I don't own FFX, ro any of the charachter's therein, or the concepts of Spira and the like, however the character's I've put together on my own are mine, please don't steal 'em.

This is my first posting here! *wheee* I've written fanfics before, but only a few, and mostly for friends. So, without much to say, here you go!
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Magic and Mayhem(prologue)

"Phodnih! Cyyg Oud!" Rikku shouted as the large craddle swayed dangerously near the large Stained Glass windows of the Luca dockside storefront. Her brother was the one behind the controls of the crane, and he was doing a poor job of it!
"Aie! Rikku!" he shouted back, pulling on levers so fiercely the machina's metallic keening and the belch of black smoke seemed almost like cries of pain. The Crane's boom swung back and Rikku could only duck and cover as the craddle crashed through the storefront, sending glass flying and scattering the crowd that had gathered to watch the unloading.
"Pdodnih! Ayo Utuyd!" Rikku called up as she dusted glass fragments off her shoulders and her hair. Throwing up her hands Rikku stormed away, leaving her dumbfounded brother to deal with a very angry shopkeep.
It had only been a couple months since the pilgramage and the battle with Sin. The world was still in a state of shock, but it was a joyous shock, one of growth and building. The same could not be said for the 'heros' of the Calm. They'd all gone their seperate ways soon after Yuna's speech. Some like Yuna simply had so much to do, others like Kimahri had much to catch up on with old aquaintences and relatives. But they all shared a common bond, they were trying to forget. They'd all come so far, and tried so hard. In the end they'd found a way and won, no one had to die. Rikku had been so happy for that short moment in time when Sin finally died. Yuna was still here, she didn't have to die. All because of Tidus' unwillingness to give up. Tidus... The thought stung Rikku and brought her up short so quickly that a bustling tourist almost ran her over. Rikku sidestepped and kept closer to the side of the walkway as she continued her aimless wandering.
It was just so unfair! They did everything right and he was still gone... Rikku hadn't been able to breathe when she first saw Tidus shimmering atop the airship. She hadn't been able to call out, hadn't been able to move like Yuna had. She had wanted to jump right after him. Death would have been fine, just to have a few more minutes with that eternally encouraging smile. It was beyond her control though, beyond all their control. When the dreamers had stopped their dreaming, Tidus, who had come from their dream, had vanished. Rikku, like the others kept up a brave face during the festivities, then buried herself in work. With the Church losing much of it's power, Machina were in demand and the Al behd had found new power in supplying them to the hungry populace. As a well known face Rikku was important to her people as a go between to the Machina-illiterate people of Spira. It helped... sometimes... it helped her to forget.
Rikku looked up, where had she walked to? The bright glow of a tavern sign greeted her. The purple letters were shifting against the black background of the sign. Yet another of the magical 'oddities' that had been popping up lately. It was never anything big, but alot of small every day spells had been behaving oddly lately. Putting it from her mind, Rikku pushed past the curtains of the tavern and entered its dimly lit interior. The smell of smoke and alcohol hung thick in the air, several eyes turned towards her as she entered but Rikku put on her best 'Don't mess with me' look, and flexed her fingers, causing the blade of her arm- knife to extend and retract a few inches. The eyes quickly left her.
Rikku perched on a bar stool, folded her arms on the counter and chased the bartender off with a sour look. Being alone with her thoughts was the last thing she wanted right now, but it also seemed to be the thign she was trying the hardest to do. Visons of Tidus, the smell of his hair when they'd ridden together on those snowmobiles, Rikku had held on just a touch more tightly than nessecary that time all came back to her. That smiling face hung in the air before her eyes. Rikku shook her head angrilly and ground her knuckles into her temples,"Stupid Stupid Rikku, stop thinking about him." Spinning quickly on her stool, as if to try and throw the visions from her mind Rikku scanned the other patrons of the tavern. Why was she here? She couldnt't drink, this was the knid of place parents warned ther kids about. Haggered looking travelers and shadey louts sat one or two to a table, none of them looking at each other.
Rikku did a doubletake, one of them caught her eye. For a moment she had though it was Auron; that thought brought another pang of loss. But no, it wasn't him. Shorter, not much taller than Rikku herself, dark black hair that laid back; and in the dim light looked almost like feathers. A face that was.. older and yet somehow not, with pale skin and broad cheekbones. His eyes were closed and so Rikku didn't know enough to make that comparison. Powerfully built, he was probably stronger than Auron, maybe even Kimahri. He was dressed in a coat similar to Auron's, but black, and with short, battered metal shoulder plates. After her first look Rikku had to admit, he didn't really LOOK anything at all like Auron, it was just his presence. As he sat leaned back, perhaps sleeping, with his boots proped up on the table. There was a quiet pride around him. A sense of powerful professionalism that hung about... Blue, a subtle questioning blue, not too deep but still holding something back. Rikku let out a small 'eep' He'd opened his eyes and was looking right at her!
Caught staring Rikku felt the blush rise in her cheeks. The man quirked a small smile, not a sneer like she might have expected from someone here, but one with as much a question as his eyes held. 'Oh, why the hell not, being alone right now sucks' Rikku thought as she boosted herself off her stool and wound her way through the tables to the one the man was seated at,"Umm, hi." She said, feeling stupid as the words left her lips. The sudden urge to fiddle with her braids came over her but Rikku fought it down.
Those broad shoulders rolled in what might have been a shrug and the man spoke, his voice deep for one his size, and holding a thick sort of warmth, the kind you could curl up in, "Evening miss. Something I can help you with?" That smile remained perched on his lips, disarmingly infectuous. Rikku felt hself smiling back at him nervously, something she hadn't done in a long time,"Umm no sorry. I just. I sort of came here to, I dunno get away, didn't mean to stare." Why was she telling him this?
"No problem, looks are free." he responded lightly,"Name's Janko, if you want one to go with the face."
"oh, umm mine's Rikku." The answer slipped from her lips,"What brings you to Luca?" Did she even really care? Probably not, but Rikku wanted to keep the words flowing, it kept the thoughts still, even if his smile was alot like Tidus's.
"Travelin'. Trying to find my way to Mt. Gagazet, but havin' a hellava time finding it."
Rikku did some quick mental math and nodded,"Yeah, being in the completely wrong part of the world; you would." She pointed out,"Why're you going there?" Rikku took hold of a chair and spung it around, sitting on it backwards with her arms folded over the back.
Janko sat up, slipping his feet off the table,"Well, s'gonna sound silly, but I've got to go there to save Spira."
That one earned him an odd look and dropped him down a few notches in her mind, "Say what? Sin's dead you know? The calm's here and the world's fine now. You gotta be pretty out of the loop to not know that."
Her words didn't take that half smile from his face, instead they brought out a gentle jovial chuckle,"Yeah I know Sin's dead, but you didn't think that nothing else could ever crop up did ya?" His calm demenor threw Rikku off. Most of the time nuts were much more boisterous.
"But we just killed Sin ya know? What could possibly be a problem this quick?" Her own voice sounded whiney to her and Rikku bit her tounge tip. If he noticed Janko didn't comment though, he just spoke softly in his reply.
"Fraid so, though, this things' been a long time in the brewing, and it'll be a long time putting right. S'not something you can throw alot of people at either. So, I'm on my own."
Rikku thought about her reply for a moment, not wanting to sound stupid, but the curiosity ate at her,"okay so what is it then?" she prompted, squirming a touch in her seat. Maybe it was something exciting, a new adventure!
"It's the magic." he gestured with a casual slowness back towards the door of the tavern,"I'm sure ya saw the sign out there? Just little bits now, but it'll get worse. Somethin's upset the source, gotta set it right."
"The Source?" Rikku was lost again, what was the source of magic? She'd only studied a little of it when traveling with Lulu and Yuna, but they'd never mentioned it.
He must've seen the curiosity on her face, or maybe he'd planned it from the beginning,"Tell you what." he offered,"You get me headed the right way to Mt. Gagazet, and I'll explain everything."
"Mt. Gagazet? but that's a long way off, even if we get my dad's airship!" Still, the idea had dug itself deep into her curious mind and was proding her foreward,"It'd take even longer without it.."
"It's a long story." He countered,"Long trip means plenty of time for the telling." Janko pushed himself to his feet, and turned for the door. Yeah, there it was, that same sort of casual confidence. He didn't even look back to see if she followed. Not that he had to, Rikku admited with a wry grin, she was hooked. Determined to regain some footing she poked him square in the back as she raced past him... mmm muscles... "C'mon slowpoke!" she called, turning and laughing,"Better get some supplies for the trip." With that Rikku raced back towards the markets, her mind racing with what might lay ahead.

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For those dieing to know Rikku's two lines of Al-behd are 'Brother, Watch out!' and 'Brother, you Idiot!'

So there's the beginning of something much bigger, This is my first tempt at 'quasi' fanfiction. I'm stealing Rikku and a few bits of the FF world, but trying to introduce alot of new charachters and keep the story self contained. It's my halfway point between Fanfiction and true original fiction, which I'm not ready to try just yet!

Review away please, bless or curse me, the more I hear the more I can improve. Chapter 1 should have more to it, and devlop the plot nicely. Oh, expect decent sized chapters, I'm a fairly verbose writer.