Note: I once wrote this story about a year ago, but lost interest and stopped. Now I am redoing it, and I'm pretty excited. I hope you guys do, as well. I really do not want any criticism as I know where the faults with my writing lie already... Haha. Basically, this is FFX with a twist, hence the title. It'll be great, I promise. Enjoy!
A long stretch of bright and fresh green grass extended before them, and the girls could not help but scream as they ran. The wind blew their hair out of their faces, and they looked almost angelic. From quite a bit farther away, a boy who was much older than them but still a child himself, stood watch. He doubled-over as he tried to catch his breath; chasing two seven-year-olds in a wide open plain was more difficult than he had expected. "Aimee! Ashlin!"
One of the girls, the brunette, tripped into one of the deep fissures in the ground, but the blonde one continued to run. She seemed to be chasing after a Chocobo. "For the love of Yevon," breathed the boy as he ran toward the brunette. However, she quickly recovered from her fall and followed her friend deeper into the plains. Swearing under his breath, the boy attempted to move even faster and ignore the stitches in his side. The Calm Lands were, for the most part, calm, but that did not mean that fiends did not still come around.
Exiting from a path on the north side of the Calm Lands was a trio of very attention-grabbing men. The one in the center appeared tall because of a large headpiece. He wore a large robe which was made up of large pieces of red-brown, dark brown, and brown cloth that looked somewhat like scales. His long, dark brown hair was tied in a low, pigtail-like style. The weapon that he carried, a golden staff, in addition to his clothing revealed that he was a Summoner. A somewhat serious expression took over his face.
The man standing to his left was muscular and shirtless in order to show off a tattoo symbol (as well, as, presumably, the deep scars that covered his body) that covered his chest. His left arm appeared to be made of metal because of its armor; he wore a pair of large shorts, the left side of which was obscured by an orange piece of cloth with black, vine-like designs at the bottom. His shaggy, medium-length hair was a very deep brown and, coupled with his dark brown eyes and the red scarf tied around his forehead, he looked somewhat like a stereotypical pirate. Oddly enough, this man did not wear any shoes. He looked completely relaxed.
Standing on the other side of the summoner was another muscular man, only he thought well enough to cover himself. His sleek, black hair was tied back in a not-too-long ponytail with a few strands escaping to cover his face. He wore a crimson haori, which was tied around the waist by a large blue obi. A jug was tied to the obi via a thick strand of beads at his right hip. "An Aeon that must be paid off in order to obtain," scoffed the samurai-like man.
The Summoner shrugged. "If he will aid us against Sin, then I cannot complain."
The tattooed man was not paying attention to either of them. He was squinting at the girls, who had stopped in a dark corner of the plains. The blonde girl had long and light-colored hair. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a pair of loose orange pants. The brunette girl had long, deep brown hair with thick bangs that obscured her forehead. She was wearing a blue shirt with darker blue pants. Both children's clothing looked frayed and old. Staring at them from the dark corner were a pair of angry amber eyes. "Those kids... Hey, Auron, Braska! Those kids need our help!" he exclaimed suddenly as a large furry paw with thick claws moved slowly into the light.
"We're almost to the mountain, Jecht," remarked the man in the haori, Auron. "It is pointless to help them if they're alone, anyway. A fiend is bound to get to them."
However, Braska was already moving toward Aimee and Ashlin. "They are children. No child deserves that fate." He did not snap at Auron, but his voice held an undeniable authoritative tone. Both of his guardians knew he was thinking of his own daughter, Yuna, who was about the same age as the girls. A thundara spell escaped from the rod as the Coeurl exited from the shadows and stood over the children, but it glanced right off of the creature. In fact, the only thing it may have done was piss it off.
"Come on, Braska. You know better than that. Let Auron and I take care of it," remarked Jecht as he slid a great black sword with a red vine design whose tip was shaped like an arrowhead. He surged forward with little to no regard for his Summoner as he raised his sword. Auron looked to Braska for confirmation, received a nod, and also ran forward. He threw his katana at the tiger-like creature, succeeding in piercing its side.
The girls looked back at them, startled, as Jecht jumped through the air and brought his sword down on the Coeurl's back. Braska looked up as the preteen boy approached him. "You're... Lord Braska?" asked the boy as if he could not believe what he was saying. He was relieved to be able to relax as Jecht and Auron took care of the girls.
Braska smiled warmly at the boy. "Yes, I am. And you are...?"
"Sorry." The boy doubled over in a bow. "Jaidan. Your guardians, they're helping my little sisters..."
"Oh. So they are not alone?"
Jaidan bit down on his lip. "I wouldn't say that. The brunette is my actual sister. The blonde one, Ashlin, she's not exactly my sister. Her mother was a close friend to my mom, but... stuff got complicated when a serious Yevonite found out."
"Hmm... So Ashlin, she is...?"
"An Al Bhed," mumbled Jaidan. "But she's really good, and her mother was, too. She and my mother were both killed by Sin..." Suddenly embarrassed, Jaidan straightened up and rubbed the back of his head. "What am I saying? You don't want to hear my story. You're a busy, important man. I'm really sorry."
Braska chuckled – bitterly, not humorously - because of the fact that a twelve-year-old was taking care of his two younger sisters because Sin had taken away their parents. "No, I don't mind, really. It's a very good reminder for why I am doing what I am doing. Where is your father? Is he not around?" He noticed that, in the distance, Auron and Jecht had fallen the Coeurl. The brunette was currently riding on Jecht's shoulders while Auron was, begrudingly, holding Ashlin's hand.
"My father, uh..." Again, Jaidan rubbed the back of his head. "My father was not pleased about what my mother had been doing. He hates the Al Bhed and refused to let Ashlin or her mother live with us. When my mother refused to kick them out, he kicked her out in return. But Aimee and I didn't want to lose Ash, her mother, or our own mother so we went with them. I went to see him in Bevelle recently, and he said that Aimee and I were more than welcome to stay... without Ash. So, since Sin killed our parents, we've been on our own."
The displeasure in Braska's eyes was ill-concealed. "For how long?"
"A few years," replied Jaidan. "But we're alright. Except, they've never seen the Calm Lands before or Chocobos running around, so they got away from me today... If it weren't for you and your guardians... Praise be to Yevon," he concluded with a weak, nervous smile.
"I am sorry for your losses," apologized Braska. "But, I promise, I will destroy Sin very soon."
Jaidan bowed once more and repeated, "Praise be to Yevon!"
"Are these yours?" Auron asked of Jaidan with a dry tone.
Jecht crouched down and let Aimee off of his shoulders; she ran to her older brother and tugged on his pant leg. "I like them. Can we play a little longer?"
Jaidan shook his head. "No, Ai. These are very important men; they have to move on." Even as he spoke, Jecht let Ashlin on his shoulders and began to run around, as the little girl said, "Like a Chocobo!"
Aimee nodded and shyly approached Braska. She put her arms behind her back and looked up at him with bright blue eyes. "You're going to bring the Calm soon, right?"
Braska smiled and crouched down to pat the girl on her head. "Yes, very soon," he promised.
"Yay!" Aimee turned toward her brother. "Then, maybe we can go back home?" Jaidan shook his head. "Oh..." The girl slowly brought her eyes back down to the grass.
Jaidan smiled at Braska. "I guess, maybe, that much won't change for us once Sin is gone... But at least the threat of it will be gone, and our parents will have been avenged."
Jecht had returned in time to hear this. As he set Ashlin down on the ground, he remarked, "Maybe once we beat Sin we can come back." At this, the two girls rejoiced.
"We wanna learn that Slimy Magnet Jecht..." Ashlin's eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to remember the name. "The..."
"The Jecht Shot," replied the man with a grin. "I can see the two of you being really good at Blitzball. You should practice and when we come back, then I'll teach you. Sound good?" Again, the girls rejoiced. Auron did something close to rolling his eyes.
Braska bowed to Jaidan. "We must get on our way, but I wish you the best of luck. Praise be to Yevon, Jaidan." Auron began to move forward, but Ashlin had attached herself to his leg.
"What is this?" demanded Auron with impatience.
"We wanna play just a little longer. Please?" requested Ashlin, her large green eyes widened. This did not encourage Auron; Jecht stared at the girl with interest.
Jaidan plucked the girl off of Auron's leg and grabbed his sister's hand when it looked like she was about to attach herself to Jecht. "No, no. We'll go play back in the spring in the forest. How's that sound?" The girls seemed slightly more inclined to leave the men alone at their brother's words. "Good luck," he called as Braska and his guardians set off.
Jecht smirked back at him. "No such thing as luck, kid. Just skill!" Once they were out of earshot of the children, he began, "So... that girl's eyes..."
"She is Al Bhed," remarked Auron, who had obviously expected the question.
"What?" replied Jecht as he looked toward Braska. "But Yuna's part Al Bhed, and her eyes..."
Braska shook his head. "Correction, Yuna is half Al Bhed. Because of that, she has heterochromia. One of her eyes is green, like the Al Bhed eyes but without the spiral, and the other is blue. Much like myself and my late wife, those three are looked down upon by most of Spira."
"Explains why they're wandering in the Calm Lands," murmured Auron. "He should be more responsible if he's taking care of two younger children. Fiends are everywhere, and allowing those children to run around is foolish and irresponsible."
Braska smiled a little. "You judge him so harshly, Auron; he is just a child himself."
Jecht frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not right. Kids barely scraping by and raising other kids... I can't imagine Tidus being in that kid's place... and I don't want to."
"That's the reality of this world. Sin makes children orphans, and they are forced to live on the streets of Bevelle. It is sad, but true. Of course, this situation is a little different..." trailed off Braska. "However, it adds to my determination. No matter what, I will defeat Sin; I don't care what it takes."
Finally, Jecht stopped moving all together. "It's not right. Those kids, they don't got nothing. It won't kill us to put off the trip to the mountain another day, right? They need somebody."
Braska also stopped and Auron, grudgingly, followed suit. Jecht did not know how correct he was and, maybe, Braska thought, helping those kids would give his heart the strength it took to ascend the mountain and march his final steps to death. "You are right," he agreed, surprising the hell out of Auron.
"What?" demanded Auron. "My lord..."
Jecht pumped his fist in the air and turned back toward the children, who were still wandering the Calm Lands. "Yo, wait up!" Then, he started back toward them.
"But why?" asked Auron.
Braska smiled a little. "Jecht... will likely never return home and see his son. I hope that this will help him, in some way."
Auron understood, but he did not want to. "Alright, but we should leave early tomorrow. I suppose we would not want to climb the mountain at night anyway..."
Braska flashed a true grin at Auron. "My thanks, Auron." Then, they joined Jecht, who was demonstrating Blitzball with a ball that he had in his pack.