Before you write a whole bunch of nasty reviews saying, "FARIS IS A WOMAN, WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING 'HE'?! DIDN'T YOU EVERY PLAY FFV?!" Yes, I did! Remember, when you first meet Faris, Faris claims to be a man. There's a good reason why Bartz refers to her as a "he".

"I… don't have the strength"

"Bartz! Hold on!"

"Sorry, guys…"

And, so, the darkness overtook my eyes… I felt myself slip away into the nothingness. I continued to hear the faint screams of my friends… But, there was nothing I could do.

Do I have my regrets? Sure. There was so much of the world I hadn't seen yet… So much about my father I still don't know… And, well… probably never will. I won't be able to see Boko's kids grow up either. I was so excited to be an uncle. It didn't feel right that I'd be abandoning my mate at a time like this.

What could I do? I really did try. Sometimes, all the effort in the world just isn't enough.

Imagine my surprise….

When I saw light again.

"Bartz!" I heard my name being called, but by who, I still didn't know. I stirred. My limbs still felt like limp noodles, but I needed to know what was going on. First, a flash of blond had tackled me once more to the ground. It stared blankly at the young girl for a moment. She knew me, but I didn't know her. I looked up and at the other two standing there, and, still, nothing. They were all happy to see me, but I can't say the same.

Were they someone important to me?

"Do I… know you?"

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Instantly, I realized I said something I shouldn't have when a look of pain flashed across their faces. It was for a moment, for the older two, before they quickly covered it up with a mask of happiness and anger. The younger one simply let me go and walked away, keeping her face away from me so I couldn't see it. … Was she crying?

"Ya should, ya bloody sod!" the purple-haired… one quickly shouted in anger before clocking me on the head. Right, give a guy with amnesia a concussion, why don't you? "It ain't ev'ry day you're graced with the presence of the Terror of the High Seas!"

I would think I would remember someone as pretty as that guy, man or woman.

"Oh, Faris," the pink-one interjected. "He may still be confused after what happened. He has been gone for a whole year."

A year?! Did I seriously just hear that right?! Where have I been that I disappeared for a year?! And, why can't I remember anything?!

"What's going on?!" I demanded. "Who are you people? Where the heck am I? And what the heck happened?!"

I didn't exactly appreciate being talked about like I wasn't here. I didn't mean to exactly snap like that, but… a year?

A whole year?

On top of forgetting whatever led up to my disappearance?

I think I deserve answers.

… And, boy did I get them.

They quickly summarized what happened before entire chunks of my memory disappeared.

Of course, I laughed.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interjected. There was no way this story was true. "You're saying that me, a princess, a pirate, and an old coot were the 'chosen saviors of the world' to prevent an ancient evil tree from breaking free of the seal that, get this, my dad helped to make thirty years ago, only to fail and have the tree break out, then go to a completely different world, blow up its crystals, collect the power of nothingness, start destroying the world, have us jump into this 'void' thing, then blow him up only for me to get stuck and disappear for a year?" The three of them nodded their heads. "You're crazy."

There was no way, no way, I could be some hero destined to save the world. I was just a guy, a wanderer, without a home, free to travel the world. The world was fine. I was fine. Everything was fine…

… So, why don't I remember anything? Maybe I'm just in denial at this point.

"Come on, Boko," I called out to my trusted partner. "I'm done with this prank. I'm going to ream you a new one for giving me amnesia, though." I whistled and called, but my faithful bird never came. That never happened. He was always there when I called, except for when a monster attacked.

"Don't ye'geddit yet?" the pirate asked. "Yer bird ain't comin'. 'e's got a wife now n' kids on the way."

"WHAT?!" That was the last thing I could believe. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT?! That's something I think I deserve to know!" The pirate captain rubbed his temples. I saw his lips move but I couldn't make out a thing he said. Judging by the light giggle from Lenna, I assumed it was something funny.

But the fact remained. If Boko wasn't here, and he was always nearby, this story, as completely unbelievable as it was, just had to be true.

Had to be…

A year…

A whole year… Gone. And, I don't know where it went.

"S-So… This Void…" A shiver ran up my spine when I mentioned the word. Was I scared of it? I don't remember, but I think my body did. … Maybe it's better that I forgot. "Is'it gone?"

The pirate shrugged. "S'pose it is. Yer home's back to the way it was 'affor."

What did he mean by that? Back? As in, it was gone?

Gone?!

Did… the Void…

I could actually feel the color drain from my face. It ate Lix. It consumed it… Everyone… Everyone…

Images began to flash before my eyes… Dark spheres slowly descending on the world, taking huge chunks away, leaving nothing but holes where the towns once stood.

And, then Lix…

Oh, Crystals, no.

Not Lix.

Leave it alone!

I wanted to do something, anything, but a memory was a memory, and I was just as powerless now as I was then. Of all the things I had to remember first, why did it have to be that?!

"Bartz!" Lenna called out to him. The three of them grew terribly concerned when his caramel eyes grew wide and started off into nothingness as he grew pale as a sheet. The three were now trying to shake him back into awareness, some more forcefully than others.

"Bartz! What happened?!" Krile asked in desperation.

"Oy! Ya dolt, snap outta it!" Faris demanded with her pirate captain authority.

It was no use. Whatever held Bartz in its icy grip, it wasn't going to release him until it was done with the recently-recovered Light Warrior. Finding no other options, Faris slung the paralyzed Bartz over her shoulder for a little trip on the back of a Wind Drake. In doing so, a little, purple rock tumbled out of his pocket.

Lenna blinked twice at it as the object began to register in her memory. "Wait, is that-"

"Adamantite?" Krile finished, picking it up. "I think so."

Faris adjusted the dead weight on her shoulder before she spoke. "Wha's the lug doin' with'that?"

"Do you suppose he somehow acquired it in the Void?" Lenna asked. She quickly shook her head after the question. "That matters not at this moment. Bartz needs treatment. I propose we see Cid for now as he may be able to help us best."

The other two nodded in agreement. Borrowing Krile's wind drake, it flew as fast as it could toward the Catapult where the last remains of the Ronka Civilization and the genius duo that was Cid and Mid currently spent their lives researching the ancient technology.

This is more of a side-story than anything that I will try to finish before I can get to work again on my main stuff... if Tumblr and Pokemon X/Y doesn't eat all my inspiration.