Hey you guys! Uhm, well, this is my side story for my OC Carmina in K Entertainment's story: Clan INFAMOUS: Help Wanted!
You probably won't understand it much during the end if you haven't read that story, so yeah! Feel free to read it though aha~ By all means, please :) Review as well if you'd like ^.^
OOOH YEAH! This short story is dedicated to K Entertainment! Haha ^.^ Love reading your story~ :) Awesomeness!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Final Fantasy XII in any way. It obviously belongs to Square Enix, and if I did own it, Vaan would fall in love with me :3 (Don't judge LOL)
Life was great, you know? I had an awesome family, a comfy house, awesome friends, and even an awesome life. But happiness never lasted long for me, I guess. It was a bright and sunny morning, everyone was up and ready, except for me and my two brothers. I shared a room with my 2nd older brother, Train. My name is Carmina.
"Kiddo, wake up!" I heard my oldest brother, Sven shout. I groaned and yawned as I got up and stretched with a smile.
"Morning big brother!" I shouted as I put on my glasses. I was only 13 then. He let out a big smile, his hazel eyes filled with happiness.
"Morning. Go wake up Train and go eat. We're all waiting for you guys." Sven explained as he scratched his spiky black hair. I nodded as he left the room. I walked over to my other older brother, who was snoring in his bed. I giggled and pushed him slightly.
"Train?" I called out to him. He groaned as I ruffled his dark brown, spiky hair. "Come on bro! Wake up!" Train groaned again and got up, rubbing his dark brown eyes. "Let's go!" I exclaimed as I went into the bathroom. After I fixed myself up, I went outside into the kitchen.
"Good morning sweetie!" my mom and dad chimed. You know, everyone in my family was tall, except for me. Train was 3 years older than me, so he was 16. He was about 5'6 then! My oldest brother, Sven, was 18 at this time. He was like, what, 6 feet? I hated being the short one in my family. I was the only one wearing glasses too!
"Morning mom and dad!" I shouted back as I slid into my chair, grabbing a plate and a spoon, scooping up some rice and picking out a Cockatrice leg. Train came out of our room and mumbled a 'Good Morning' to us as he sat at the table and got his food.
"Hey dad, you going hunting today?" Sven asked our father. Dad smiled and nodded.
"You bet!" Dad replied excitedly. Even though Dad was pretty much old, he acted like a teenager sometimes.
"Can we go?" I asked, excited to try some more of my black magic I had learned from my mom.
My mom replied, "No honey. Not this time." I sighed.
"Dad, why don't you take us out to your hunts?" Train asked curiously as he bit some of the meat off the Cockatrice thigh. Dad smiled and shook his head.
Dad answered, "I don't want you guys getting hurt." We sighed and finished up our breakfast. Then, we all set off after saying goodbye to our parents and went off to explore Archades once again. While I walked, I was suddenly lifted onto someone's back like a sack of potatoes.
"What? Hey! Train! Lemme go!" I shouted. Train let out a laugh as he spun me around. I looked to my oldest brother for help, and he just shook his head laughing. "No fair!" I shouted as I laughed as well. Little did we know, our happiness would soon be over. A few hours later, we had returned to the house.
"I was not checking her out!" Sven denied as he twisted the knob of the door to our house.
"Dude, you so were." Train and I said as we pushed open the door laughing. Our laughter ceased as we saw our mom crying, kneeling next to….our dad. Dad was lying on the ground, only breathing slightly.
"D-…..Dad..?" my voice slightly cracked as a tear escaped my eye.
"DAD!" we all screamed out as we rushed towards him.
"Mom, what happened?" Sven asked, trying to maintain his calmness.
"He…He was bitten by a wolf. Your dad tried to fight it off, but it was huge. Like a mutant or something. His friend brought him back here and…" Mom couldn't even finish her story.
"No! NO!" I shouted as I placed my hands over Dad's wound. *Please work…please..* I thought desperately as I continuously cast Cura on Dad.
"Honey…." Dad whispered.
"Shut up Dad!" I exclaimed, tears streaming down my cheeks as I kept casting Cura over and over.
My dad struggled to say, "Sweetie….I….l-love you. T-take care of your mo…mother….and b-b-brothers. A-always r-remain….h-happy…." All of a sudden, he fell limp. Train widened his eyes.
"Dad?" he whispered. I felt for a pulse….nothing.
"NO! NO! NO NO NO!" I shouted as I heard my mom sob and older brothers cry. It didn't matter if I grew weak, I needed my father back. I quickly ran in my room, grabbed a Phoenix Down, and forced it down my father's throat. *Please….please Daddy wake up…* I sobbed into my father's chest as the Phoenix Down had no effect on him. "Daddy!" I shouted into his chest. I could feel Train hugging me from behind, as well as Sven and Mom. We laid there, mourning over Dad's death.
A few days later, we had him cremated. I had not wanted to burn Daddy to ashes, so Mom did it. We kept his ashes in a jar, and placed him on a small table in our house, along with his picture. The day after we cremated him, another surprise came upon us. "Bro?" I asked Train. He looked up at me with a tired face. "Can I sleep with you?" I asked him. He nodded with a sigh as I climbed into his bed. He put his arms around my waist as I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. It failed, since all that happened was more tears running down my cheeks. I faced my older brother and sobbed into his chest. Soon enough, I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up in Train's bed…alone. I got up tiredly and looked around for Train. *He never gets up earlier than I do….* I thought to myself as I opened the door to our room and went out. I saw my mom cooking and Sven helping her. "Oh…honey, you're awake." Mom said tiredly. She tried to put on a smile.
"Mom? Did…did Train go out?" I asked her worriedly.
Sven replied, "No he didn't. Why?" I widened my eyes and ran back into my room, my mom calling after me. I checked his closet and found his sword, as well as some of his clothes, gone. I gasped and shook my head.
"MOM! SVEN!" I shouted, panicking in my room.
"What? Carmina, what happened?" Sven asked as he and my mom raced inside. I sighed shakily, a tear escaping my eye.
"He left. Train left." I whispered. My mom sighed and sat down on my bed.
"I knew it would happen." Mom took my head and kissed the top of it. "Don't worry sweetie. He'll come back." Sven hugged me and ruffled my hair, messing up my ponytail.
We waited. And waited. One year later, Train never came back. After my 14th birthday, I had asked Mom and Sven if I could venture off to find him.
"No! Absolutely not!" Mom shouted.
"Mom! Please! This is the only way! I could venture off to Rabanastre, Bhujerba, anywhere! Just please, let me go. Sven! Please!" I pleaded both of them. Sven sighed.
"Mom. We should let her go. Let's trust her on this one." Sven tried to reason with Mom. Mom sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"All right. Fine. But you must come back if you do not find him. If you do, send him back here immediately." Mom explained. I shouted with glee and hugged Sven and Mom tightly.
"Thank you thank you!" I exclaimed.
Mom smiled a small smile, "I'll go buy you a small weapon and some items. You go on, shower, and get dressed. Your brother will help me, and we'll be back." I nodded and went into my room to my shower. I dressed into my favorite outfit: mid-thigh blue shorts, thigh high grey socks, black knee high boots with laces, and a blue and white striped shirt. I put on a brown trench coat and tied up my hair into a high ponytail. I adjusted my glasses and sighed as I went out, my brown pouch resting around my waist. I held my Cloud Staff as I sat down on a chair, waiting for Mom and Sven. When they arrived, Mom had given me a bunch of items to put in my pouch, along with a small Assassin's Dagger.
"Honey. Be careful out there." Mom said as she kissed me on the cheek. I stuck my tongue out, but nodded with a smile.
"If you get killed, I will revive you and kill you myself, got it Carmina?" Sven said. I giggled and nodded. We went to the Aerodrome and Mom handed me gil for the ride to Rabanastre. Figured I would search there first.
"Bye honey." Mom whispered as she kissed me once more. Sven just hugged me tightly.
"Bye Mom, bye Sven." I shouted happily, although, I was just masking my sadness with a smile. I turned away and walked into the hangar where the airship I would take was in. I wiped my tears as I boarded the airship.
Once I got to Rabanastre, I saw a bunch of flyers. I decided to read one and it said :
HI!
WAIT READ THIS FLYER!
MY NAME IS 'BIG BUCKET' A NEW UPCOMING CLAN LEADER TRYING TO MAKE IT IN THIS ONE HORSE DESERT TOWN! IF YOU HAVE ANY SKILL IN MONSTER HUNTING AND YOU'RE LOOKING TO JOIN A CLAN THAT'LL TREAT YOU BETTER THAN CLAN CENTURIO'S MONTBLANC! THEN COME TO THE CITY SQUARE FOUNTAIN BY THE SOUTH, WEST AND EAST GATES. I'LL BE WAITING THERE!
I smiled and giggled. This is it! Being in a clan, I could build up my reputation and also become stronger! Building up my reputation would mean Train would hear of me! That way, he'll find me and come back. Either that, or I could search for him while we travel and hunt monsters!
"This is awesome!" I shouted, but it struck me. I had no idea where this person was!
A man came up to me and asked, "Are you looking for him?" I nodded. "I just saw him go to the Westersand. You'll probably find him there."
"Thanks sir!" I exclaimed happily as I ran all the way to the Westersand in search of this "Big Bucket."
"I know I can do it. I'll find my brother." I said with determination as I began my search for the guy in the straw hat.