Author's Note: After much deliberation, I decided that my very first fic really needed polishing, so I decided to rewrite it, this time with the help of my ever-wonderful beta, LadyMercy. Hopefully, everyone who read the original will like this one just as much, and those coming to it the first time will enjoy it as well. As you all already know, Final Fantasy X and all characters affiliated with said game are propery of Square-Enix. I do not own them, no matter how much I wish I did.
Chapter One: The Stranger
Ria Summers stepped out into the humid night air, inhaling the scent of a nearing storm before turning to lock up the Gas-N-Go for the evening. It had been a long day and she was more than ready to go home, but first, she needed to take out the store's garbage. She hauled the heavy plastic bag to the huge metal dumpster behind the store, keeping an eye open for any weirdoes that might be lurking in the shadows. Seeing none, she completed her task, and then paused as she noticed a peculiar smell overtaking the smell of garbage and rain. It smelled of cinnamon and patchouli, and for some reason, strongly reminded Ria of a funeral home, but she ignored it and let the lid of the dumpster slam shut.
She turned and headed back to her car, digging her keys out of her pocket as she went, but froze in her tracks when she heard a strange hissing shriek ring out behind her. Ria slowly turned around, terror lying as a cold weight in her gut, and yelped when she saw what scuttled from behind the dumpster. It looked like an enormous insect, easily her size, with a large barb sprouting from its back and huge bladelike claws folded back against its legs. It inched closer, hissing again, and she tried not to throw up as she got a good look at its face. Whatever this monster was, it was definitely born to kill, as mandibles filled with razor-sharp teeth took up most of its head.
When the creature hissed a third time, Ria bolted, hoping against hope that she could reach her car before it could catch her. The maroon Grand Am was a hundred feet away, but it might as well have been a hundred miles, as it seemed like it took a hellish eternity to reach it. The terrified woman was almost there, when out of nowhere, something shoved her to the pavement, which caused her to fling her keys under her car. Ria screamed and shut her eyes, fully expecting to feel the monster's talons pierce her flesh at any moment. Instead, she heard a loud chopping sound and an inhuman scream of agony.
She opened her eyes, rolled over onto her back, and gaped in complete amazement at what she saw. Interposed between her and the beast was a powerfully built dark-haired man in a red coat, who wielded a massive katana in his gloved right hand as if it weighed almost nothing. He did not look at her, but kept his gaze trained on the monster, which now sported a bloody stump in place of its left foreleg. "I'm afraid this hunt is over," her rescuer said impassively.
Shrieking in response, the insect launched itself the swordsman, dark green ichor pouring out of the remnants of its left leg as it lashed out with its right one. Without turning a hair, the stranger brought his sword down on the monster's head, the heavy blade shearing through its carapace like cardboard. Mortally wounded, the bug fell to the pavement, thrashed once, and then died with a sigh. Strangely, once the thrashing stopped, the creature disintegrated, changing into a cloud of glowing rainbow lights that wheeled and pulsed in time to a music only they could hear.
As Ria watched them, however, they suddenly stopped moving and changed from their rainbow hue to a poisonous black surrounded by a bloody red aura. The transformed lights floated in place for a moment, oozing cold hatred into the air around them, but then changed back before disappearing, leaving the bloodstains and strange smell behind. Shocked by the events, Ria blankly stared at the green stains on the pavement, until her rescuer caught her attention by turning to face her. "Are you okay?" he asked, offering her a hand.
Without thinking, she took it, and he helped her to her feet. "I…I think so," she replied, shakily dusting herself off. "W-what was that thing, anyway?"
"A fiend," the swordsman said matter-of-factly. "A Xiphos, to be precise."
"Right…" Ria thought the man must be slightly crazy, but did not say so. Instead, she chose to study her savior. The silver streaks in his otherwise dark hair proclaimed him to be at least in his thirties, while scar sealing his right eye showed that he had seen plenty of battles. Realizing that she was rudely staring at the man, Ria flushed, and then coughed to cover her embarrassment. "Who are you?" she asked, wincing even as she said it. "Way to go, Ria! Don't bother thanking the man who just saved your life, just demand to know who he is!"
Instead of becoming offended, however, the swordsman chuckled, apparently amused by her audacity. "My name is Auron."