Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Final Fantasy XII and its characters. They belong to Squeenix. I only own my OC and any other OC's that I make up.
"Hi there!" - talking
*Ugh, why?* - thinking
"Dude, what the hell?" - dreams or any different language spoken
Hey hey, credit goes to mah Buddy who oh so graciously became my personal editor and spell checker, so thank you buddy! (That;s right, I have my own personal editor LOL)
JAPANESE USED:
Hai - yes
Oniichan/Niichan/ -nii : older brother, Hikari will be calling Kai this all the time, (Kai-nii, Oniichan, Niichan)
Hikari- her name means Light
Okaa-san - mom/mother
Otou-san - dad/father
Nee-san/ -nee/ Oneechan/ Oneesan - older sister
imouto - little sister
My POV:
When we arrived at Old Dalan's place, I stopped right in front of the door. "Go on Vaan. I'll wait here. He creeps me out." I told him with a small smile. Vaan smiled and nodded as he went on in. I sighed and sat down on the floor. * I should play it safe. I shouldn't tell ANYONE about anything.* I thought as I waited for Vaan to come back. I decided to quickly run over to the Bazaar vendor and buy some stuff for Vaan and I to use. I played with my gloves as I headed back for Vaan. I saw him go outside of Old Dalan's place.
"Ready? We're going to Storehouse 5. From there, we can go to the Garamsythe Waterway and we can sneak into the palace." Vaan explained to me. I nodded and handed him the stuff I bought. We walked over there to find Kytes.
"Hey, Vaan, Hikari! I finally worked out how to get the door on the left side open! I hope there's somethin' in there besides rats... I wanted you to go in first, so I waited for you to come before openin' it. Well, that's one of the reasons I waited... Thing is, I'm gonna need some special tools to open the door... Gonna need you to go fetch 'em for me. I know, I know. Not the most exciting thing to do, is it? Heh, heh. I'm just messin' with ya. I've got everything I need ready to go! Hang on while I open it…" Kytes said. He walked over to the door and fiddled with it. He continued on, "Hmm, let's see... Yeah, that should do it... Huh? Ungh. Urgh. Angh! Hrooph! It's open! Now we've got a whole 'nother place to explore! Oh, and I almost forgot. Take these with ya before you go. No tellin' what's down there...might come in handy." He handed us a few items and we thanked him. We continued on and before we went in, Vaan turned to me.
"Sure you want to go with me?" Vaan asked. I smirked at him and put my hands on my hips.
"What? Think I can't handle it?" I asked him a bit teasingly. He just laughed and shook his head. He grabbed my arm.
"Let's go then." he said. We entered the Garamsythe Waterway and made our way to the stairs that led us to the Palace of Rabanastre. We had to fight a few monsters, but they were no big deal. Once we got up the stairs, we entered the palace cellars. I opened up the chest thing and found the map. "Hey, cool!" Vaan exclaimed. We saw some soldiers and a group of people.
"Have you gathered up all of the occasionals? ...Good. You'll be on clean-up duty when the fete's over. Wait here until we're ready for you. No one goes to the upper floor until we give the order. Step out of line and you will be punished." an Imperial warned. I scoffed and looked away as Vaan dragged me to talk to a palace servant. He decided to help us distract the Imperial. Eventually, we got through the doors and made sure to be quiet.
"What was it Old Dalan said? "The signet yearns for sunstone's strength, to light the clouded way." But there was more... Oh yeah! "Once in the palace, you'll find the signet tile. Give to it the sun's power, and it will light your path." Looks like we've got a signet to find Hikari. Come on." Vaan whispered to me. I just nodded silently and we made our way to the lion signet after making some guards chase us. We held up the Crescent stone to it and a hidden path revealed itself. By guards chasing us around, we eventually found it and entered quickly. We found the treasure room and I triggered the statue to open. Vaan gasped as he grabbed the Magicite. I slightly smiled, for I knew who we were going to meet next.
"Quite a performance." a man said. A door opened to reveal Balthier. I hid my smile as I put my head down.
"Who are you?" Vaan asked. I grabbed his arm and shot him a warning look.
"I play the leading man. Who else?" Balthier asked with a smirk. I looked up at him and he stared at me. He turned back to Vaan. "Fran, the magicite."
" Now then. I'll take that." Fran said. Vaan and I turned around to find the viera upon us. I widened my eyes. She was really pretty up close. My eyes went to her heels. *Damn! How does she walk in those?* I thought. I was used to wearing heels, but not ones that high!
"No you won't. We found it. It's ours." Vaan said. I just stayed silent. Balthier walked forward with Fran next to him.
"And then when I take it from you, it'll be mine." Balthier retorted. Tension filled the air, but was broken with the sound of soldiers. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged along by Vaan.
"Come on Hikari! We need to move!" Vaan exclaimed. I nodded and picked up the pace. We ran along a bridge and stopped to see the chaos beneath us. People were fighting with each other. "What's going on?" Vaan muttered. We both looked up to see an airship blast a fireblast. Vaan tumbled backwards and I fell down. He helped me up as Balthier caught up with us.
"The Ifrit, eh? That's quite an entrance. Impeccable timing. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were waiting all along." Balthier said. Another blast was fired, and Vaan grabbed my hand as we tried to run. Fran blocked our way with the hoverbike. "Stop running!" Balthier exclaimed. "End of the line! You have something that belongs to me." Balthier added on as he held his hand out. All of a sudden, spotlights from the airship shined on us and soldiers came after us. "Fran! Let's move!" Balthier exclaimed as he ran towards Vaan and me. I started shrieking when he threw Vaan and I over the bridge. Vaan quickly grabbed my hand tightly and I braced myself for the fall. Vaan and I were dangling from Balthier's hand, and my other hand was holding on to the bike. I remembered I had put my gloves away earlier in my bag, so it was a bit harder to keep a good grip on.
"Let go of me!" Vaan shouted.
"Keep this up and I will!" Balthier exclaimed. Then, the hoverbike suddenly jolted. "What's going on, Fran?" he asked.
"I don't know. it's not heeding me." Fran replied.
"I don't have time for this." Balthier muttered.
"We're slipping!" I shrieked as my hand was slowly slipping from Vaan's.
"Not good!" Balthier shouted. The hoverbike crashed and we landed back in the Garamsythe Waterway. I groaned and opened my eyes. I was lying on top of Balthier and I instantly gasped.
"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as I got off of him, but tripped on my boots and fell down back on the ground. Vaan laughed and pulled me up. I put my gloves back on, remembering we were going to fight later.
"What happened? Our hover didn't just drop-it disappeared." Fran stated.
"Bah. Forget it. Even if we could fly... the Ifrit's playing with fire, and I'd rather not get burned. We'll go the old-fashioned way." Balthier said. He turned to Vaan and me. Vaan was looking at Fran, and I was just staring at the ground.
"Not many Viera where you come from, thieves?" Balthier asked us.
"It's Vaan. Sorry." Vaan introduced. I looked up at them and slightly bowed with a smile.
"Hikari Kinomoto! At your service!" I exclaimed. Balthier looked a bit surprised by my enthusiasm and smiled. He removed my glove from my left hand and kissed my knuckle. I turned red, but I swore I could have seen Vaan glaring. Balthier put my left glove back on and turned to Vaan.
"Well, Fran is special... in that she'd deign to partner with a hume." Balthier explained.
Fran shot back a bit teasingly, "Oh? Like a sky pirate that chooses to steal through the sewers?"
Vaan widened his eyes and looked at both of them, "Pirates? You're sky pirates? So you have an airship?"
"It's Balthier. Listen thieves-Vaan and Hikari. If you ever want to see your home again, you'll do exactly as I say. Myself, Fran, and you two. We're working together now. Understood?" Balthier explained to us. He then looked at the magicite Vaan had in his hand. Vaan hid it behind his back. I looked at Balthier and Fran, who seemed to be much, much taller than me. I'd say Balthier was 6 feet and Fran was 6'2". They were really tall.
"Don't even think you're getting this." Vaan said.
"The thought never crossed my mind." Balthier replied.
We made our way in the Garamsythe Waterway. While we just finished defeating some more monsters, we kept walking. I actually stayed quiet for the whole time, except for the few answers I gave to Vaan who asked me something. Occasionally, I would let out some battle cries or whimpers when I fought a monster or got hurt.
"Hikari, why are you so quiet, child?" Fran asked me. I slightly jumped, for she hadn't spoken to me directly before. Everyone stopped and turned to me. I looked at all three of them. I smiled faintly as I scratched behind my head and adjusted my glasses.
"I just miss my brother. I lost him, so I don't know where he is." I told them quietly. They left it at that, but while we were walking, Vaan put his arm around my shoulder and comforted me. We then came across some soldiers and Amalia, AKA Princess Ashe.
"Who would be next?" she yelled out as she defeated one Imperial. Vaan went up to her and caught her. Something hurt in my chest and I clutched it. *No…that can't be…I can't .…* I thought as I got out my dual blades and ran towards two Imperials. One got a hold of me, but Vaan slashed him off of me. Before Ashe got hit, I threw my blade at the Imperial behind her. She looked at me with some shock, but smiled thankfully. I nodded and continued to fight off the soldiers after I retrieved my blade. Once we defeated them, we approached Princess Ashe.
"You all right?" I asked her softly.
"Thank you." she said.
"I'm Vaan. This is Hikari, Balthier, and-Hey!" Vaan exclaimed as Balthier started walking away. "What's your name?" Vaan asked her.
"Amalia." Ashe said. I looked at her with a knowing look and she stared back at me. She made a face as if to say, "You know? Please don't say anything." I just nodded and she nodded back with a relieved look on her face.
"Amalia huh? Nice to meet you." Vaan said. I stared at her skirt. Damn, that is so mini!
"There were others with me." "Amalia" said.
"I'm sorry." Fran said.
"We really are." I added.
"No…." Ashe responded. All of a sudden, the Magicite in Vaan's hand started to glow.
"Huh?" Vaan muttered.
"Oh, now isn't that impressive." Balthier commented.
"Don't get any ideas. I said it's ours." Vaan shot back.
"I'm afraid the jury's still out on that one." Balthier replied.
"You stole that?" Ashe asked.
"Yeah!" Vaan exclaimed. I sighed and face-palmed.
"Have you finished? When the guards don't report in, they'll come looking for us." Fran commented.
"If they aren't already." Balthier and I both said. He looked at me curiously and I face-palmed. *Dammit! Why why why did I have to recite his line at that time!* I thought to myself
"You should come with us. Better than being by yourself." Vaan suggested.
"Very well." Ashe replied. She walked away confidently and I held the urge to call her a bitch. Well, she was acting like one.
"What's wrong with her?" Vaan asked.
"-sigh- You have a lot to learn before we get started on your thievery." Balthier commented.
"What's that mean?" Vaan asked. I just patted his shoulder as I walked past him.
"Don't worry Vaan. In time, you'll understand." I said with a smile on my face. After that, we continued on our way and had to fight 4 Flans.
"Hikari! Behind you!" Ashe exclaimed. She slashed the Flan behind me and pushed me out of the way. I regained my balance and looked at her with a shocked face.
"Thanks." I shouted with a small smile. *Maybe she's not so bad after all….* I thought with a smile.
"You're welcome!" she exclaimed as she fought off a Flan. I readied my blades once again and continued fighting. Once we defeated all of the Flans, I was tired and panting from the fight. I was about to fall down on the ground, but Vaan steadied me and Fran cured me. Vaan wanted to help me walk, but I shook his arms off and straightened myself up. I turned to everyone in the group and let out a faint smile.
"Let's conti-" I got cut off by a yell of happiness somewhere. We all turned our heads into that direction and ran. We arrived to an area with a person I thought I'd never see again. "Oniichan…." I whispered as I ran as fast as I could to Kai-nii. I jumped on top of him and we both landed on the ground. I buried my face into his chest and started crying. Yeah, even though I was 14, I still missed him a lot. I wasn't going to act all mature when I had just seen my older brother who I've missed. Kai-niichan just started chuckling and rubbed my back. I got off of him and we both stood up. Kai-nii had twin katanas in his hands, black, fingerless gloves with red X's on them, and a smile on his face.
"Missed you little sister. About time you came here." Kai-nii said as he hugged me. We turned to the rest of the group. "Hey there. I'm Hikari's older brother, Kai. Nice to meet cha all." Kai-nii looked back to me and I shook my head. He nodded and realized I hadn't told them yet.
"Hey. I'm Vaan. Glad Hikari finally found her brother." Vaan said happily as he shook Oniichan's hand. Kai-nii just smiled and nodded.
"Balthier and my partner Fran." said man introduced himself and his partner with a small nod.
"I'm Amalia." Ashe said. Oniichan nodded and smiled.
"So, how old are you anyways?" Vaan asked.
"Oh. I'm 17 years old dude." Oniichan explained. Vaan nodded and grabbed my arm, indicating we should go. Kai-nii followed with a glare towards Vaan. I turned my head to him and let out a confused look. He just shook his head and continued to look darkly in Vaan's direction. Vaan must've felt it, because I felt him stiffen up. He relaxed when I put my arm on his shoulder. We then walked to the place with the Firemane. Kai-nii and I talked about us being in Final Fantasy XII, and he couldn't believe it either. Vaan just smiled at me a lot, and I wondered why.
"So Kari-chan, your weapons are blades huh? Nice." Oniichan exclaimed as he put his arm around my shoulders.
"You two seem quite close." Ashe commented as we all walked.
"Thank you Amalia. We are siblings after all." Kai-nii said with a smile. He looked down at her skirt and I punched him on the head.
"Idiot." I mumbled as I walked over to Fran and started walking beside her. I could hear Balthier chuckle and I made a small smile. Once we got to Firemane, I instantly started casting Blizzard. Oniichan followed me, and so did Fran. It was a tough battle, but we finally defeated it. I was starting to cure Vaan, who was hurt in battle, when soldiers surrounded us from above. I continued to cure him, then I stood up straight when I finished. I clutched my bag tightly as I remembered that they were going to take our stuff later.
"Stand where you are!" a man shouted. *Uh oh….* I thought. I looked over at Ashe and she looked pissed off. Balthier grabbed her arm.
"Now is not the time." Balthier muttered. I grabbed onto Kai-nii's arm and he held mine tightly. Vayne appeared and I instantly glared at him. I felt Oniichan clench his fists. We both deeply hated him. He's such an…..dare I say it…..asshole.