Author's Note:

Disclaimer, blah blah, do I really need to? You all know I don't own any of this. If I did, I'd be rich, laughing all the way to the bank. And things would be different. Isn't that the point of fanfiction? To make stuff up?

ANYWAY, this is...ugh...this is something I wrote that somehow ended up being so long that I have spilt it into 3 parts...I know, I know...I blame everyone on this site for writing this, as well.

Quick note, though, I haven't actually played the After Years, so if something seems off, that's probably why. That, or I decided to change it.

Having said all that, read on.

Wind whipped Rydia's hair around her face and made her squint, whooshing past her ears in a deafening roar.

The wind was the only thing she didn't like about traveling by airship. Her hair was already a tangled mess without the wind's helping hand, and it always left her in a bad mood later when she sorted through the knots.

Today, however, she was already in a bitter mood.

When she woke up a few mornings ago she hadn't expected any of this to happen, and so far, things had gone from bad to worse.

The summoner was glad for Luca's presence, feeling a little better that she didn't have to face this entirely alone. Especially after what had happened to her Eidolons.

She'd never felt more alone in her life.

Even after Mist's destruction, there had always been a connection with the land of magic deep within the Underworld. It was a stability that she could always count on, something to tether her to reality.

But now, since the Eidolons had been turned to stone, that connection was gone. Rydia couldn't feel the magical land anymore, nor could she feel the Eidolons. Even her magic hadn't been working properly since the incident.

The loneliness frightened her more then she wanted to admit, even to herself.

"We're almost to the tower, but…" Luca called, drawing her attention, "I don't know, do you see that weird glowing? I'm not sure I want to get all that close. Cid will kill me if I ding the Falcon."

Rydia stood next to the dwarf princess turned apprentice engineer and squinted at the Tower of Babil.

"I don't just see it, I feel it. What is that?" she said, hugging herself.

Luca shook her head, at a loss for words.

Rydia was about to ask the newest addition to their traveling party when the airship shook a little.

"Sorry, there is turbulence this close," the pink clad girl explained.

She shook her head, "Its fine, but maybe you-"

There was a loud 'bang' that cut her off.

They both exchanged a glance, confused, and she turned around to find out what had just hit them.

Before she could take in any information, there was a flash of blue and the sound of a weapon being drawn.

Rydia had faced down many threats in her life; dragons, fire, deranged beings from the moon, archfiends, varies magical spells and weird gelatin monsters.

But she had never been threatened at point blank range by a sword before. The swiftness in which it had appeared before her caught her off guard, and she was torn between wanting to bat the thing away from her neck or remain perfectly still. She opted for a bit of both and, despite her magic being on the fritz the last few days, gathered the familiar power for a spell.

"Whoa, Izayoi, wrong target."

Rydia wanted to glance towards the familiar voice but she got the feeling she shouldn't move.

The woman's dark eyes flicked to the side, "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Edge said, slipping over and manually lowering the blade with his hand, "I think I know the real Rydia when I see her."

The woman gave her one more appraising look and then took a step back and sheathed her weapon. Rydia exhaled and glared at her before turning to Edge.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked.

He frowned, "Interesting story,"

"It usually is with you," she retorted.

He looked like he wanted to argue that point and then thought better of it shaking his head slightly, "Yes, well, I'm sure yours is equally interesting,"

Luca waved from the steering well when he looked at her, "Hello!"

"Hi Luca, as lovely as ever I see."

Rydia rolled her eyes and then looked around, "Where did you come from?"

She hadn't been paying attention and so missed how he had even made it on board.

Edge took his narrowed eyes off the mysterious stranger they had picked up not too long ago and turned back to her, "Huh? Oh, the Tower of Babil."

He stated it as if that made perfect sense, but she just felt more confused, "How-"

He cut her off and gestured widely to the others, including the dark haired woman who had tried to killed her, "First things first,"

He touched her shoulder to spin her around but then jumped a little, "Ouch,"

She winced and let the magic she had gathered ebb, "Sorry, reflex."

He nodded and then successfully turned her around on the second try, "From left to right; Gekkou, Zangestu, Tsukinowa and Izayoi."

In turn he gestured to her, "And everyone, this is High Summoner Rydia."

"That's Rydia?" the youngest, Tsukinowa, said, looking her up and down. "I totally get it now!"

She frowned, "Get what?"

"Ignore him," Edge said hastily while Zangestu elbowed the boy.

Still puzzled and trying to come to terms with everything that had just happened, she blinked a couple times before looking at Izayoi, "Wait, who did you think I was?"

"The woman in the tower. She has a similar aura to yours, not to mention the striking resemblance."

Rydia's brow furrowed and then she gasped, "The blue haired woman?"

"Yes,"

Edge shrugged one shoulder, "We ran into her in the tower."

"I ran into her in the Underworld," she added, crossing her arms, "She's powerful."

"She can summon Eidolons."

Rydia flinched, and the action didn't go unnoticed by Edge, who gave her a look, which she pretended to ignored.

However, he pulled on her arm at the same time as walking away, calling over his shoulder, "You four, make yourselves useful. Ask Luca if she needs help."

As an afterthought, he glanced at the white haired man and added, "Watch him."

He drug her to the other end of the ship, and she covered up her distress with an annoyed half-glare.

"What happened?"

She frowned, thinking he was impatient as always.

"I told you, I saw her too, in the Underworld."

Edge shook his head, "No, with the Eidolons."

She bit her lip and looked away, not feeling up to talking about that subject quite yet, "It's…complicated. But, I know she has the ability to summon, like I do."

He touched her arm gently, "I know you better then that."

She flinched again, wishing for the moment that he didn't know her so well.

"What happened?"

Rydia sighed sadly, and turned away, grasping the railing for support and closing her eyes.

"I went to the Feymarch,"

She didn't need to see his reaction to know what it was and she defended herself quickly, "I know, it was foolish to think they would change their minds, but…I missed them so terribly, and I had to try, just once more. I…argued with Asura and Leviathan but…I don't know, they sensed something even if I didn't and tried to transport me out of there."

A single tear slid down her cheek and she angrily brushed it away, having spent enough time crying already.

"She did…something to them. All of them. I-I can't feel them, or talk to them or summon them. They're all statues, as if she removed their very souls."

All over again the guilt and apprehension threatened to eat her conscious alive. Just like so many years ago she was completely and utterly powerless to save those closest to her, and it hurt so much to lose them.

Rydia looked up and to her right; surprised her companion hadn't said anything. He looked troubled and sympathetic, but shook his head, "I…don't know what to say,"

"You? At a loss for words? The world really is coming to an end…" she remarked dryly, not having much humor left in her being but unable to rid herself of sarcasm completely.

Despite not knowing what to say, he did know what to do and pulled her into an embrace. Rydia sighed, and Edge murmured close to her ear, "We'll figure out a way to get them back, and to stop her."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, not feeling nearly as confident as he seemed.

There was a pause and then, "Because, I'm me."

She giggled, unable to remain melancholy around him and gave him a sharp shove away, "Oh, of course, how silly of me to question something so obvious."

He grinned at her and she smiled, surprised he could get her to lighten up under the circumstances, but glad that he had.

She glanced over at the other members of the group on the airship deck and frowned, "Your turn. What happened to you and more importantly, who are these people?"

Edge sighed and waved a hand at her, "Eh, long story. I'll tell you on the way."

The sound of cracking ice filled Troia's crystal room along with an eerie blue glow. Rydia cringed, bracing herself against the pillar she was hiding behind as the familiar attack was unleashed. She'd never been on this side of Diamond Dust before, even when she had first gained Shiva as a summon, the icy woman never would have dreamed to use something that powerful in a bonding match.

The stone of the pillar felt colder after the attack, but luckily it had blocked it from harming them.

"We could use a plan," Gekkou pointed out.

Rydia glanced across the small gap between pillars and saw Izayoi roll her eyes, "Yes, and if you come up with one, let me know."

He didn't reply and she winced when another snapping sound announced a blizzard spell being thrown at them.

Shiva wasn't stupid, she would collapse the room to get to them if she had too, and Rydia knew that with how much ice and snow was already present, that task wouldn't be as hard as it seemed.

Rydia shut her eyes, "I can stop her,"

There was a pause and then Luca spoke up, "Are you sure?"

She wasn't questioning the summoner's ability, she was questioning if she wanted to do it.

Which, she didn't.

"Enough fire would weaken her, and if she's weakened, she'll get slower. Once that happens, we'll have a chance." she explained, glad for the lull in attacks so she didn't have to yell over them to those across the room.

They all braced again as another wave of icy spikes shattered against the pillars. Rydia watched a crack spread over the stone just as Izayoi spoke up again, "If we have a plan, then why are we waiting to use it? I doubt she's going to wait."

Rydia hesitated.

Shiva was her friend, one of the first Eidolons she had ever met. It wasn't her fault that she was attacking, she was being forced to do it.

But that didn't change the fact that they were in danger, and that she might have already killed Palom, not to mention countless others when she froze the city.

Rydia jumped, startled, when someone touched her arm. She glanced to her side and Edge shook his head, "It's your decision. Whatever you decide to do, we'll do."

She closed her eyes, "No, Izayoi's right. Shiva won't wait around and…I don't see another option."

"Are you sure?"

He didn't sound thrilled with the idea either, but Rydia nodded all the same and then turned to look at the other black mage of their group, who nodded, understanding what the plan was.

It was simple enough, after all. The problem was getting close to Shiva when they were all the way in the back of the room.

But if Rydia hadn't already solved that problem, then she never would have gained the queen of winter as a summon in the first place.

Calling up the necessary magic, she silently apologized to the Feymarch and to Shiva for what she was about to do.

"Firaga!"

Instead of directing the attack at the Eidolon, the two mages sent it along either wall, effectively blocking all escape routes for her.

They continued to shorten the amount of space the ice woman had to work with by blocking off sections of the room with fire.

Unlike the last time she had fought Shiva, Rydia wasn't alone, and there were others that could use fire base attacks in their group. Under such an onslaught, it wasn't hard to believe that the ice Eidolon soon dropped to her knees, most of the her icy fortress melting around her.

Still, she tried to send a high level blizzard spell at them, but Rydia had already chanted another to block it and in the flames it melted into a harmless drizzle.

But then, the summoner took a moment to catch her breath, and in that moment, she saw her former Eidolon.

Wounded and bleeding, she wasn't making any more movements to attack, and another idea occurred to Rydia as she stared at her.

"Wait!" she said, grabbing Edge's arm before he could finish another flame spell.

"Why?" several people chorused at the same time.

Rydia shook her head and gestured to Shiva, still kneeling on the ground a few feet away, "Because, she's not attacking anymore! This is not her fault, I'm sure she just wants to be normal again!"

"And if you're wrong? You put all of us in danger on a slim hope based off your assumptions." Izayoi said, arrow still pointed at her target.

The green haired woman turned to look at her, "I'm not wrong."

"Rydia, I know you don't want to hurt her, but we shouldn't waste this chance. You already tried to talk to her and…" Luca trailed off, obviously upset at having to mention the last time they had tried to reason with the Eidolon and gotten blasted by Diamond Dust.

Rydia took a deep breath and pleaded once more, "Please, just let me try to talk to her! She stopped attacking us, we should at least try to save her, if we can."

She had directed her request to Edge, who was giving her that look that meant he didn't like this idea. Everyone else was waiting to hear what they had decided as well, when finally he sighed and nodded, "Fine, but if-"

"She won't." Rydia said quickly, sure that Shiva wasn't going to do anything. After all, somewhere in there was her friend.

Spells were extinguished and weapons lowered and the summoner breathed a sigh of relief before turning around to face the next problem.

Saving the Eidolon as she had convinced the others she could.

"Shiva?"

Her steps were cautious as she approached the woman, keeping her movements slow and easy to track so she didn't appear threatening.

But Shiva wasn't even looking up, she was holding her side and panting and it was then that Rydia noticed how wounded she really was.

"Oh…I'm so sorry, Shiva…" she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

Still the icy woman didn't move, and Rydia stopped in front of her, "Shiva?"

She felt it a second before it happened; something shifting in the air as whatever dark hold over her Eidolon returned and sank its claws into her again.

Rydia spoke the first words of a spell at the same moment as Shiva's hand enclosed around her arm.

Her touch was so cold it burned and crystallized the skin.

"Fire!"

It was a low level spell, but enough to push her away and back to the ground. Rydia took a few steps back, gasping at the pain in her arm and marveling at the fact that she had been wrong; Shiva might have been too far gone to save after all.

All the weapons and spells were back in a second and unleashed at the Eidolon, who screamed.

The summoner squeezed her eyes shut and fell to her knees, cradling her arm and sobbing.

This was never supposed to happen. Whoever was behind all of this was cruel indeed.

Someone hugged her from behind and she didn't need to have her eyes open to know who it was when he whispered, "Rydia, I'm so sorry, but we-"

"I know," she replied softly.

She started to cry again, and finally opened her eyes to face the truth of the situation.

She was half surprised that Shiva wasn't dead yet, but she was so injured she couldn't move.

But her eyes were back to normal and didn't have any of the crazed light behind them that signaled the influence of dark magic.

And when their eyes met, Shiva wheezed a breath and whispered, "R-Rydia, I am s-sorry…"

The summoner shook her head, "No, I am."

Shiva smiled ever so slightly and Rydia tried to pull away to go to her, but Edge held her back making her turn to him, "Let me go."

"No, absolutely not! Did you not see what she did last time?" he argued.

"She's not going to hurt me again, she can't even move! We killed her, the least you could do is let me stay with her!" she snapped, more heartbroken then actually mad at him. He hesitated, and annoyed, she forcefully broke out of the embrace and knelt before her Eidolon.

"Oh Shiva, I'm so sorry…" she whispered, sliding her hand over one of Shiva's, "Can you forgive me?"

"Y-you didn't do anything wrong," the woman replied, voice hoarse.

A few tears slid from Rydia's eyes and landed on Shiva's neck and cheek, and her expression softened, "Oh dear one…"

Shiva reached a hand to brush aside the others, but they both heard the sound of a bowstring being pulled back which made Rydia glare over her shoulder at Izayoi.

"Put that away," she snapped.

The woman didn't move, "I don't take orders from you."

"Izayoi, put that away." Edge echoed from a feet paces away.

She complied and Rydia turned back to her summon as she felt her chilly hand touch her cheek, "Don't be sad, dearest Rydia. Don't you see? I should thank you for freeing me from that vile woman's hold."

The summoner shut her eyes, more tears leaking out, "But I-I killed you!"

There was a weak laugh, "Ah, but Eidolons don't die, do we? She doesn't follow the Laws of Summoning, we aren't bonded to her."

Rydia's eyes snapped open, "Then, if you give me your name again I can release you to the Feymarch and you'll be fine!"

Shiva smiled sadly, "I can't ask you to take my name, not after what I've done."

"Oh, don't be silly!" she argued, taking the hand on her cheek and squeezing it between her own, "Please, Shiva, I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. As High Summoner I ask you for your name so I can save you."

They stared at each other for a moment and then the icy woman closed her eyes and sighed, "Then you have it."

Rydia smiled and leaned down to whisper, "Shiva, I release thee to the Feymarch."

As the magic took effect, the Eidolon Shiva faded from sight and her summoner sagged back in relief. She felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

"Hey! Where's that ice woman?"

Everyone turned towards the voice to see Palom, who looked disheveled and put out, sitting up and looking around.

"Palom!" Luca called cheerfully.

Beside him the blonde girl stirred and he turned his attention to her, looking as worried as Palom ever was.

Rydia smiled slightly, pleased that he was alright, which meant that others frozen by the diamond crystals Shiva used would also recover.

For the first time in weeks the summoner felt like things might turn out alright.

Once it was assured that everyone was alright, including Palom and Leonora, they made their way back out of the cave. Once they were close to the Falcon Rydia slipped away from everyone and went to sleep. She was terribly tired and she had a feeling that no one would mind anyway. Especially since Palom and Leonora were also in need of rest. They had decided to head off towards Mysidia next since the black mage said he couldn't tell if his sister was alright. It was making him, and for some reason Tsukinowa, worried about her so they picked that as their next stop.

Rydia fell asleep easily considering she could now feel a twinge of the Feymarch again thanks to her connection with Shiva. It not only proved there was a way to save everyone but also that the queen of winter had survived and was recovering. That was enough to make her summoner smile.

Rydia was awakened by something pressing against the frost burn on her forearm. She opened her eyes groggily and hissed slightly at the pain.

Edge glanced up from rubbing some sort of cream on her arm to say quietly, "Go back to sleep."

She frowned and watched him for a second before mumbling, "What is that stuff?"

It smelled okay, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted it applied to her wounds when she didn't know what it was. Besides, they didn't have a white mage around and she wasn't sure Edge had any idea what he was doing.

"Go back to sleep." he repeated.

Her frown deepened, "Being a king has made you bossy,"

A smile slipped and he shot her a brief look, in turn making her smile. There was a pause and he continued to treat her arm, making her wince a few times.

"That was really stupid, by the way." he finally commented.

Rydia sighed, "What was?"

"Walking that close to her. You could have gotten yourself killed." Edge chided.

The hilarity of the situation suddenly hit the summoner and she started giggling. He sighed and asked, "What is so funny?"

"This!" she said in between laughs, "The role reversal. For once I've gone and done something impulsive and you have to lecture me about it!"

He chuckled as well and she grinned at him, "Its hard work being the responsible one, isn't it?"

Edge rolled his eyes, "Yes, it is, and I don't like it at all. Next time I get to do the stupid thing and you can get back to lecturing. You're better at it anyway."

She smiled, but it slowly faded as he finished binding her arm until she swallowed and admitted quietly, "I am sorry, though."

"You don't need to worry about that. Your Eidolons are your family, and no one can blame you for wanting to save them." Edge told her.

She trusted him to tell her the truth, especially about something like this, but his words didn't entirely remove her guilt.

"Still, Izayoi was right. I was wrong and I did put everyone in danger."

He shrugged and laid her arm with the other one that was resting across her mid section, "I'm not mad, and neither is anyone else for that matter, so just forget it."

Rydia blinked a few times and then worked up her courage to say, "Speaking of Izayoi…she seems…invested quite a bit in battles."

She couldn't think of any nice way to put into words how much the woman annoyed her with her domineering attitude, especially during battles.

Edge rolled his eyes and stood up, "She's just way over protective of me."

"Why?" Rydia asked, not liking that answer.

He flicked her forehead, "Because, I do stupid things, remember?"

She giggled and he shrugged, half turning away, "It's not just her, either. It's all four of them."

She watched him walk away although he stopped at the bottom of the steps and glanced back at her, "Now, for the third time, go back to sleep."

"Wake me up when we get to Mysidia?"

"Yes."

Rydia sighed and rolled over, deciding to take his advice and try and rest as long as she could.

Okay, that's part one. How did this get so long? Can someone please tell me?

I may not have played this game(that's what happens when you don't own any newer systems), but I did watch YouTube videos of pretty much all of it and read a walkthrough and the wiki page, which I'm sure is about 80% correct. But this game bothers me. There's a ton of great ideas...but that's all it is. Ideas. Ideas that the game devlopers threw in a blender, pushed the high setting and poured us out a game. Thus, I shall add to it and fill in the blanks.

Also, I'm sort of surprised no one has thought to do a fic about this already?