My brain is not working. My mind is not processing this right. I'm truly dreaming. There is no way that the guy from that Final Fantasy artwork Jake showed me is standing in front of me. There's no way. Absolutely no way.

But yet…here he is. He's talking, saying something to the guy in the red coat. I think somewhere in there; he said the guy's name is Auron. And Auron is the picture perfect example of calm and collected. He doesn't say anything to the boy—just turns to me and says something.

I blink my eyes and look at Auron. His look is steady and his eyes are like steal. I can guarantee that I look like a crazy person—my eyes are bugged out and my jaw is slack. But Auron is probably used to this and walks up to me and grabs my shoulder and gives it a rough shake.

"Your name," he demands. His voice suits his everything. It's sharp and rough. There are two very large swords strapped to his back but he carries them like they're nothing. He's wearing sunglasses and they barely cover the scar that slashes through one eye while his one remaining eye stares into me. That's what compels me to speak.

"A-Amanda…" I manage. My voice is weak and it cracks. It's slightly annoying but I have bigger things to deal with. Like this city being destroyed around me and why this Auron guy is looking at me so intently.

"You are Victoria's daughter." He doesn't say it like it's a question. He says it like it's a known fact and I can only stare at him in wonder. Not many people call her by her real name but I know it just the same.

I gap at him more, wanting to slap myself and him. "How do you know my mom!?"

There's a crash behind us and Auron doesn't answer my question. He barely looks at me and barely looks at the guy behind me before walking away. The guy runs after him, looking as confused as I feel. We're running through the city, opposite the direction of the running people, trying to catch up with Auron. Apparently, the guy can run like a god and it's not until we're on an overpass, one of the huge connecting bridges, until we find him.

But before we reach him, a familiar white flash appears, and I groan, wanting to thrash out and kick everything around me. That stupid kid. When the white is gone and I can see, I look around and see the guy standing next to me. Everything around us is frozen—like the street when I got hit by the truck—except us. And that kid.

He's standing in front of us and I trade glances with the guy before looking over at him.

"It begins," he says in his slightly amused and cryptic voice.

The guy next to me is confused and I want to scream because this is the same thing he said to me earlier.

"Don't cry," he says.

Before I can begin screaming at him, he vanishes and the world around us is moving again. The guy next to me spots Auron but unlike him, I don't run. I turn slowly, trying to think of everything that little kid has said to me but nothing strikes a cord, nothing comes up as being Important and for the life of me—I cannot figure out what the hell he's saying.

"Look."

Auron's voice is suddenly next to me and I shake myself out of my daze to see that he and the guy are with me again.

"Look," he says again in his calm voice. The guy and I look in the direction he's faced. "We call it Sin."

The guy staggers back, a gasp escapes his mouth and the breath is sucked right out of my lungs. Up in the sky, hovering over the city like some small planet, is a huge water orb. It's rotating slightly and somehow, I know that it's what's causing the city's destruction around me.

"Sin?" The guy beside me asks, confused. I think he's calming down a bit but not me.

I'm still staring at the thing, breathing hard. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

But I don't get to be. I don't get to be anything. Not two seconds after we see it, a thing shots out from the orb and lands on the overpass some distance from us, its tail whipping the air around it as other things fall off and scatter around us. Like gargoyles, they spread their wings and stand around us menacingly ready to attack.

The bridge groans from this new assault and my eyes bug out and the guy with me is obviously weirded out and runs at one, arms flailing and then falls over. If the situation had been any different, I would have busted out laughing mercilessly.

But Auron, being ever calm and stoic, simple walks over to us and pulls out one of the huge swords strapped to his back. He hands it to the guy. "Take it. A gift from Jecht."

The guy stares at it and then Auron, unsure and extremely surprised. "My old man?"

Auron gives a sharp nod. "I hope you know how to use it, Tidus," he says curtly. Oh. So that's his name. Tidus nods and stands, a look of seriousness taking over his features. Satisfied, Auron reaches into his coat and pulls out a small red weapon, not much longer than a foot. "This is a tanto—it belonged to your mother."

I look up sharply at him at the mention of my mother before taking it. It's light in my hand and I grasp the hilt and pull it out of its sheath. A wave of disappointment hits me harder than when I landed on the ground earlier. The blade, while sharp and gleaming, looks no bigger than the butcher knife at home. In fact it looks smaller…

"What the hell," I scream, swinging it around and pointing it Tidus. "He gets a huge-ass sword and I get a little knife!"

Tidus looks like he wants to laugh and Auron looks at me sharply. He's about to say something but doesn't get a chance when suddenly there's a thing flying at me. I shriek, slashing the dagger out in front of me and slice through the gargoyle-thing trying to kill me.

There's no blood and I stand in shock as the thing falls to the ground with a long and sleek gash through it. And slowly it disappears, little orbs of light and color floating out of its body. It's the weirdest thing that's happened so far and I know for sure now that I'm not dreaming. Who almost dies in a dream?

Auron is still looking at me, obviously satisfied and turns to the other winged creatures that are gathered around us. He's pulled out his other sword, one probably bigger than Tidus's and I curse the world for having some tiny little one.

"What the hell was that?" I yell at him, wishing one of the collapsing buildings would just crush them all.

"Sinscales," he explains and it takes a moment to register in my head what it is he said. "Like Sin's children, they spawn from his body. These ones don't matter," he says, obviously trying to give us some pointers on the finer things of fighting, "we cut through!"

Tidus and I nod our heads like good little fighters and he and Auron rush forward, swinging their swords out and cutting through the creatures. Not really knowing what to do, I run after them, slashing at some who try and claw and bite at me. I know it's not the best I can do but—damn it! I have no idea what I'm doing!

Tidus, once he got used to the weight of the sword, is actually pretty fluid with his movements and is quicker than even the Sinscales trying to get at him. Auron is more brutish and just clangs his huge sword on them, strength and just general manliness winning overall.

But after making our way through what seemed like a wall of winged creatures, our path is blocked by the huge thing, the Sinspawn, which landed earlier and sent the creatures towards us. It's more of a huge tentacle thing and Tidus is not happy to see it. "Get out of my town!" He screams at it.

Auron, wasting no time, runs at it and brings down his sword on the body of it. One of the tentacles whipping in the air disappears with the same light and color as the other smaller winged creatures. Tidus does the same and it the thing makes lets out a loud shriek and it dons on me that its source of energy is what Auron and Tidus are attacking. The tentacles are dying because they have no energy. Very hesitantly, because I'm not one to run at things that try to kill me, I run towards it and try my luck at it.

I'm probably not even half way to it when I realize that 1) I have a tiny dagger and that 2) it's not really enough to do what I need to do. So…I do what comes to mind first: I jump at it with a sudden burst of energy and kick my foot off of the main body of the monster to propel myself up farther. With barely a second to reach, I slash my dagger out and cut off a tentacle. Before I even have a chance to be proud of myself, I land on the ground and do an awkward roll back to Auron and Tidus.

I break out a small smile and laugh. "Oh man, that was awesome."

But even still, at a decent distance away from the thing, I don't get a chance to enjoy it. From where I'm standing, I can see the thing tense up then, as if I'm watching it in slow motion, energy pools around the top of it and it sends it rushing back to us.

We're hit with a wave of energy and it shatters the air around us like a wall. It very vaguely hurts and although it disorients me for a second, I shrug it off and ignore the sensation. Tidus runs at it again and hacks away a tentacle. It's almost a dance to watch as the Sinspawn sends the energy back towards us and Auron attacks it once again.

Slowly we hack our way at the Sinspawn to the point where it's nothing but a stub and we continue on. Secretly, I'm proud of myself but really, I refuse to let it get to me. I could be impaled by anything at any second and that's not cool. With that thought in mind, I keep focused.

All around us is fire and crumbling buildings but we just run past them. I'm at my wits end for being dumped in a dying city when Tidus slows down and stares at a very large TV like thing that's about as big as the building it's on. It's got an imposing and, dare I say, pretty cocky looking guy with a red bandana and his arms crossed.

Tidus glares at it and scoffs. "What are you laughing at old man?" I'm about to yell at him to hurry up when he turns and shouts at Auron. "Let's get out of here!"

His body is pointing in the direction we came from and I glare at him, wanting to throw my dagger at him. But I take a deep breath. That won't be good, I tell myself. He's got a huge sword, I tell myself. If I stab him, he won't help us.

Luckily, Auron unwittingly saves him by stepping forward. "We're expected."

But that doesn't help because I'm tired of things being cryptic and ambiguous. I think maybe Tidus is too and he gives out a confused "huh…" before Auron runs away again. I sigh exasperated and Tidus, obviously as annoyed as me, shouts, "gimme a break, man!"

But having no choice, we trade glances again and run after him. He's still running when we catch up to him and I'm trying to ignore my tired limbs. I may be young and thin but I am certainly not in shape. A small voice deep down says that soon, I will be with the way I'm going now.

We don't get very far before more Sinscales show up. And when I mean more, I mean more and I groan as they all just line up, all wanting a piece of one of us. Tidus rushes forward and cuts one down but it's immediately replaced by another.

I do the same, hoping to maybe create some kind of path but I'm greeted with the same results. I contemplate throwing down my dagger and leaving when Auron points his sword over to our right. Hanging off the bridge is a thing of machinery that I've never seen before in my life. Not even in movies about with high tech military weapons and stuff. But I remember I'm somewhere far more advanced than home and quickly suspend my disbelief, thinking that it's there because duh, it can be.

"That," Auron said, knocking me back into reality, "knock it down."

I stare at him and then the machine. It's about six times larger than me and I know that there's no way in Hell I'm gonna move it with my little dagger. But Tidus nods and runs towards it, smacking against it with this sword and moving it over just a little. Auron follows soon after and does the same.

I'm left standing by myself as they attack the machine. Honestly, I'm not going near it. It's spurting out nasty sparks of electricity and I don't fancy getting electrocuted. But I have to do something…

Out of the corner of my eye, a Sinscale bounds up at me and gashes my arm. I let out a scream of pain and grab my arm, hand trying to keep it from bleeding too badly. Auron glances behind him and sees me.

My mouth is hanging open in pain and the edges of my eyes are growing black from it all. Well this is it, I think; I'm finally going to die and all because of this stupid flying thing. I'm angry at it but all I can do is sink down to my knees and try and hold myself up. I know I'm not dreaming—I really do. Dreams can't hurt this much…

A small white light envelops me and for a moment I think that kid is back to talk to me. But nothing freezes. Instead, the pain is gone and I look down and see that the gash in my arm is slowly disappearing. There's no mark, not even a scar.

"Pay attention," a gruff voice says. I look up and see Auron turning back to the machine that Tidus has almost knocked over. "We have a limited potion supply."

I get the warning in his words. Pay attention and don't waste our supply. I nod and stand up while Auron helps Tidus. A Sinscale goes after them and I run up behind it, avoiding some others that are clawing at me, and force my dagger into it and kill it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see another one and do the same. Clearly, I'm on a role.

But I don't have time to enjoy it. Auron and Tidus have knocked over the machine and I'm pulled away by them, tripping over rubble and my own feet to try and keep up with them.

"Go!" Auron shouts and I'm doing just that.

A loud explosion rocks the bridge and I quickly glance back and see that a huge ball of flame and bridge has erupted and killed the creatures. But it comes at a cost. The bridge can't take it and it splits in half. Like any broken bridge, the side we're on begins to crash to the ground bellow us and I think that this time for sure we're going to die but we keep running. It's the only thing we can do.

Auron makes a flying leap toward the other half of the bridge. He somehow makes it despite the huge sword he's carrying and he turns towards us. Tidus and I are still running, desperate to make it to Auron before it's too late.

And then I look on in horror as the worst thing that could happen does happen. The huge orb of water, the small planet that hovered over the city, is before us. How I missed that, I don't know and I don't care. After tucking my dagger into my belt loop, Tidus and I jump towards Auron.

I'm not athletic; I'm the first to admit this. If someone had told me a month ago that I was about to make an Olympic worthy jump thirty feet into the air to grab onto a bridge, I would have laughed in their faces. But here I am, doing just that.

The jump ends too suddenly; I have no time to prepare myself for what to do. My hand hits something solid and from pure instinct, I grab onto it and hold on for dear life. I hear a grunt beside me and I know that Tidus has made it as well.

I look up from where I'm hanging on and try to pull myself up. My legs dangle in the air and I hope beyond hope that nothing grabs at them. Auron walks to the edge were Tidus and I are hanging and he looks at us and then at the water orb—at Sin.

"Auron!" Tidus shouts, trying desperately like I am to pull himself up. "Auron!"

I don't say anything. My heart is pounding in my chest and adrenaline is pumping through me. I stare at Auron with wide eyes, wondering why he isn't helping us. My hands slip a little, gravel scrapping them and I whimper.

"Auron!" I shout with Tidus, as the bridge gives a shutter and detaches itself from the rest of it. I hold on even tighter as it jerks my body a few inches off. "Oh God, please help!" I don't want to die, I don't want to die.

But Auron is still looking at Sin and I see the water disappear to reveal a warped body of tough skin that I know is impossible to penetrate. It's sucking in everything around us, along with the bridge.

"Are you sure?" Auron asks, looking up at it. I can't believe he's talking to it. But Auron gives a nod, as if having understood something. He looks down at us and grabs my arm and pulls me up with almost no effort.

I'm on my hands and knees, taking everything that I'm not dangling anymore. I can feel a dull soreness in my arms from when I was hanging on. I look behind me and see Auron has picked Tidus up by his collar and is holding him there.

"This is it," Auron says quietly. I'm staring at him with quiet fascination and my hands find my dagger. It's a huge relief to know that it's still with me.

"This is your story," Auron continues. I know he's talking to both Tidus and I. "It all begins here."

What's left of the bridge is almost completely inside Sin above us and Tidus's legs are lifted up by it so that he's floating in the air with Auron holding onto him. Rubble and debris float above us, the last remnants of the city below. And then we're sucked away.

A/N: OK. So. That's chapter two. I meant to post it sooner but I ran away to Florida and I just got back. Yup…

I'm trying my best to make Mandy a real human being. The biggest problem I have with these kinds of fics is that, after the main character gets sucked away into Spira or The Fantasy World, they just seem way too dang happy and unquestioning for their situation. Personally, if I was in Mandy's shoes—I'd crawl into a corner, pass out and never come out.

But Mandy doesn't do that cause she's the heroine of this story and as such, she has to be a little brave. But also human—hence her ever questioning self and anger at not getting answers.

Also. I should point out: I'm no sword fighting/karate kid/weapons master/whatever. I don't know the names, fancy terminology, or proper fighting techniques, styles, whatever. I'm like Mandy, just going along with whatever works best. I'm learning as I go but I'm probably gonna do a little bit of research on it all.

So yea, those are my Author Tidbits for this chapter. Again, I really hope you liked it. Tell me what you think! There's more coming so just stayed tuned!