Making their way up to the Promontory, Lulu and Yuna looked at the village below. It was silent for many moments, when Tidus spoke up and tried hurrying them. Wakka said that they'd wait, and when Yuna walked up, asked if she was ready. She nodded in the positive, and they all headed to the statue at the Promontory. Esther looked at it for a moment as Lulu, Yuna and Wakka prayed before it. Deciding that luck was better than them possibly never returning, Esther also prayed before the statue. Tidus, however, was confused at why the four of them were praying there.

Guess he hadn't been paying attention.

"Hey, blitzbrain, might wanna pray or else we might never come back." Esther pointed out.

"Oh! Right." Tidus turned to the statue and prayed before it momentarily before turning to the others. Yuna giggled, Lulu just stood there with her arms crossed and Wakka walked over and gave Tidus a smack on the back. With a magic lesson from Lulu on what elements to choose during battle with Flans, and a good show from Valefor and Yuna, they continued forward. Tidus walked on ahead, and Esther had to run up to grab his sleeve.

"Don't walk so fast! This is a journey we're starting together! What, are you afraid of being left behind?" Esther asked.

"H-hey, let go!" Tidus got his sleeve away from her. Just then, there was a loud roar and someone… or something jumped from the ruins and onto the ground. Tidus moved back, putting an arm out to keep Esther back as well. The two of them moved backwards. The blue-furred being punched the ground and let out a feral roar before pulling out a lance, pointing it at them. Tidus pulled out the sword Wakka had given him, and Esther glanced around before just backing up a bit more. She may have learned how to summon the fire from before, but she didn't exactly trust herself to be able to use it. It was something she needed to work on, anyway. The blue-furred being went after her, and Esther dodged as best as she could, as Tidus went in to block the lance. It was basically an assault, up until Wakka spoke up.

"That's enough!"

The blue-furred being put away the lance before leaving. Tidus stared after the being in disbelief.

"What's with that guy?" He asked.

"Unprovoked attack. What the heck did I do?" Esther wondered aloud.

"That's Kimahri Ronso, of the Ronso Tribe. He's learned the fiends' way of fighting." Wakka explained, as if that was the answer to both Esther and Tidus' questions. Esther groaned, putting her hand to her head as Tidus protested that no, that wasn't what he meant. Yuna walked up, laughing and explaining a bit about Kimahri before the five of them continued towards the beach. Some villagers were here, and gave Yuna various items to take with her on her journey. Esther found it endearing. They all cared about Yuna, and were here to see her off. Some people weren't, as the thought of seeing her off was a bit too much for them to handle. So, instead, they'd sent items and their good luck wishes.

Yuna accepted them all with a smile, and promised she'd be back.

As the villagers followed them, Esther mildly wondered if this was what her life was going to actually be from now on. Would she have to do something drastic in order to go with them? It didn't seem so, as she was able to board the boat along with everyone that was going. Yuna turned to the villagers, saying goodbye while doing the prayer towards them. As the boat sailed away, the villagers returned the gesture. Esther stayed on the deck as the Aurochs went below deck into a cabin. Tidus and Yuna's guardians stayed on the deck as well. Tidus was monkeying around, and all Esther could do was sigh. The guy was like a kid in a candy shop… but, then again, he'd never been outside of Zanarkand. Everything wasn't like it was here. Staring out at the sea, she wondered how Rikku was doing. Did she and the other Al Bhed get out of there safely? She didn't know, honestly, and frankly couldn't know. This was all so surreal. What if Rikku hadn't survived Sin's attack? There was nothing stopping everything from changing.

"You do know that they say Sin lurks the waters?" A voice, with a slight deep bass, said. She turned around and looked at the owner of the voice. A young man, about two inches taller than her with grey eyes and braided brown hair, stood before her. Though at a glance, she couldn't tell he was a man. It was his voice that gave it away. He wore a pink scarf, a white open cardigan, a black tanktop underneath and black pants tucked into grey boots. The young man seemed to know exactly what he was doing as he leaned in close to Esther. She leaned back, a bit nervous around him. What a strange man he was. What was stranger was that he had what seemed to be a small staff on his hip.

"Yeah. And?" Esther tried playing it cool. She knew Sin lurked in the waters, and what would happen to Kilika… Aw, damn it. And there went her cover right before she knew it. No one in Kilika would know her, unless she could pass off the deceased as—no, that would be offending the deceased from Sin's attack. Esther gave a sigh as she stared into the man's grey eyes. He grinned, as if knowing what she was thinking. That, in itself, freaked her out. She pushed him away and he laughed.

"You're a funny girl." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. "They call me Marcello. Does a pretty girl have a name?"

Esther stared at him for a moment. Was that… flattery? Or was he just trying to get her name out of her as fast as he could? She didn't know, but shrugged and put a hand in her pocket. The lighter was still there, thank goodness… Not that she knew what to do with it, anyway. "I'm Esther. Nice to meet you… Uh, Marcello." She winced a little, remembering that name from Dragon Quest 8. Seriously, was that a name for every occasion? Either way, she was about to speak again but the boat shook, sending her falling into his arms. He gripped the railing with one hand, holding her tight with his free arm so she didn't go falling off the side.

"It's Sin!" Someone shouted.

"Sin has come!" Another said.

"I did say that Sin was lurking in the waters…" Marcello said with a frown, letting Esther go once the boat stopped shaking after Sin was tethered to it. Sin's fin showed from outside of the water, and the scales shot off onto the deck of the ship they were on. She noticed Tidus, Lulu and Kimahri engaging a few while Wakka and Yuna engaged the others. The other people on the ship were too scared to go anywhere near them. Marcello sighed, plucking out the small staff and holding it in front of him. He closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment. The chime of a bell sounded from the staff, and Esther noted the top of the staff was a bell of all things. A bell. Why would he have one? Who was he?

A torrent of wind cut a couple of the Sinscales in half, but two more took their place. Marcello cursed under his breath. "Damn. It looks like we'll have to keep cutting them down. Hey, Esther, can you fight?"

"M-Me?!" Esther backed away. "I can climb, but like hell can I fight anything… I barely got any training before we boarded this ship!" She looked flustered, even scared, as she said that. Marcello shrugged and stepped forward, the bell staff held out in front of him. He started murmuring words as a light wind blew his hair upwards. Thrusting the bell outwards, five stones flew out of nowhere to hit the Sinscale about to attack Lulu. It burst into pyreflies, and he gave a sigh. Lulu looked back to see him putting the staff away and walking towards the fight.

Esther, on the other hand, backed into the railing…

Just as Sin jerked the ship to the right.

She lost her balance and fell overboard, into the water below. It enveloped her entire body, and she shut her eyes and held her breath. The breather she had from the Al Bhed wasn't on her person anymore as she pat herself down to find it. It spelled her doom. She was going to drown, and it would be her own damn fault. Because she didn't stay away from the railing… the side of the ship that she'd been near. It was stupid of her, very stupid. She was going to drown and die, she was going to die…

I don't want to die! She thought as she opened her eyes. How much longer could she hold her breath? It would be too late before anyone realized she was gone. Just as she closed her eyes again, something wrapped around her waist and pulled. Before she knew it, her head broke the surface and she coughed, breathing in the sea air. Opening her eyes, she noticed Wakka there with a frown on his face. Tidus surfaced not a moment later with Yuna. The two of them got the girls back on the ship and the crew put blankets around the two of them to warm them back up as the sea air was cold. Esther just tightened the blanket around herself and stared out into the distance. They'd know she was lying soon. About being from Kilika. No one there would know her. And then what? They would want to know the truth…

How many people had she told…? How many people knew now? Kilika was the only place she could think of… and that was a stretch. By far, Esther knew that she would lose their trust once they found out that she didn't live there whatsoever. That no one knew her. And then what? What would she do then? She didn't know. This was unknown, uncharted territory for her. And now, she wasn't even..

She wasn't…

"Sin destroyed Kilika…" Wakka said, after some time had passed. "I'm sorry, I know that was your home, Esther."

"It's fine." Esther responded. "It's… fine."

"That was your home. Aren't you sad?" Lulu inquired.

"I guess it just hasn't settled in yet." Esther got up and looked towards the ship's destination, Kilika. It had been destroyed. Moments before they'd gotten there. But Esther felt nothing. Was that… bad? She didn't really understand why she didn't feel upset for the actual residents of that village. If only… if only she knew them, maybe she would actually feel something instead of just nothing. Was something wrong with her to not feel upset for others? Probably, but she didn't really understand it well. There was nothing wrong with not understanding, was there..?

Or…

"Esther?" Marcello put a hand on her shoulder and she just sighed before shaking her head and turning away as the boat pulled in. "Let's go see if your family's still around. Hopefully Sin didn't get to them, too."

"…" Esther just nodded. Instead of saying anything, she let Marcello lead her off the ship and into town. Inquiries turned up nothing, and most of the villagers were all with Yuna, watching her do the Sending for the lost souls. Tucking some hair behind her ear, Esther stared out to the sea before making a decision. Heading into the forest, with Marcello trailing behind asking about a million questions about where she was going, she knew where she was going to head.

If this worked, she'd keep it under wraps until needed.

But then she stopped on the bridge, remembering the game itself. There were four Summoners. Would having five throw the balance off? Or were there more out there that she didn't know of?

"Esther. Hey, Esther. Why are you heading this way?"

Shaking her head, Esther turned around to smile at Marcello. The smile didn't reach her eyes, which made him frown.

"Maybe I should be more useful. Shouldn't I? Becoming a Summoner might just be the edge I need to actually be useful. Right?"

ENDING NOTE:

Hah! After leaving Pyre to sink for a while, I finished another chapter. It's shorter than the others because I haven't really been working on it. Then my laptop died. Then I decided to go to the library. Thankfully my external drive hooks up to the library computers so I wrote as much of this as I could until I ran out of steam. Sadly, my laptop dying means that FFX went with it and until I get my new one in a few weeks, I have to rely on youtube videos to set the story in the right direction.

As for what's up with Esther, maybe you can find out. If you do, I'll give you an internet cookie or something.