Disclaimers: What's the use of making a fanfic if you own the darn game? xD

Author's notes: Wah…! Chapter Two at last…! Haha… I'm really glad that people liked the first chapter. Thanks for all of the reviews…! xD


"So in the end, I settled for visiting Malkuth first huh?" She slightly narrowed her eyes in thought as she glanced at the bridge connecting Kimlasca and Malkuth. It was quite unusual for someone to visit someplace else before their home country, but for some reason, she somewhat no longer felt that Kimlasca was her home. Sure… she missed her parents, her mother more specifically, but she never really felt that they were "family" anymore. She missed her as a person, and not as a member of a family. Anyway, she was glad, though, that Rotelo Bridge had been repaired, or else she would have taken the long way by walking over the desert to pass through Chesedonia before reaching Malkuth… and going through the desert meant a higher chance of meeting people from Kimlasca…

Now what she didn't know what why she was letting it bother her. She knew that there was no one who would be able to recognize her, with this body and all, and that everyone knew her to be dead. Maybe there would be people who would think that she looked like her former self, but she knew that no one would expect her to be "him". Now she was confused… Why was she referring to her past self as a different person when she is still technically him although with a different body? Darn you, Lorelei… Now she's having gender issues…

Anyway, she continued on her way, taking her first step at the bridge as she took off. She glanced around, feeling rather nostalgic about the first time she had been through this bridge. The Dark Wings had attacked them, Tartarus almost fired at them, and the bridge got destroyed, leaving them with no way to get back to Kimlasca. But that was the past. Now speaking of the past, there was another thing that bothered her… What would she do if she met Guy or anyone here? And no… Score forbid… she really hoped that she would be able to meet Jade. That old man was too perceptive for his own good, and she didn't really want to complicate people's lives by showing up and telling them that she was alive…

And if she did, would them believe her with this body?

Now thinking about that would only be a waste of time. She was already past the bridge and was already standing on the grassy lands. Now she knew that Engeve was only a few ways off, and could be trekked by foot before sunset, but she didn't want to waste anymore time. She knew that she did not have any weapons with her, making her vulnerable to monster attacks. Of course, she knew by experience that grassy areas have a lot of monsters at its disposal. Thank the Score that she didn't land at Inista (?) Marsh… Thankfully, she could still feel her skills intact, so she knew that she could at least formulate a plan to escape if needed.

Wait a second…

Formulate??

Gah…! When did she start sounding like such a smarta?!

This female body was to blame for everything! By experience, she knew that females tend to think about things a lot, and they even use the words formulate and such… Of course, Jade was an exemption to that rule. There was just no way Jade would sound good with a feminine touch. Wow… she could barely even imagine Jade as a woman. What a scary thought…

But that wasn't the issue right now…!

The issue was how to reach Engeve without being detected by the creatures that might already be eyeing her as food. She would not be able to fight without a weapon, and using fonic arts was out of the question. She might still be able to use her hyperresonance if she concentrated enough, but with the limited amount of it still left, she knew that there would be a limit as to how many times she would still be able to use it and how far it would take her. For sure, she knew that she would no longer be able to travel far distances. It wouldn't be the same as to when Tear first came and both of their hyperresonance sent them straight from Baticul to Tartaroo Valley. There were still a lot of seventh fonons back then…

Now she could feel that there was barely enough to send her to another country.

It would seem that she would have to do this the hard way…

Taking deep breath and a small fix of the coat that she was wearing, she took a step forward, wishing that Lorelei still cared about his poor, poor scion and would at least protect her from the creatures who wanted her as food right now…


Green eyes opened, slightly squinting as the light pierced his eyes. Bringing his arm over his eyes to block the light, he glanced beside him, not at all surprised to see his mother sleeping right beside him. He was… at his room right now. What happened? He remembered talking with Natalia outside, then a sudden pain… then nothing…

A headache… It was that splitting headache that he had been feeling years ago whenever Lorelei contacted him… and he knew it to be the same pain that his replica felt when he was the one contacting him…

The pain of the seventh fonons…

It had been so long ever since he last experienced it. He stood up from his bed, walking over towards the windowsill to stare outside. What was that about? Lorelei was released back into the fonon belt, and the fonons were slowly but surely returning to him… and that includes the seventh fonon. There was no reason for him to suddenly feel that pain again. Did something happen? Was that a reaction from something so sudden?

"Asch…! You're awake!"

He turned around, his eyes softening as he saw his mother look at him with a large relieved smile on her face. "I was so worried when I heard Natalia shout at the guards to bring you in. She said that you just suddenly collapsed…" She told him, walking towards him as she suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "Are you alright…? Please… if you have any problems, you can always talk to be about it."

Tentatively, he hugged his mother back, and he could feel her bury her face onto his chest. "I was really worried about you… I… I don't want to loose another son again…"

"Don't worry mother… I'm just tired…"

"Please don't make me worry so much about you…"

"I'm sorry…"

Yes… he was sorry… Sorry for the fact that he could not tell her what had really happened. He knew that his mother was worried sick about him and his replica when they both disappeared… to the point that she had fallen ill and would have died if not for the fact that the two of them went to Mushroom Road to get the medicine that she needed. And when his replica re-introduced him to them… She had cried… cried with happiness that her son was alive and well.

He could never allow himself to worry his mother again…

But… honestly… What was that about?

There were only two possible sources for that headache. One would be Lorelei, and the other his replica. But his replica was no longer around… and Lorelei was back in the fonbelt where he belonged… So… Just what exactly was that…? He didn't know the reason, but he could not overlook the fact that it was a possible symbolic threat to Kimlasca. Headaches were normal, but when it comes to that burning sensation, he knew that it was a whole different matter.

"Mother," He spoke. "I'm going to be leaving for a while."

His mother looked horrified… "Leaving? Where are you going?!"

He gave out a small smile. "Mother, please don't worry. I'm just going to visit Grand Chokmah to talk to Jade. I just forgot that I have to ask him something really important."

"Is it going to be dangerous?"

"No, mother. You don't have to worry. It's nothing dangerous." He replied, holding her shoulders gently as he pushed her slightly from him. "I'll be back before you know it."

"How long will you be away?"

"For a while." He answered, almost too quickly for his own liking. "But that's because I have to check on some other places before going back. But please don't worry… I'll be back soon." …after checking the Sephiroth trees around… Asch really hated lying to his mother, but there was no way she would let him go if she knew the real reason why he was leaving. He had to check and clarify it… He wanted to prove that his thoughts were wrong… that there was a possible threat to Kimlasca. But he couldn't let his mother worry about him, so a half truth had to be sufficient…

"When will you be leaving?"

"I'll be leaving in a few hours. And please don't worry about what happened a while ago. It was nothing. I was just a little tired and needed a few hours of rest. I'm alright now… so please don't worry about me." He told her, anticipating her words of complaint after telling her when he'll be leaving. "I'll tell Natalia that I'm leaving… and don't worry. I'm not going to bring her along. I'm just going to tell her that I'm leaving for a while."


She nearly scowled, yelping as she rolled out of the way as another wild creature came after her. This was why she hated the fact that she was sent back without a weapon…! Lorelei really was stupid after all! What kind of being was he to send his scion back in a woman's body with no means to protect herself?! This was foolish! It was meaningless…! It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for returning… It was the fact that she was sent back in the most inconvenient manner and at the most inconvenient place…! Now how exactly was she going to get away from these creatures?!

After leaving the boundary of the bridge, it certainly didn't take long before the creatures around took notice of her and started their attacks. She had been trying to escape these wild animals for hours now! There were foxes, dogs, hogs, plant like things, and all other creatures that were after her flesh and blood…! She didn't like it one bit! She was, however, able to ward of some of them by small bursts of seventh fonons, but even she knew that she could rely on that either.

"This is getting rather annoying…!"

She made her way around the smaller hills and trees, yelping as one creature led to another. There was just no end to this madness…! Now it left her wondering if she would be able to survive her first day back. She had no means of protecting herself, and merely escaping wouldn't be enough. Now, with all of these creatures tailing after her, she could not allow herself to go to Engeve. The people there have no means of protecting themselves from these creatures, and they don't even have any military power to back them up.

St. Binah was actually a better choice of location because of the walls surrounding it. But at the same time, she didn't want to trouble them. She would not be able to defeat all of these creatures alone without at least a weapon, and the only way for her to kill them is with the use of the seventh fonons around her. Feeling the number of fonons surrounding her, she knew that she could only use them for one strong blow. Just one blow could kill them all off, but one wrong move would destroy even the surrounding area. She was not a master of fonons like Asch, Jade, or Tear… but she had to take the risk.

"I hope that these fonons are enough…"

Calling upon the seventh fonons surrounding her, she concentrated them all for one last blow of power…

"Now you die…!"


"I'm leaving, Mother, Natalia…"

"Take care, Asch."

"Please be careful, my son."

"I will… Thank you…"


"Now I'm glad that's over." She murmured to herself as she took a step back. The attack had been a success, and had managed to kill the numerous number of creatures surrounding her. She knew that attack could have alerted the other areas… but she hoped that she was wrong. At least she was able to escape the creatures… and not kill any other human in the process. The ground was still intact, which was a good thing. She was already very near the bridge that separated the area near Rotelo Bridge and the two small villages…only a few more steps away from where she was standing. If she had passed through that place with those creatures on her tail, she might have endangered the two villages.

She was lucky…

…or was she…

"W-what the?!"

The ground below her suddenly shook, the soil giving away beneath her…

"A recoil?!"

And she was falling… Of course she was. That was the only thing that could happen if you're standing at a nearby cliff area and the ground suddenly give away. Surely you wouldn't float… not unless you have Albiore's flight stone or something. Unfortunately, she was not capable of flying, so that left her with one action to do…

…to fall.

His eyes suddenly widened, looking around to see if there was any sources of danger around…

Nothing…

"What was that?"

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm not… falling…"

"Hold on tight! I'll pull you up!"

And with a sudden gust of courage, she glanced up to meet her savior…

Now she was not expecting this…

"General Frings?!"


END CHAPTER TWO

Author's notes: I hope that this was alright… and I'm sorry if it's like I'm speeding things up… By the way, did Frings die in the game? If yes, then please ignore that… xD I need him alive for this story. Haha… Well… I hope that you liked it. I'm sorry if it's still short though… I haven't edited this yet, so I'm sorry for any grammatical errors that you may see… haha…!

Reviews please!

By the way, here's a link if you wanna see how girl Luke looks like: mikageakizuki./art/ToA-FemmeLuke-Harhar-96556461

I tried drawing her and that was the result... I hope you liked it! xD If you're a member of DA, please do leave a comment... Haha...! xD