Longing for Life

Chapter One:Welcome to Spira

Have you ever felt like everything is falling apart around you? The towers that you have built in your life crumble in a never ending war. Relationships end, joys begin to fade, and you find yourself hearing truths that you would rather be lies.

I sat at the edge of my bed and stared at the floor as wet spots appeared with tiny thumps. My tears continued to fall, running thickly down my cheeks. I had been here too many times before, but I was still cautious. No one was home, so I could cry freely, and my cat was lying there in a ball, my own little cuddly comfort friend.

I had no one else. My best friend, also the love of my life, had given up on me and decided that I no longer meant anything. To them I was no more than a stain on the ground, and it killed me to look back on our past and know that this was it. I had fallen in love with her, but she did not share the feeling, and I had pushed her to the limit.

My name is Rachael, and I know what you are thinking. Yes, I am bisexual, yes, I fell for my best friend, yes… I loath life.

I turned to stare at the mirror that stretched across the right side of my room. My reflection was pathetic: A pale tear streaked face with red puffy eyes, messy short brown and blonde hair falling around my face, and as I stood and studied my stomach I realised that I looked less round that usual. My lack of food had taken a toll I did not even aim for. As a tomboy that sort of thing doesn't usually bother me, but when nothing is going right it is like another kick in the guts.

With a frustrated slump I sat back on the bed and dug my nails into my leg. I needed the pain to know that this was still real, that all of this was really happening and I was not in a nightmare…

"I need a distraction," I said loudly to snap myself out of things. My PSP was not going to be enough simply because I was lacking in games that I was not sick of, but the Playstation 2 was always a winner.

If my parents had caught me unpacking the machine when it has been taken away some months ago, awaiting an eager buyer in the cupboard, they would have my head, but at the moment I was more worried about escaping this world and entering…

"Final Fantasy X-2," I read aloud, studying the cover. I had beaten this game twice before, and it was still one of my favourites. I loved the characters, the worlds, the gameplay, but most of all I loved the thoughts of actually being there beside the Gullwings and fighting it out somewhere things are different from here, and somewhere with loyal friends and time to yourself.

I slipped the disc into the machine and let it run. The controller felt odd in my hands. It had been so long. It was coated in a thin layer of dust that I blew off. As soon as the air left my lungs my heart skipped beats and I wheezed a little. I had not technically been diagnosed with Anaemia, but the chances of me having it were large. The symptoms were spot on, for I had irregular heart beats, difficulty breathing sometimes, blackouts, and fatigue.

The beginning sequences of the game felt like I was reliving the past. It was an odd emotion, but I was calming down nonetheless, even smiling as my favourite characters entered. There was the wild Rikku dancing along to Yuna's song, and the former summoner herself ripping it up on the dance floor. My grin stretched to its limit as I saw Paine, the stone hearted warrior, standing in the seat isle before taking out a suspicious guard.

This was a good way to forget about things, so I played for hours. As the time passed I found myself growing tired. Blaming it on the large screen I had not stared into for some time, I decided it would be best to pack it up and go back to it later if the need arose.

I felt unwilling as I stopped the game and pulled it from the machine, thinking that perhaps I would not get the chance to play it again, but I was grateful for the fated hours I had been given and I trudged back to my room.

As soon as I reached the doorway, my fatigue reminded me of its urgency with a lurching tilt of the world. My head spun so fast I slipped to my knees and bowed down against the floor, waiting for the odd fainting spell to pass, and it did with all it glory. I vomited all over my floor for five minutes before my stomach seemed to be empty of everything it had taken in over the week.

"Damn it," I sighed as I pushed myself shakily from the floor. Cold sweat had formed on my forehead and I trembled from head to toe, but my legs managed to get me to the side of my bed where I sat and tried to balance my confused and aching head.

I knew that I needed to sleep, so I lay atop the covers and closed my eyes, willing for that darkness to come. It took some time as my mind struggled to understand exactly what had brought on the dizziness and vomiting, but it could reach no ideas at all.

"Do we have her?"

I sat up quickly in my bed, my eyes racing around to try and spot the source of the voice. It had been as sudden as my sleep which I realised had only been for ten minutes according to my clock, so it was all in a dream.

Relaxing again at this knowledge, I lay back again and began to close my eyes… only to hear more muttering and another question of the same female tone.

"How close is she? We don't have much time."

Another voice joined. "She is fighting against us."

"Well break into her if you have to! We need her one hundred percent!" The woman was shrill now, though she had never really sounded friendly.

"Sister, you know that this could kill her…"

"We will manage this!"

"But…"

I awoke with a start and stared around again. The dream had continued and again seemed so real. Now I was too afraid to close my eyes again, but I could not control myself. The lids began to slide down and I began to sink back…

"We almost have her! It's working my brother, it is working!"

I could see things now. There were bright light bulbs above me, but they were moving slowly, this way and that like leaves in the wind.

"I don't know the state she is in. She may not last long."

The woman hissed. "Don't be so negative!"

"How can I not be? We have gone against everything we have been taught, summoning a human from another world when we are supposed to be learning of the Aeons! What will our teachers think?"

There were faces coming into view. The woman had tanned skin with black hair covering her eyes. She wore a scarf around the bottom half of her face just beneath the nose that wound down around her chest. Her clothes were light brown rags with a number of sashes stretching across from hip to shoulder, each entwining with the other.

The brother of this strict woman looked to be around the same age, somewhere in the teens. He had the same black hair, only it was cut short to curve around his ears and shape around his face neatly. His clothes were the same, only with two simple sashes that were buckled in the centre.

"See, she is fine. Her eyes are opening," the woman explained.

"That does not mean that she is not near death, Marelle."

Marelle slapped her brother crossly in the mouth with lightning speed. "Do not mention our names! If things get out of hand, she will find us easily!"

"Now who is looking at the bad!" her brother retaliated. "You see how dangerous this is now?"

Marelle did not reply this time. Instead, she leaned close to me, her face becoming fully visible now. She had line of freckles across her cheeks from the sun and her eyes were a sparkling green. She was quiet pretty with soft features that did not suit her personality, but as sshe spoke her voice held the edge that frightened me.

"Hello there. How are you feeling?"

I tried to speak. There was a large number of questions in my mind begging to be answered, but my voice would not come to me. I simply choked out a cought and stared with half closed eyes at this strange Marelle girl.

Her brother was much kinder as he pushed himself into my fading sight. "Do not be worried, friend. We are here to help you."

That look in his eyes spelled out the lie for me. They were not here to help me, I knew this, but he seemed concerned for me.

"Would you like to sit up?" he asked, and I saw Marelle stare at him as though he had lost his mind.

I nodded as best I could without losing consciousness, and he propped me up gently. His hand was strong as he held me up and supported me from falling, and as my eyes scanned the surroundings I could hear him whisper to Marelle that I was shaking.

We were in a desert with ruins lying in the sand all around us. Waves of the yellow sea were brought crashing around us on the wind and many giant birds with smoking feathers flew by above us.

"Zu…" I gasped, naming the bird. They had appeared in Final Fantasy X-2, and now I was realising.

"That's right," Marelle said with a forced smile. "Do you know what that means."

I did not want to utter the words, but my pale face seemed to be enough.

"That's right," the brother said with the same kindness he always brought into his voice. "Welcome to Bikanel Desert… Welcome to Spira."

I fainted in his arms without another glance at the impossible world.

"I told you, didn't I? It wasn't safe to do this!"

"She's breathing isn't she? What more do you want? How did you expect her to act?"

"You should not have brought her here!"

"It was your idea as much as mine!"

"I only came along because I knew you would get yourself into trouble!"

"And you joined me."

"I wanted to stop you, not help you, but I…"

"You were curious."

"Well…"

I listened to them argue with my eyes still closed. I was awake now, but had to desire to stare at a world that was not real with a pair of complete strangers who were going at it all of the time for reasons that involved me that I did not understand in the least.

Marelle seemed to think that the brother was just as bad as her, doing whatever they were that sounded like bringing me to this world from my own. He defended himself as well as he could or dared, but when she had said he was curious, he could not bring himself to deny.

I opened my eyes as rage speared through me. It was my turn to yell and scream, because I wanted answers that I was sure they would not give me.

I had been carried into a tent which was really no more than a rag pulled over a few columns of corroded stone that had once been something amazing. The rag was thick and covered the gaps at the top, leaving dull shadows over me. The sunlight blared through some moth-eaten holes in the material and burned my eyes, forcing my head down quickly and reviving the earlier headache. It was intense like a club hitting the back of my skull and I cried out.

A moment later Marelle and her brother appeared beside me and kneeled down to hold me still as I swayed on the spot.

Once I was lying back down again the brother began to speak.

"You need to take It easy. You have been on a long journey and your body may have been damaged."

"Damaged?" I mirrored.

"Yeah," Marelle but in. "We aren't sure yet, but I wouldn't worry if I were you. You seem fine."

"She almost passed out! I don't think…" It seemed the young man wanted to say more, but the argument on the horizon was not tempting to him, so he silenced and change dthe subject. "If you are up to it, I believe we can spare the information you want."

They had pulled me from my world, that was true and obvious. Apparently upon playing the game they located me and pulled me into the desert using the techniques of summoning they had been forced to study. They were monks in a clan called the Seeking Stars, a league of many who studies the old summoning arts, and anything involving other worlds and anything other than Aeons was forbidden.

Marelle lowered her head as she realised that it was her turn to state her sin. "So I needed to get someone from your world, someone with amazing powers to save this world, and that someone turned out to be you."

I had found my voice by this point, and asked immediately, "Why?"

The brother answered this question. "One of the Seeking Stars sons can see the Aeons in his dreams by locating their power left behind form those years past, but lately he has seen you from the power signature you leave behind in your world. It is so strong he felt it here, and my sister here decided to go against the teachings we are asked kindly to stick to and discover what it is you possess."

Marelle was frustrated wither brother and stood his the hem of his shirt twisted in her fist. "What are you doing telling her everything?"

"It's not like she will escape, Marelle!"

"I know, but what if someone finds her here, like the Machine Faction al-bhed that scour ruins like this? She will tell them or our entire plan!"

"But she won't be found." This time the bother sounded as creepy as his sister, and a sinister smile spread across his face. "We are far from anyone here. She has no chance of escape and no chance of being found, and besides, now that she knows everything she can understand that we will not harm her for there is no reason to."

Something in Marelle's eyes told me otherwise. If they thought I was going to trust them, they had another thing coming. I pretended I was not afraid and that I believe things were not that serious like the brother had said, but I knew that there was something about this power they were not telling me about that put me in danger.

I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep and a few moments later I herad the pair shuffling off to argue about what had been said. It got quiet angry and I had to fight to stay awake until it was loud enough for my certainty, and then I ran.

Sliding along the sand with your body pressed to the stinging sands is a painful thing, but it kept me out of sight. I managed to slip around one of the runous rock towers, then as I peered around too see rising cliffs of sand, I found a sharp hill that looked possible to run along. If I was fast enough I could make it, then hopefully I could disappear from the pair in the swirling sands.

As I broke for the hill I could still hear them yelling. It was thick with interruptions and insults, but as soon as It broke off abruptly I knew that my absence had been spotted.

"Where is she?" Marelle screamed.

"There!"

I put all of the energy I had left into my legs and I sprinted up the hill, stumbling and slipping. The sands burned and I cried out as my aching muscles cried out, but I needed to get to the top. Going down would be easy, and from there I was confident with my running skills.

"Hey, get back here! We aren't going to hurt you!" Even though he had been kind before, the boy no longer sounded like a friend. He was a good actor, that was for sure, and his concern for me was clearly mistaken for concern of being caught.

I had reached the top of the hill and launched myself over the edge. My feet barely even touched the sand. Instead my back scraped down, my head slamming into the wall at some points. Above me someone joined the dangerous slide, flinging up sand as they went. I was shocked at the speed of whomever it was and as I tumbled backwards I saw a flash of long black hair and realised it was Marelle.

With a jarring thud I landed on my shoulder in the brick hard sand below. I cried out in pain, realising that I had wither dislocated it or perhaps broken it. Every part of it felt as though it had been split in half, throbbing and burning like crazy, but I could not stop. I pulled myself to me feet, my heart racing with the fear of being caught.

I felt like this was a nightmare, the sort where you are running from enemies you know you cannot escape. There is no thrill, no adrenaline, only raw fear that keeps you running like a hunter animal.

Then I was alone. I had been speeding along the sand for quiet some time now, longer than I had realised, and as I risked a peering glance over my shoulder I realised that the pair were gone, shielded by a storm of raging wind carrying the spiralling sand along.

I bent over and started breathing slowly to slow my heart, but it beat uncontrollably and I felt a blackout coming on. With a shuddering cry I fell to my knees and came to the realisation that I was in the middle of a fantasy desert made real with a pair of psychopaths hunting me, and in moments I would either be unconscious or unable to stand on my own.

"Welcome to Spira alright," I grumbled as I closed my eyes and let the tears of fear and pain fall freely. I would be found, but I had no other option. My energy had depleted almost completely, and thinking about the terrifying situation only seemed to make it worse.