Lacuna: Those who have visited my page recently have noticed, I am redoing and reposting my fictions. I would like to thank everyone who has stuck around as well as welcome new readers.

As I'm sure you've all figured out, this is a Soul Calibur/Final Fantasy X-2 crossover that takes place mostly in the Soul Calibur universe around the time of Soul Calibur IV.

A quick note before I start the chapter. Since the only two characters in this chapter are Al Bhed they will be speaking in their native tongue. I will be typing the quotes in their tongue and including a translation in () after each thing is said. I will do this any time something is said in Al Bhed since I use italicized text to represent thoughts and bold text for words that are emphasized.

Now on to the story!

Chapter One

It was a day like any other near Djose Temple. The sun was shining brightly in the sapphire sky while clouds floated carelessly on their way. The air that day was warm and a slight breeze danced through the air. It was a perfect day to relax with friends, read a book or, if you were an Al Bhed mechanic, do repair work on a severely damaged machina.

One of the two workers was a young man with sun kissed skin and spiky blond hair. His sweat drenched body was clothed in a black tank top and blue pants. An eye patch covered the socket where his right eye once was but this did not keep him from working with the utmost skill and precision.

His companion was an equally adept young lady who was working the damaged machina with a wrench. Her long blonde hair was done in a bizarre style; most of it was held in a high pony tail which fell to the right in uneven lengths while portions of her hair were done in small braids, all of which were held up by a blue head band. She also had bangs that were peaked out from underneath the head band. Her choice of clothing was also interesting. Her top was yellow and resembled a bikini top. Her arms were covered in a what looked like white sleeves that had several bows. She also wore a brownish mini skirt that rode low on her hips with a yellow carrying belt. This belt had two pouches in the front and held a red hand blade on either side. Completing the outfit were a pair of blue and white boots, a long decorative scarf that was red, orange and yellow in color, and red fingerless gloves.

The machina they were working on was a large machine resembling some sort of mythical creature, seemingly a serpentine dragon of some kind. The paint had long since faded and chipped away and the metal was well-rusted. It also appeared as though the machina had been in a historical battle of some sort and lost- badly.

"Frana tet drao drec drehk?" the girl wondered aloud as she worked. ("Where did they find this thing?")

"Tet oui cyo cusadrehk, Rikku?" questioned the young man as he came to stand near where the girl was working. ("Did you say something, Rikku?")

"Vunkad ed," Rikku sighed. She was about to start working once more when she suddenly realized something, "Rao! Fro ynah'd oui fungehk, Gippal?" (first quote: "Forget it", second: "Hey! Why aren't you working, Gippal?")

"Cusauha ryc du cibanjeca," Gippal replied with a slight shrug. ("Someone has to supervise.")

"Fro oui-" ("Why you-")

"Rao, oui cruimt pa knyabvim," stated Gippal with mock seriousness. ("Hey, you should be grateful.")

"KNYABVIM! KNYABVIM?!" exclaimed a frustrated Rikku as she threw her wrench on the ground, "Knyabvim vun fryd?!" (first quote: "GRATEFUL! GRATEFUL?!" second: "Grateful for what?!")

"Fryd? Oui drehg ed'c yh ayco zup?" questioned Gippal, attepmting not to laugh. ("What? You think it's an easy job?")

"Ramm oayr E tu! Ymm oui'na tuehk ec fydlrehk sa fung!" was Rikku's indignant reply as she firmly crossed her arms over her chest. ("Hell yeah I do! All you're doing is watching me work!")

"Yht ed rindc," Gippal said, pouting childishly. ("And it's painful.")

Rikku's response was to pick up her wrench and throw her it at her companion, aiming directly for his head. The attempt was a success causing the girl to smile sadistically.

"UF!" cried Gippal rubbing his head, "Fryd fyc dryd vun?!" (first quote: "OW!" second: "What was that for?!")

"Oui fhuf." ("You know.")

Gippal simply shook his head before turning toward Djose Temple. Rikku's eyes grew whide once she realized what he was doing.

"Fr-frana yna oui kuehk!?" she shouted worriedly. ("Wh-where are you going!?")

"Namyq. E'mm ugmo pa kuha vun y sehida," was Gippal's cool reply, "Huf kad pylg du fung." (first quote: "Relax. I'll only be gone for a minute." second: "Now get back to work.")

"Knayd…" Rikku muttured as she watched her male companion vanish into the temple, "Zicd knayd…" (first quote: "Great." Second: "Just great…")

The young blonde released a heavy sigh before looking back to the damaged machina. Shaking her head, Rikku reached into her toolbox.

"Luimt drehkc pa yho funca?" ("Could things be worse?")

As if to answer her question, dark clouds suddenly consumed the sky and a heavy rain descended upon the grounds of Djose Temple. The bizarre change in weather caused Rikku to frown and plop down beside the now wet machina in despair.

"E ryt du ycg…" ("I had to ask…")

Seemingly just to torment Rikku further, the sound of thunder echoed throughout the Djose grounds. The blonde groaned and locked up her toolbox. Between her frustragion with Gippal and the sudden and absurd change in weather she felt dispirited.

Feeling as though things couldn't possibly get much worse she muttered to herself, "Fryd haqd? E kad cdnilg po mecrdhehk?" ("What next? I get struck by lightning?")

CRASH!

The sound caused Rikku to look to the sky. She did so just in time, much to her horror, to see a bolt of lightning aiming straight for the damaged machina. A scream escaped the frightened girl as she ducked beneath the machina. This proved to be a very poor decision as the lightning bolt struck the machina directly.

A bright flash could be seen and then the storm subsided.

The brilliance of this flash had caught Gippal's attention and he immediately left the temple to check on Rikku. Much to is horror, all he saw a mess of machina parts all over the grounds and no sign of his friend.

"Rikku!"

No response.

"Rikku!"

An eerie silence.

The young man searched frantically around the work area but the only sign of Rikku he could find was her lightning fried toolbox.

"Tysh ed!" Gippal exclaimed as he dropped to his knees, "E cruimt ryja paah rana vun oui. Rikku…" (first quote: "Damn it!" second: "I should have been here for you. Rikku…")

Momentarily taken by grief, Gippal shed a single tear. He then stood up and wiped it away. He had to find Rikku- no matter what the cost. He would search all of Spira if he had to. Something just didn't feel right about her sudden disappearance.

Little did he realize how right he was….