Mythology
Chapter One: Children's Stories
By PasifiKStaR
Author's Note: Yes, it's another AU. -_-;; This is probably going to be the most confusing story I've ever written. If you read it and have no idea what's going on or are immediately turned away by the first few pages, I'm sorry. I'm just writing for fun. But thank you for stopping by! On a side note, a Janisary (sp) was, I guess you would call it, a class of Turkish soldiers that dealt with explosives during the Ottoman Empire.
*All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy (or the Ninja Turtles).
"Mommy! Mommy! Hurry, let's GO! Let's GO!!" Rinoa tugged on her mother's dress. Her large brown eyes looked up at the beautiful woman as they headed up the drive way to Rinoa's babysitter's house.
"I know, honey, I know..." Julia said with a warm smile. She pried Rinoa's hands off her dress and then took them into her own. They jogged up the hill to the quaint house, all the while holding hands. As they walked up the pathway to the front lawn, a shiny new silver luxury sedan pulled up to the house.
"It's Quisty!" Rinoa cheered loud. She jumped up and down, dressed in her baby blue overalls and her white shirt with the angel wings on her back. Her short dark brown hair was parted down the middle and in pig tails as she made her mother stop on the brick pathway. "Wait! We have to wait for her!"
One of the back seat doors opened and a little girl with braided blond hair half way down her back, stepped out of the car. She held a small black bag over her shoulder as she dusted off her navy blue and white private school uniform.
"Your father will pick you up on Monday, Quistis," her mother's sultry voice said from the driver's seat of her car. "Have a good weekend at Matron Edea's."
"Yes, mother." Quistis said. She bowed her head once at her mother before closing the door. As she stepped back, her mother drove away, leaving the eight year old girl standing there alone.
"Quisty!" Rinoa's high pitched voice sounded. Quistis turned around and her solemn face filled with joy.
"Rin! Auntie Julia!" Quistis gushed with joy as she ran forward. Her plaid overalls reached her knees as crisp white socks and shiny black shoes hit the ground.
"Hello, Quistis!" Julia said. She offered her other hand to the little blond, who took it ecstatically. "Are you excited? It's your first weekend here."
"It's our first sleep over, isn't it, Quisty!?" Rinoa asked energetically.
Quistis nodded. "Yes! I brought my new night gown and some books and my doll!"
"I brought my chocobo yellow pajamas, my coloring book, AND..." Rinoa let go of her mother's hand as she dug through her vinyl back pack. "THIS!"
Quistis' blue eyes went wide and she pushed her thin glasses up her nose. "Whoa..."
"Oh yeah..." Rinoa smirked proudly. "64 colors..."
"It's like a rainbow..." Quistis mumbled as Rinoa waved the new pack of crayons in front of her.
Julia sighed and shook her head. "All right, girls, let's go," she said. "I bet Selphie's already there, waiting for you."
"Selphie!!" Rinoa and Quistis shouted. They immediately abandoned Julia on the pathway as they raced up the steps to their sitter's house. Quistis, being the taller of the two, quickly pressed the door bell. "Ring it more!"
"They'll hear us the first time," Quistis assured her. Just as Julia reached them the door opened and a kindly woman dressed in a dark colored one piece dress appeared. "Matron!"
"Matron!!!" Rinoa shrieked as well.
"My, you girls are certainly active this afternoon," Edea chuckled. Her long black hair went straight down her back as she opened the door and let the three of them in. "Julia, tell me you didn't give Rinoa any sugar."
"Of course not!" Julia gasped, pretending to be shocked. She smiled. "But since you reminded me...Rinoa, honey, do you want some chocolate?"
"YES!" Rinoa shouted as she turned to her mother.
Edea sighed and shook her head. "I shouldn't have said anything..." she chuckled. "Selphie! Selphie, the others are here!"
"Whoo-hoo!!" a voice shouted from the living room and out shot a yellow clad little girl with short brown hair and large green eyes. She was holding two action figures, one in either hand. She was barefoot and her yellow shirt had a few stains on it. "Hi!"
"Hi!" the other two little girls waved energetically as Selphie joined them.
"All right," Julia said. "Rinoa, I'm going to go back now. BEHAIVE."
"Of course!" the little brunette replied, mischief written all over her face.
"Oh, Hyne..." Julia sighed. She turned to Edea. "Edea, if she does ANYTHING wrong, just call us and I'll pick her up."
Edea chuckled and nodded. "Of course, Julia, but you know they're perfect angels."
"See, mommy? You heard Matron! I'm an angel," Rinoa said as she began to try to turn her mother around and push her out the door. "You can leave now!"
"My, aren't WE pushy..." Julia said with a raised eyebrow.
"Mom...!" Rinoa whined.
"Okay, okay..." Julia said. "I'll see you on Sunday, Edea. Bye, girls!"
"BYE!!" the trio shouted. Julia walked out the door and Rinoa let out a hoot. "Yeah! Let's go play!!"
"I brought all my entire set of Ninja Turtles!" Selphie shout energetically. "Quistis, you be Splinter!"
"I don't want to be a rat!" the upscale blonde scoffed in horror.
"But he's all knowing!" Rinoa insisted. "You HAVE to be Splinter! You're the smart one!"
Flattered, Quistis nodded. "Oh...okay then..."
Rinoa snickered as Quistis followed Selphie into the living room where she had set up an entire area with books and couch cushions as their battle field. Rinoa looked up at Matron. "Works every time..."
Edea giggled and ushered her into the room with the other girls. "So what do you girls want to eat for dinner?" Selphie opened her mouth to reply, but Edea cut her off. "Selphie, your grandma said no more macaroni."
"Fine..." Selphie sighed.
"Matron, can you make spaghetti?" Rinoa said. "It's my FAVORITE!"
"Yes, spaghetti is good!" Quistis said. Selphie nodded.
Edea looked at the trio who now sat all over the floor of her living room with concern. The last time they had eaten spaghetti, the girls had played with their food and Selphie even went so far as to put her bowl on her head and proclaim she was blond 'like Quisty'.
"Um..." Edea said. "Anything ELSE?"
"No, spaghetti is good."
Edea sighed. "All right...but let's not have a remake of LAST time." The girls snickered and nodded obediently.
"Matron!" Quistis said before the woman headed to the kitchen. "Matron, will you tell us one of your stories tonight?"
"Yeah! The one about the ancient city with the prince and stuff!" Selphie added.
"You mean the Centra myths?" Edea asked. Quistis nodded. Edea was originally from Centra and when she had begun to baby-sit the trio, she had told them the stories from when she was a child. She smiled proudly. "Do you really like them?"
"They're the bestest!" Rinoa said loudly. Edea laughed and nodded.
"All right. At bedtime, I'll tell you the story-"
"I want a LONG story!" Selphie said. "Tell it to us while we're eating!"
Edea raised an eyebrow, but smiled and nodded. "All right, dear. I'll tell you a long one."
"The Centra we know today isn't the Centra that was so thousands of years ago. So keep this in mind," Matron said as she put bowls of spaghetti in front of each of the girls. "This means that there were no cars. No electricity. No Ninja Turtles." she added.
Selphie giggled and began to dig into her bowl. Quistis was carefully wrapping the noodles around her fork and Rinoa was poking at it. "That's okay. They're still good." Selphie asserted.
Edea chuckled. "All right...where should I start?"
"The fall Centra!" Rinoa stated loudly. "That's my favoritest story!"
"Yes, yes...but start eating."
"Okay..." Rinoa sighed. She opened her mouth and began to eat.
"The fall of Centra's ancient capitol happened thousands of years ago-"
"Before you?" Selphie asked cautiously. Edea raised an eyebrow at Selphie.
"Yes, Selphie, before me..." she sighed. "It was right around the area where I lived as a child. The ancient city was then just called Centra, after the country. It was ruled by a king and queen and their adopted son was the heir.
For hundreds of years, the city and Centra itself was considered untouchable to the other countries. But over the years the other kingdoms grew jealous and so they mounted armies to come and invade the prosperous nation. So the Prince rode out with his entourage, which included his cousin, who was born into the warrior class of their world.
Together, they defeated the invading nations and returned to Centra in victory. It was when they returned that the Prince was told that it was time for him to get married. Of course, being the rebellious spirit that he was, he blatantly refused and sought shelter with his friends."
"Who were his friends again?" Selphie asked. She had sauce all over her face and Matron reached out of wipe her.
"The Lady was his cousin, then there was her body guard. Then there was that guy from the royal guard, the janisary, and the temple boy." Edea said.
"What's a janisary...?" Rinoa said as she slurped up a noodle.
"It's a soldier who works with explosives and ammunition." Quistis replied.
"Cool! He can make things blow up!" Selphie piped.
"He did more than that, Selphie," Edea said. "Shall I continue?"
"Yes!" the trio chorused.
"Well, the royal guard's cousin was a young woman who worked at her uncle's store. She worked there with two childhood friends. The daughter of a philosopher at the Academy and the daughter of a General."
"My dad's a general!" Rinoa piped.
Edea smiled and nodded. "Yes, and like your father, he was always off at war to protect his country," Rinoa smiled proudly. "When the Prince met the three girls, he fell in love with the wise daughter of the philosopher. But she thought him nothing but an arrogant, ignorant man."
Quistis nodded. "He was probably spoiled, too." The other two girls giggled.
"And spoiled he was, for he pursued her. And then, one day, without her knowledge, he announced to all of Centra that he was going to marry her."
"Without her knowing!?" Quistis gasped in horror. "That...that..."
"Meanie!" Rinoa concluded.
"Yes! That meanie!" Quistis insisted.
"What did the wise daughter do?" Selphie asked.
"The wise daughter had a lot of pride and she had secretly developed affection for him in the time that he pursued her. So she agreed, knowing that he would need help ruling the country and she would be able to help him." Edea told them.
"Figures..." Quistis sighed. "Boys are stupid."
"Yeah, they're icky..." Selphie giggled.
"What about his friends, Matron?" Rinoa asked. She was now picking stray spaghetti off the table.
"Well, his cousin supposedly ran off with her body guard after she was to marry another man," Edea said. "And Rinoa, don't eat those."
"Sorry..."
"The janisary fell in love, too, right Matron?" Selphie asked.
"He fell in love with his friend's, the royal guard's, cousin. The shopkeeper," Edea continued. "It was a friendly love and they were very easy going around each other."
"What about the temple boy?" Rinoa asked.
"Rinoa likes the temple boy!" Selphie piped. Rinoa blushed and shook her head wildly.
"I do not!" Rinoa gasped, horrified that Selphie even said such a thing.
"She's blushing!" Quistis concluded. "She must really like him!"
"Stop it! No I don't!" Rinoa fumed.
"Girls, stop..." Edea told them. "Rinoa does not like the temple boy."
"See!?" Rinoa pouted.
"But even if she did, it is understandable," Edea smiled. "He was a sweet young man, callused by life. He seemed cold and nothing more but a diligent warrior and priest, but many women fell for him."
"Why would they fall in love with someone like that?" Selphie frowned. "Especially if he's cold and mean."
"He was a boy of good family and was highly respected. Many families wanted their daughters to marry him," Edea told them. "But he didn't love any of them and ignored them."
"So what happened?" Rinoa asked, now finishing up her food.
"One night he was going to light the torch in the temple when he found the General's daughter lost within. She had been looking for her friends when she took a wrong turn. They say that they fell in love the moment they met and that when their eyes met, a star flew across the sky." Edea recited.
The girls were now all staring at her in wonder. "Wow..." they chorused.
"Are you girls done with dinner?"
"YES!"
"All right, why don't you go play while I clean up?" Edea asked. "I'll finish the story at bed time."
Rinoa stood in front of the mirror, standing on a step stool as she brushed her teeth. Next to her, Quistis was brushing her teeth and by the toilet, was Selphie, also brushing her teeth. Rinoa smiled into the mirror and then spat out the minty white foam.
She reached for her towel and wiped her face. "What do you think happened to the city of Centra?"
Quistis spat out the foam and put her tooth brush away. "I think that it's buried somewhere beneath Centra. I heard that a big part of it became a desert a long time ago."
"You think it's there?" Rinoa asked. Quistis nodded.
"Wef haf ta oo dar um dai!" Selphie said. The other two girls looked at her.
"Spit it out, Selphie..." Quistis sighed.
Selphie spit out the tooth paste and smiled. "I said I think that we have to go there some day."
"Oh..." the girls chorused and nodded. Selphie hopped off the toilet, where she had been standing on, dressed in green pajamas with Michelangelo, the Ninja Turtle plastered on her chest. They were undoubtedly BOYS' pajamas, but she didn't care.
"Let's go!" Rinoa said as she walked out the door. "Matron's going to finish the story! I want to know what happens."
"But you already know what happens." Quistis said, dressed in a frilly pink night gown and little matching pink slippers.
"Then I want to know what happens AGAIN!" Rinoa insisted. She raced off into the large bed that the three of them would sleep in that night. Matron was already there, pulling a chair close to the bed when Rinoa leapt into the air, using a technique she had learned in ballet, and into the bed.
"Rinoa!" Edea gasped as the girl landed into the soft, fluffy mounds of pillows and blankets. She grinned lopsidedly as she appeared from underneath the comforter only to be tackled by Selphie. "Selphie!"
"Whee!" Selphie squealed loudly. She and Rinoa laughed as they scrambled for the best spots on the bed. Selphie got the middle and Rinoa got the side closest to Matron. That meant that the other side was left for Quistis.
"Oh, man..." the little blond pouted, her hair having been brushed straight. "Why do I get the end?"
"First come first serve!" Rinoa grinned. The blond grumbled and crawled into the large bed.
"Shall I begin?" Edea asked as they snuggled into the bed. They all began to nod their heads, when Selphie gasped.
"Wait!" she gasped. "I left Michelangelo in the bathroom! Let me get him!" Selphie scrambled out of the bed, much to the annoyance of the other two. She fell off the foot of the bed with a thump. "I'm fine!" she stated loudly as she quickly got up and raced out the door.
"What's so good about mutant turtles?" Quistis mumbled. "I don't get it?"
"They fight crime," Rinoa answered, as if it were so obvious. "And eat pizza."
Quistis squinted her eyes and gave Rinoa a look of confusion. Just then, Selphie raced back in, holding her favorite action figure with the nunchuku. "Ta-da!" she shouted as she jumped back into the bed. She scurried back to her spot. "Thanks for not stealing my space, Quisty." she said with a cheesy grin.
Quistis then realized that she could've. "Fudge!" she frowned. The other two giggled and Edea dimmed the lights slightly.
"All right," Edea said with a warm smile. "Rinoa, did you want to find out what happened to the temple boy?"
"Yeah, your boyfriend..." Selphie coaxed. Rinoa flushed and shook her head.
"Selphie, don't tease her," Edea scolded. Selphie snickered, but nodded her head. "Well, one night, while he was in the observatory reading the stars, the General's daughter came in. They talked for a while and she found out that he could tell her if she was lucky or not based on the day she was born. So, being the curious girl that she was, told him. But it turns out that she was unlucky."
"Aww..." Rinoa frowned.
"How?" Quistis asked.
"He said that she was born under an unlucky star."
Quistis snorted slightly. "That's not real," she shrugged. "The stars can tell you if you're lucky or not. They're just balls of burning gas billions of miles away. Some of which might actually have burnt out by the time their light reaches here-"
"Quistis," Edea said, her tone slightly scolding. "This is a myth...a story," the woman chuckled warmly. "Aren't you thinking too much into it?"
Quistis blushed and nodded. "She has to," Rinoa grinned. "She's the smart one."
Edea sighed. "Well, one night, on the eve of the Prince and the wise daughter's wedding, there was a grand celebration at the palace. All their friends were there."
"Did they wear pretty dresses?" Rinoa asked. Edea nodded. "And dance?" Edea nodded once more.
"The prince and his beloved danced for hours. Just before they were to end the celebration, he presented her with beautiful jewelry box he himself had excavated on one of their campaigns," Edea said. "It was an elaborate metal box, carved with intricate words - words from a world long gone. It had a lock on it and he admitted that he couldn't find the key, but it was so beautiful, he had to give it to her."
"Did she open it?" Selphie asked, her eyes wide.
Edea shook her head. "She thanked him and went to show it to her friends. When the General's daughter reached out and touched it, it's crystal lock began to glow and she jumped back. The wise daughter dropped the box and screamed as began to crackle with unholy light.
The king sent his guards to stop it as the prince ran to his beloved and held her protectively against him. The shopkeeper girl ran to the janisary who loved her and called to the General's daughter, telling her to retreat. But her eyes, the General's daughter's eyes, were transfixed on the glowing box.
She couldn't hear the sound of the temple boy's words as he ran towards her, desperately stretching out his hand to grab her. She reached out and touched the box once more as it floated in front of them, spewing out dark colored light. The lid slowly opened to reveal a deep red lining and a hazy black ball.
The black ball was smoking and glowing slightly. All around the General's daughter, soldiers were trying to fight it back as it rose into the air. It hovered over her and she lifted her head to look up at it. People were shouting and vacating the palace. Her friends tried to get to her, but were held back by an impossibly strong wind tunnel.
She stood alone, staring up at the glowing ball of light. Suddenly, it flew down, throwing itself into her chest. Her eyes went wide as she let out a scream."
*CRASH!* The girls screamed suddenly as they heard thunder outside. Edea stopped her story and turned around. "Oh, dear..." she said.
The three girls huddled in the middle of the bed, hugging Selphie. "Matron, what's that?" Selphie said in a tearful voice.
"What happened!?" Rinoa piped as she hugged Selphie.
Edea went to the window and closed the blinds and then the curtains over it. "It's all right girls," she assured them with a small smile. "It's just the rain."
There was another loud crash and the girls jumped. "It's just...thunder..." Quistis stammered nervously. "No need to be scared..."
"Then why are you still clinging on to Selphie?" Rinoa asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Even Edea had to laugh as Quistis threw her arms off the little green eyed girl. "Ahem..." Quistis said as she tired to regain her composure. "Please continue, Matron."
"Of course, Quistis," the woman smiled. "Settle down girls."
"We're settled!"
"What happened to the General's daughter?" Rinoa asked as she reluctantly let go of her friend.
"Yeah, what was that black ball of smoke?" Selphie added.
"That was the magical spirit of an ancient sorceress," Edea said, moving her hands over them to add to the effect. "Many years before, she was sealed away into a magic box. Whoever opened the box would be the next sorceress and she would take their body and use it as her own!"
"Oh no!" Rinoa gasped.
"So the General's daughter became evil?" Selphie asked. Edea nodded.
"What happened to her?" Quistis asked in a quiet voice.
"The ancient sorceress took over the General's daughter's body so that she was now the evil sorceress. They say that the night that she returned, it rained because the world was crying. And it was because that for a whole year, the sorceress let loose all her powers on the world to bring it into submission." Edea explained.
"How did they beat her?" Selphie whispered. Outside, they could hear the sounds of the rain falling.
"The prince took his entourage and vowed to bring down the sorceress. His wife was in tears, knowing that if he killed the sorceress, he would kill her best friend. The General's daughter had been like everyone's sister in the short time she had known them and they cared for her greatly. For the temple boy, she was his true love.
Despite the issues at hand, what needed to be done, had to be done and so the group trekked on to find the sorceress. When they found her, they fought for five days and five nights and on the fifth night she was finally beaten."
"She DIED!?" Rinoa gasped.
"You knew she was going to," Quistis said with a roll of her eyes. "You've heard the story a ton of times!"
"Quisty, shh!" Rinoa said, bringing her index finger to her lips.
"How did she die again, Matron?" Selphie asked.
"It was her lover, the temple boy, who killed her," Edea said softly, in a sad voice. "He faced her alone at the very top of her palace. He begged the sorceress to let his beloved go, but the sorceress only replied that she was his beloved. As she laughed at him, he fell to his knees in anguish. It was then that the spirit of the General's daughter broke through and begged him to kill her.
He didn't want to, but she begged him to end her pain. While the two souls were fighting for the one body, the temple boy shoved his sword into her chest. She died in his arms but her body turned to ashes. The moment that the sorceress entered her body, she had died. The temple boy wanted to die as well, but the prince and the others refused to let him.
He swore to protect Centra and the world that his beloved cared for so deeply that when he died, he said that he would come back whenever he was needed. And the prince and his entourage said that if he came back, so would they."
"So then what happened?" Rinoa asked.
"Then, the three little girls went to sleep," Edea said with a warm laugh. The girls let out a series of groans. She went around the bed, tucking them in, before she turned off the lights. "Good night, dears."
"Good night, Matron!" they chorused. The woman moved the chair back to where it was in the corner of the room and then left the room. She closed the door behind her.
"Do you think that she'll come back?" Rinoa whispered in the dark.
"Who?" Selphie asked.
"The sorceress!"
"If she does, that means that the prince and his entourage will come, too," Quistis said. "I'd like to meet them."
"But it's just a story," Selphie said with a yawn. "It's a myth...right?"
Quistis nodded and snuggled into the bed as her eyes grew heavy. "A myth... always has some basis on reality..."
Fifteen Years Later
"All right!" a high pitched voice shouted as two skinny arms were raised. A young woman directed four men to lift up a heavy stone box on a stretcher. "Keep it steady! Let's get this over to the research tent!"
The sun was beating down in the desert as a series of tents, trucks, and equipment lined an area by a small well. Beneath the largest tent was a platform where a bunch of computer equipment was kept. Tables lined the area as the well set up shelter withstood the blistering desert night winds.
Down the dusty path way was the residence tents, most were set for groups while others were set for lone individuals. Individuals like the lead archeological historian, Doctor Quistis Trepe, who was leading the research over the dig.
"Quistis!" another voice shouted. A beautiful blond twenty three year old woman looked up from the computer she was using to do a three dimensional scan of an ancient vase. She was wearing beige khakis, work boots, and a dark pink T-shirt. Her straight blond hair was swept up into a bun while two bangs framed her pretty face.
She adjusted her glasses as she looked towards the entrance of a tent where a young woman wearing jeans and a black tank top and hiking boots was waving. "Is it out?" Quistis asked.
"Yep, Selphie's having them bring it in," the dark haired girl with the brown eyes answered. "Where do you want it?"
"Umm..." Quistis looked around the somewhat crowded tent. "Help me move these cables!" she said. She stood up off her chair and along with the other girl, moved aside some cables from lights and equipment. "All right, Rin, have her bring it in."
"Selphie!" Rinoa called out. She began to pin the flap of the door way to the side as she looked out. "Selphie! You can bring it in now!"
"All right, you heard her!" Selphie shouted. She was dressed in a pith helmet, khaki shorts and a yellow shirt underneath a long sleeve, white cotton shirt. She had boots on and was waving in some men who were carrying a large box.
"Careful," Rinoa said as they walked past her. They put it on the ground gently. "All right, guys! Thanks!"
"That's it for today guys!" Selphie added. "Get some rest!" The four men who were carrying the box left and Selphie removed her helmet. She grinned as she knelt next to the box. It was about three feet by two feet, but was carved from stone, so it was relatively heavy. Ivory handles were all around the box.
Quistis knelt down next to it and gently touched it's sides. "Wow..." she murmured. She smiled widely, unable to contain herself. "We finally found it."
"The Centra Tablets..." Rinoa said as she joined them. "I can't believe we found them."
"Researchers have been looking for these for years," Quistis mumbled as she caressed the dusty handles. "And we go digging and not only find the tombs to Centra's greatest warriors, but the entire city AND the fabled tablets. It's like a dream."
"Well...?" Selphie said as she looked at the other three. "Let's open it!"
"Hold on," Quistis said. "I want do to a scan of it first. Then we can open it up."
"Okay..." Selphie sighed. She looked back down at the white stone box and giggled. "I wonder what Matron would say if she saw this."
"She'd say she told us so, that's what," Rinoa grinned as she sat down next to Quistis. "She'd say that Centra was real and that her stories weren't just stories."
"Myths are always based on something..." Quistis said. "Hand me that brush...let's start dusting this so I can get it scanned in by tonight."
"Right." Selphie handed out brushes to the other girls and kept one for herself. Together, they began to dust away and clean the area on the carved sides of the box. Quistis insisted that she wanted as much dirt gone as possible so that the scanner could read it better.
After three hours, the sun had set and Rinoa turned one the bright lights within the tent. The light shone on the box as Selphie and Quistis brought the a scanner over. Quistis began to slowly walk around the box, shining the scanner light over it as Selphie monitored it's progress on the computer.
Rinoa stood by the door way when someone walked in and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and smiled. "Yes, Nida? What is it?"
"Dinner's being served in the mess hall," he reported. He looked over at the box and let out a whistle. "Looks heavy."
"It IS heavy," Selphie said. "Okay, Quistis, we got it!"
"Great," Quistis said with a smile. "Set up a new scan so I can get the top panels."
"Right," Selphie said. "Hey, Nida, we'll grab something to eat as soon as we finish this and lock it up."
"Do you need help?" Nida asked. "I can get some of the guys to come by-"
"Relax, we can handle it," Rinoa assured him. "Don't worry."
"All right, but if you guys need any help, just come by." Nida said. The girls nodded and Quistis put the scanner down.
"It's all been scanned. How did it come out, Selphie?" she asked. She walked over to the computer and Rinoa followed.
"Wow, that's really good," Rinoa commented thoughtfully. "You can barely make out any of the dust."
"Well, we did spend a lot of time cleaning it." Selphie giggled.
"Okay, let's get this thing packed up and grab some food!" Quistis said. The girls pushed the box over to a secluded area in the tent. Rinoa went to the controls and began to type in the code for the security system on that particular tent. There were only three people who had the access code - her, Quistis and Selphie.
"The alarm is on," Rinoa said. "Is it in place?"
Quistis finished setting up four metal, knee high poles around the box. She turned on the switch on each of them and watched as dozens of little red lasers flew across the box. "All set!"
"Great!" Selphie said as she locked up the rest of the equipment. Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed her stomach. "I'm starving! Let's go eat!"
The trio walked out of the tent and waited for Quistis to seal the door and lock it. They had the latest technology from a company in Esthar. It seemed that the owner was an alumni of Quistis and Rinoa's university and was heavy interested in Centran mythology. When Quistis proposed a search to find part of the ancient city, half of academia laughed at her. The other half claimed it couldn't be done.
But the President of Esthar, a kind middle aged man, gladly poured out the money and supplies for the research project. As a result, they had not only the best research equipment, but also the best security system. The entire area was laced with a high sensor security system that was constantly recorded by Esthar satellites.
Quistis slipped her key card into her pocket and turned to the other two. "So...what's for dinner? It better not be hot dogs again. Hyne, I'm so sick of hot dogs..."
The girls giggled. "I think that we're having spaghetti," Rinoa recalled. "I hope we get there before all the sauce is gone."
"Ugh...last time we got there too late and we were stuck with DRY spaghetti..." Quistis frowned.
"Hopefully, they learned from last time and have saved a lot for us," Selphie said cheerfully. Up ahead, they could hear the voices of the volunteers and assistant researchers in the mess hall. "The party's already started!" Selphie gasped.
"Better, hurry, else you won't get to join in on the fun." Quistis said jokingly.
Selphie let out a gasp of horror and shot from the group to the mess hall up the path. Quistis shook her head. "Now look what you did...she ditched us." Rinoa sighed. Quistis shrugged.
"Let her join the fun," Quistis said. "She spent quite some time working in the caves down the hill supervising the recovery of the box."
"Hmm..." Rinoa thought for a moment. "You know...we haven't really celebrated finding the Centra Tablets..."
Quistis raised her eyebrow. "What exactly are you planning?"
"I have a bottle of wine in my tent...I think now would be a good time to... um...put it to good use." she said with a smirk. Quistis grinned.
"That does sound good..."
"I'll be right back!" Rinoa said as she turned around. "I'll bring the wine to the mess hall! You have the glasses ready!"
"Glasses? You mean the plastic cups!?" Quistis laughed.
"Whatever!" Rinoa shouted over her shoulder as she ran back down the path. Quistis sighed and shook her head. As she turned around her shivered slightly. A cold wind blew through the desert and she looked around warily.
"I better tell the others to brace their tents..." she mumbled to herself as she headed towards the mess hall. *It's going to be a windy night.*
Rinoa walked down the path. Her tent was slightly down the hill, close to the research tent. The dust covered her black boots as she walked down the light bulb lit pathway. She smiled to herself as she looked up at the beautiful crescent moon that hung in the sky and began to think about how they had gotten to where they were now.
Quistis was a child prodigy. When she was three, she was already attending school and by fourteen, started her undergraduate years in college. Three years later, she graduated with full honors and was accepted into a graduate school, where she attained her Ph.D. and became a professor in ancient studies.
Selphie had done so-so in high school and amazingly got into a top university. She claimed it was all her extra curricular activities. She got her bachelor of arts degree in folk and religious studies before she went on to work at non profit organizations in Deling City.
Rinoa, the child of a Galbadian General and a pop icon, was the most rebellious of the three. After her mother died, she and her father drifted apart. She went to a private school and then college, where she had attained her degree in music and education. She had just gotten into graduate school and was under Quistis' mentorship.
When she did, Selphie mentioned that it would've been great if they could actually find out the truth about the fall of Centra. Within a few months, Quistis prepared a plan and then, a year later, they had almost miraculously found the archeological find of the century, if not the millennia.
Rinoa smiled proudly, knowing she had some part in it. As she reached her tent, she ducked down to get to the flap entrance. As she did so, a white light caught the corner of her eye. She paused and slowly straightened her back. She narrowed her eyes as she saw a light moving amongst the half unearthed ruins below.
She looked over her shoulder and debated if she should call someone. She shook her head and dashed into her tent. She took out a flash light and a weapon she had taken up while in college. She fastened it to her arm and secured it on.
A second later, she stuck her head out the flap of her tent and slowly snuck outside. The wind was starting to pick up around her and she made a mental note to hurry back as soon as she did a quick check of the ruins. Quistis had warned her about the desert night winds.
It took her a few minutes to finally reach the ruins of the city. While the research camp itself was up hill, by a well at the foot of rock mountains, the ancient city was buried beneath sand and dirt lower down. When Rinoa reached it, she could no longer see a light wandering around, but knew where had been.
Cautiously, she held her valkyrie up as she shined her flash light around the paths that had been dug out to get to the ruins. She slowly made her way to the temple, where she had seen the light last. Even in the darkness, she knew the general outline of the city, as if she was home.
She crept through the area. "Hello!" she shouted into the fallen pillars and cracked alabaster walls. "Is someone down here!?"
She was answered with nothing more than the howling wind against the fallen city. She slowly stepped into the old temple, shivering slightly as the wind outside picked up and the desert night air settled in. She began to shine her flash light along the side of the walls.
As she directed it into one of the empty halls, something shimmered. Rinoa paused and slowly drew the light back over that spot. Something was sparkling in the dust. Curiously, the young brunette approached it. She held her flash light up and shined it over a mound of sand and dirt at the base of a once elegantly decorated wall.
She reached out and picked out a silver object. *A ring...* she thought to herself quietly as she lifted it up. She put the flash light over it and rubbed it gently with her fingers, cleaning off the dust. *A lion...?*
Rinoa narrowed her eyes and put her flash light down on the ground, next to her feet. She lifted her now free right hand and rubbed the lion engraved ring between her thumb and fingers. It was heavy, but still retained it's shine. She was amazed that it hadn't oxidized and that the lion engraving was still quite clear.
She took it into her other hand and slowly slipped it on to her right hand's ring finger. She tilted her head as she admired it against her slender fingers and stood up. Just as she did, she heard the wind howl outside and she whirled around.
Suddenly, her head felt heavy as she stumbled backwards. Her head began to pound as she lifted her left hand to her head and rubbed it. She couldn't stop herself from stumbling around as it seemed that the world had suddenly began to move beneath her.
*Earthquake!* her mind screamed as her heart pounded in her chest. Rinoa looked around, desperately looking for her flash light. She bent down and reached for it when the excess amounts of dirt and sand in the room flew up.
She screamed as sand shot up around her, whirling around her body like a vortex and she was trapped within. She couldn't figure out where she was going as her hair and clothes were thrown from side to side with each swirling gust.
Her mind was spinning. Her body felt extremely heavy and she realized she was loosing control of her balance. Her eyes opened as she fell backwards. Above her, a massive hole in the temple ceiling that looked up into the clear sky.
As if she was floating downwards, she was able to recall every detail as she fell. The inky sky. The glittering stars. The smiling moon. The sand flying over the top of the temple and whirling around her. Her eyes grew heavy as they began to blur and close.
She struggled to keep her brown orbs open as her body fell backwards. It was all in vain. She could still see the sky above her, clouded by a sea of sand caused by a desert storm. And lastly, as she felt two arm catch her right before she hit the ground, two blue eyes. The most gorgeous eyes she'd ever seen.
