuffie, Nick and Shamus' parents. Niki was 10 and Derik was 12. They were abandoned, so I took them in. That's how the Vatiulus was started. Nick and Shamus were born 14 years later and two years after that, Yuffie was born. When Yuffie turned two years old, Zeke struck again. At age 28 and 30, Niki and Derik were killed. It was horrible. I had to raise Nick, Shamus and Yuffie. As I raised them, I eventually ran into Josh and then you. I don't want to get into the details tonight."

I had a lot to take in. I was silent.

"Well, I'm turning in," Barru said.

"Me, too."

I walked to my bedroom and opened the door. Josh was still awake, sharpening the blade of his knife. Josh looked at me. "Did Barru tell you a story or something?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Josh looked tired, "Hey, I'm gunna go to sleep." He slid into his bed. "Good night."

"Good night," I replied as I laid down on my bed. As I stared at the ceiling, I slowly shut my eyes and fell to sleep.