You'll notice the difference in length from now on, as my chapter one was really just an intro.

So here's a longer piece, chapter two. ^.^

A large beetle scurried across the dank, moss-covered wall beside Balthier. He shuddered slightly as it brushed against his arm, and pulled his gun up against the insect. He pulled the trigger, and the beetle splattered against the wall. Fran cringed slightly; Balthier had forgotten that she was sensitive to sound, and it echoed in this narrow, long hallway.

"Sorry," he mumbled, the Magicite Fran held for light illuminating his face. "Bugs really get to me."

The Viera gave a wry smile, Balthier's past experiences with insects flooding back to her. Her mind wandered back to four years ago, when they were trapped in the Barheim Passage. Balthier became a shivering wreck when they battled the Mimic Queen, and Fran almost died pulling him out of the collapsing chamber.

And then again, when the group traversed the Salikawood. Balthier ran and hid somewhere whenever an Antares appeared, and it was always Vaan and Penelo's job to go and find him, coaxing him out of his child-like state. Fran had never asked why he was so terrified of insects, and she assumed it was some sort of childhood experience.

She was brought back to the present with a bang as Balthier shot three more bullets at a tarantula that was tucked away in a corner.

"Fran!" he shouted, "Can we hurry up?"

Fran sighed, following her Hume partner through to a familiar room in the labyrinth. She could remember visiting Nabudis when it was a palace, a place that was safe to live in. Now, after Judge Zecht's experiment, only monsters and the Baknamy inhabited the foul place. She remembered seeing the throne room once, now known as The Crucible to adventurers. Balthier led the Viera into the large chamber, where a large creature lay waiting.

Chaos, known as the Walker of the Wheel, was again sealed in Nabudis after Vayne was defeated on the Sky Fortress Bahamut, and he seemed to be waiting for a challenge from the two sky pirates. The four swords surrounding the scion slowly spun around him, and they all glowed different colours through the cycle of red, yellow, blue, green. Chaos himself roared, waiting for the fight to begin.

Fran readied her bow, but not before she noticed a wave of Mist radiating from above. She looked up to see a huge stalactite of Magicite formed on the ceiling. Looking from below, the crystal appeared to be in a floral shape. Balthier also looked up, but he averted his gaze back down in time to notice Chaos readying a sword to push towards Fran.

He panicked, and shot a well-aimed bullet from his Formalhaut up at the Magicite, which cracked it severely. The room was silent for a second that seemed like hours, until the huge flower shattered and Magicite rained down upon Chaos. The Esper barely had time to react before it was crushed by the ground-shaking blow.

Balthier and Fran watched as a figure rose from the rubble. Fran's Viera eyes detected a... a hume!?

"Balthier!" she called, "There is someone there!"

The young man stood swaying for a second until Chaos' defeated body started to glow. Mist poured from the Esper's disintegrating body and flowed towards the man. Balthier started to run towards him, but the Viera held him back. Mist swirled around the man, who Balthier noticed was naked. Alas, being Balthier, he would be the first to notice a man's nudity. Fran sighed and shook the pirate slightly as he gawked at the naked Hume.

Chaos was now gone, and the mist cloud had enveloped the male. It slowly became smaller and smaller, until he had absorbed all of the mist. Fran understood what was happening. At least, she had an idea about what was going on. The man came from inside the Magicite Flower, and he had dug up old memories for the Viera. The Viera legends told of a Hume who was gifted with the power to morph into scions, and so he was sealed away for all eternity by other, cruel Humes.

This must have been him. It has to be, she thought, as the man began to change shape.

Rikku let her eyes close softly once again. Being an Al Bhed, she'd grown up in the Bikanel Desert, and she was very used to the harsh sunlight. In fact, she had been getting mixed reactions since having arrived at the Hunter's Camp. She was surprised at just how many people here were completely unaware of Spira and its recent events.

She now lay with her back against a large rock, sighing softly as a group of lizards, or 'Bangaa' as she'd learned to call them, passed her. One of them stopped, telling the others he'd catch up. He crouched down and picked several colourful flowers, approaching Rikku with them in his hand. He opened his mouth to speak: but as you may know, Rikku was never the listening type.

"Back off, lispo," she said firmly, squinting as the sun shone in her green eyes. The blonde reached for her dual blades, but the Bangaa nodded, taking a few steps back. He turned, dropping the now crushed flowers to the floor and running to catch up with his group.

Rikku sat up, yawning loudly. She lazily looked around the Hunter's Camp. She could see the sea, the hillside... and almost a hundred men using the Gate Crystal. Wait. That wasn't right. Rikku rubbed her eyes, making sure she wan't imagining things again. She watched as they disappeared in groups of about ten or so, most of them teleporting already. She stood, walking over to a pair of them and smiling sweetly. The thief tried her best to look innocent, and it seemed to be working.

Neither of the men hesitated to tell her where they were going, or even that they were soldiers for the temple at Mt. Bur-Omisace; all she had to do was ask. And then she smiled innocently at the cuter, taller one of the men.

"Well," she flipped her long hair from her eyes, "I guess it's too much for you to tell me what you're all going to the Salikawood for."

"Nah, not at all!" grinned the stupid, gullible soldier, "It's an army operation. There's a few sky pirates messing with dangerous magick in the Nabudis Ruins. It's also known as the Necrohol of Nabudis."

"And it's right by the Salkawood?" she pecked him on the cheek, grabbing her two thief blades and darting for the Gate Crystal.

Mkay, guys, so let me know what you think. And until Chapter Five, I'll be doing a quiz of sorts. The first person to PM me the answer, NOT IN A REVIEW, will get to create one of four bandits who will appear later in the story.

Question One:

In Final Fantasy XII, Rabanastre has a range of shops you can access right from the beginning. Name three of the shop owners in Rabanastre.

Okay, that one was easy, seeing as the shops are named after their owners.

Read & Review, people! 3

~Soul x