Lily: Alright, here is a long chapter that covers a lot.

Anna: Also, to answer FF4Life's question, yes you can still add stuff to your character! Go right ahead! :)

Erika: Enjoy!

Fran's ears twitched ever so slightly. Facing away from her partner, she turned toward the edge of the cliff and stared up at the sky. Dark clouds began to hover over, emitting off some sort of dark energy. And ever-so-slightly, Fran could sense it. She could sense the mist.

"Fran?" His deep voice reached out to her, calling her back to the real world. "Is something the matter?"

Fran didn't bother to look at him. She only continued to stare up at the sky. "I can sense the mist. It's growing very thick."

Balthier cocked a brow. "Here? In the Giza Plains? Are you sure?"

Fran nodded. "Have I ever been wrong?"

Balthier smirked but it quickly faded away. "What could this mean?"

Fran shook her head. "That I am unsure of. Should we pursue?"

Balthier rapped his fingers on his Betelgeuse. "I'd rather not stick my nose into any unnecessary business."

"You broke that rule of yours awhile ago, didn't you?" Fran smirked.

Balthier tsked. "I'm back to just being a Sky Pirate and not the savior of Ivalice."

"Right…" Fran turned and began to walk away.

Balthier lingered, staring up at the same part of the sky Fran was staring at just moments ago. Balthier stretched his arm down and reached into his left fanny pack that was attached to one of his two belts, and pulled out a small looking diamond shape accessory.

He held it out and then slowly gripped it, his black gunman gloves making small, grinding sounds as he closed his hand in a fist.

Balthier closed his eyes and allowed the memories to replay in his mind.

Then, Nicole lifted her hand and touched a small burette in her hair. She tried to figure out what the shape was.

"A diamond?"she thought.

Rosalina smiled at Nicole, sticking her hands on her hips and asking: "Do you like it?"

Nicole nodded very happily and smiled at Rosalina, clapping her hands together.

"I love it! Thank you."

Nicole had received this hair clip from Rosalina, soon after ravened hair woman brought Nicole back to life. A pang of hurt hit Balthier…

In the back, Balthier halted to a stop as he almost passed by the Fantasy Gamers. He turned and walked over to Nicole, confusing the girl utterly as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.

"B-Balthier?" Nicole stuttered.

"Wait for me,"

"W-Wha-," Nicole started, but never finished as Balthier smashed his lips onto hers. Nicole's eyes at first widened in shock, but gradually half closed, and opened again when Balthier pulled away. He brought his hand up and softly touched her cheek before turning and leaving with Fran.

He remembered that moment. He remembered that he slowly slipped the hair clip off and tucked it away into one of his pants pockets back then.

"Balthier?" Fran's voice broke through. He opened his eyes.

"Coming," he replied. He stuffed the hair accessory back into his pocket and jogged to catch up with Fran.

"Vaan!"

Groaning irritably, Vaan rolled over and pulled his pillow over the side of his face.

"Vaan! Wake up!"

"Augh! What is it, Penelo?" Vaan abruptly sat up, glaring as much as he could at the young woman before him.

Penelo huffed, putting her hands on her hips and giving Vaan a stern, motherly look. "Well that wasn't very nice!"

Vaan sighed. "Sorry," he said, flopping back down. He stared up at the ceiling. "It's just… I've been having these weird dreams lately, and I've been waking up so much from them that I've barely gotten any sleep."

Penelo's gaze softened. "What kind of weird dreams?"

Vaan hesitated. "…Someone's calling out for help. Actually…not just someone. There's more than one. And they…they feel…so familiar." Vaan outstretched his hand in front of him, staring at the back of it. He gently put it back down onto his chest and sighed once more.

Penelo sat down on the edge of Vaan's bed. She looked up at the ceiling, contemplating. "Maybe they're…or someone is trying to reach out to you. Someone or some people need your help." She said thoughtfully.

"Who could it be?" Vaan pondered.

Penelo shrugged. She jumped up and slowly walked towards the door. "If you spend all day in bed you'll never find out!"

Vaan listened to the creak of his door and the shutting sound that emitted when Penelo exited. He stretched his arms back behind his head and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling. His gray eyes explored the room, from ceiling, to the stone walls, to his shelf, and a couple of treasure boxes. His eyes stopped immediately on one of the treasure boxes in the corner of the room.

A small, girlish voice resounded within Vaan's head. "Help…"

Vaan abruptly stood up, now staring wide eyed at the chest. "Stephanie…?" Vaan clenched his fists, grabbed his sword, and walked out.

Light shone into the room, hitting a dagger in the pile of weapons that were strewn about inside the chest.

"Don't'cha think Vaan and Penelo would be a little upset knowing we came out here by ourselves?" his brown hair that was slightly long with half of it kept in a tiny pony tail in the back bobbed up and down as he walked next to his best friend.

"We're older now, Kytes. We can handle ourselves." Kyte's companion stated with a high hair of self dignity.

"If you say so, Filo…" Kytes murmured.

"Wish we'd come out here sooner. It's raining Moogles and Chocobo's out 'er!" Filo said with a look of amazement.

"Well it is the rainy season in the Giza Plains right now." Kytes said.

"Humph!" Filo crossed her arms. "I hardly see any monsters out."

"Let's just turn back then."

"That's a good thing, Kytes! Means it'll be easier to find some treasure!"

Kytes sighed. "Alright. You lead the way."

Filo grinned. "Right-o!"

"Filo! I don't think we should wander too far away from Rabanastre!" Kytes called out in a frantic voice. "The rain is getting heavier and the wind is picking up! I think we should stay closer or maybe head home!"

"You're such a child, Kytes! It's just a little rain and wind!" a flash of lighting and a loud roar of thunder broke out in the dark sky. Filo yelped and jumped into Kytes arms.

Kytes narrowed his eyes. "Who's the child again?"

Filo glared at him. However, she did not have enough time to make a smart-aleck retort because the moment she opened her mouth, a bright light flooded the surrounded area. Kytes yelped and stumbled, dropping Filo onto the ground. Filo scrambled to her feet and shielded her eyes. The light vanished and the two friend opened their eyes only to see a floating oval of light in front of them.

"What…what is…" Filo tried to speak.

"Isn't that a portal?" Kytes exclaimed. "But why is it just randomly showing up here?!"

Filo swished her head around, her short brown hair sticking to her face, and looked at Kytes with fearful eyes. "Should we get Vaan and Penelo?"

Kytes nodded. "Yeah, I think we should."

The two turned around and began to run. This just couldn't be good.

"Portals spontaneously opening up in the middle of areas full of monsters? Well now… This is quite interesting."

"The mist is seeping into the portal."

"I wonder where it leads to."

"What shall we do?"

Balthier shrugged. "I guess we wait for the kids to come back with the young Sky Pirates."

Fran smiled. "I knew you couldn't stay out of it."

Tsking, Balthier said, "I'm not getting into anything. I assure you."

"GAH!"

"OH GOD ERIKA!"

"NO LET HER FLOAT AWAY!"

"Daniel! I expected that from my brother, but not from you!"

"I'm sorry it was a moment of excitement."

"I NEVER WANTED TO BE ON THE GROUND MORE THAN I DO NOW!" Erika cried out as she held onto a nearby telephone pole.

"This is actually pretty cool." Nicole grinned. She moved one leg forward and then the next. "This is so easy!"

"That's because I gave you three the ability to move around like normal. Until we find the Esper that is causing this we won't be able to touch the ground, but I didn't want you all just floating endlessly and helplessly." Fantasy stated. "Erika, you can let go of the telephone pole now. You're fine." He called out to her.

Erika gulped and nervously released her death grip. She now stood upright and steady. "Oh good," she sighed in relief.

"Oh!" Nicole gasped. The others looked at her. "I know what Esper this is now! It's Zeromus!"

"I hardly even remember that Esper." Erika tapped her chin.

"I vaguely do, but Nicole is right. Zeromus controls Gravity." Daniel said.

Fantasy nodded to himself. "Yes… There's been a major outbreak of monsters… We might need to defeat them the way we go. If my calculations are correct, killing them won't hurt anybody. It'll do some good actually. We just need to send their bodies back to Ivalice so I'll conduct some portals whenever we defeat some and we'll throw them back in."

"That seems a bit harsh…" Nicole spoke.

"Nicole, please, we killed so many things during our time in Ivalice that it shouldn't even matter anymore to you. We practically left their bodies to rot." Erika said with a roll of her eyes.

Nicole sighed. "True…"

"Nothing is getting done with us just standing… er… floating here. Let's get a move on." Daniel ushered the three to follow him.

Agreeing with him, they followed. Daniel led the way even though he also didn't know where exactly it was they were going. Nevertheless, Daniel figured moving around was a better idea than just sitting in one place waiting for something to happen.

Hardly any people were around which they found strange. Where could have everyone gone? Vehicles, homes, chunks of debris all floated around. Gently and calm. The silence started to become eerie, so Erika touched very car she came across until she set off their alarms. Normally this would have aggravated Daniel, but even the silence was getting to him, so the car sounds made him feel less alone.

"We're almost to the center of town. We started out on the outskirts." Fantasy noted as he gazed down at his mechanical device.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into creatures from Ivalice yet." Erika said aloud.

"There doesn't seem to be much…" Fantasy muttered. "It's picking up a few… I could have sworn there would be more than this."

"The less the better," Nicole commented.

"And easier," Daniel agreed.

"Let's not complain then." Fantasy smiled.

The others agreed. They continued on with Daniel leading the way. He had no clue how to trek around Los Angeles. Erika, Nicole, Fantasy nor himself had ever been here before, but moving around rather than just standing around was truly the best way to go, right? That's what Daniel hoped at least.

"It's getting really dark now…" Nicole mumbled as she stopped and glanced up towards the darkening sky.

Fantasy gazed up as well, watching as the sun slowly vanished behind the horizon. The moon glimmered slightly, but wasn't very visible just yet.

"Yeah… Should we continue? I mean, we've gone a long ways and no one is around." Erika spoke next.

"But this is really strange… Too strange. Right now this place should be in utter chaos. People should be screaming their lungs out. But where are they?" Daniel asked.

Fantasy rubbed his temple. "Something feels very off…"

Erika and Nicole glanced at each other.

"I think we've had a rough day. Maybe we should rest for a bit. If nothing is happening at the moment we should take advantage of it." Nicole suggested with a look of weariness.

Daniel gave a quick glance to the two younger girls, noticing their fatigue. Both of them had done their best to continue on without complaining, but he knew that they weren't used to traveling around like this again. He couldn't lie to himself; he was relatively tired as well. But this odd feeling he was receiving from Los Angeles was hard to shake off. How could he sleep with knowing that an Esper was around causing disorder? And where did everybody go? Something was definitely not right here. Nevertheless, unless they took a break and got some rest, the girls wouldn't be able to continue on.

Daniel turned to Fantasy. "We should take a break. For the girls' sake."

Nicole and Erika smiled in relief.

Fantasy nodded. "Yes… That would be wise. However, we shouldn't stay out here in the open where we could be jumped at anytime."

"So we should find shelter?" Nicole questioned. "With these…floating homes?" she raised a brow and gestured to the off-kilter homes. Ever since they came to Los Angeles, they had seen nothing but debris, vehicles, bikes, signs, posts floating in the air. Some homes were on the verge. Some were tipping over and some were just raised slightly.

"You know what we haven't tried? Knocking on doors! Ding dong ditch time, baby!" Erika grinned.

"We don't have any eggs do we? Because that got messy when we did it the first time." Nicole grimaced.

Daniel shrugged. "I'm sure we can find some."

"OOOOH! Instead of ding dong ditch can we just do a B&E?!" Erika excitedly requested.

"A breaking and entering? THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. LET'S DO IT!" The two young girls high-fived each other.

"Only if we're for certain no one is home." Daniel said.

Fantasy deadpanned. "Guys… I'm not so sure about this…"

"C'mon. What's the worst that could happen?" Erika grinned.

"Getting shot." Fantasy eagerly replied.

"I'll take that risk."

"I knew you would always be the one to get us killed. Just never knew when."

Nicole smiled. "I'm sure we'll be fine. We need to find some weapons anyway! Our powers kind of suck without being able to project them into something. The best way to find some good shit is by going into people's home."

"Or you could go into a weapons store…" Fantasy advocated.

"Bah! Let's go Nicole!" Erika huffed, grabbing Nicole by the wrist and dragging her off.

Daniel began to follow the two, but stopped when he notice Fantasy hesitate.

"Do you honestly have a problem with what they're about to do?" He asked, raising a curious brow.

Fantasy shrugged. "Not really… But I… Daniel, something's wrong… In Ivalice."

"What do you mean?"

"I can sense major distress."

"Should we…?"

"Not yet. We must cover here first."

Daniel nodded. He cocked his head to the side and closed his eyes. "Does that mean we will…?"

Fantasy lowered his head. "I apologize… for bringing back such painful memories…"

Daniel gently shook his head. "No… It's alright. It'll just be another thing we have to face when this all ends. But Fantasy," his brown eyes seemed to of darkened, and his gaze on the young boy seemed sharp. "Do you think…? Do you think any of this has to do with the disappearance with my sister, and Rosalina, Conway and Stephanie?"

"I am not sure… I remember when word came in. I found it suspicious they all disappeared at once… I knew something must have occurred, however I found nothing. I did search for them, I swear." Fantasy took in a deep breath. "But… Nothing came up."

Daniel nodded. "I did a lot of research to. Couldn't pinpoint anything. Wherever they are, I just hope they're safe…"

Their feet pounded against the ground. Mud covered their shoes and they left tracks as they ran through the rainy Giza Plains. Filo and Kytes were in the lead, knowing where to go. Vaan and Penelo followed behind. Vaan's sword was attached to his belt and Penelo's staff lingered on her back, attached to a sash she had tied around her waist.

"Over here!" Kytes said, ushering the two young adults to continue following them.

"What were you two doing way out here?!" Penelo exclaimed.

The two younglings flinched.

"Told you she wouldn't be happy." Kytes muttered.

"Hush!"

"Well, well. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The four stopped in their tracks. In front of them not only laid an open portal, but also two familiar persons whom they had not seen in quite a while.

"Balthier! Fran!" Penelo exclaimed with a giant smile.

Fran returned her smile, albeit a small one.

"What are you two doing out here?" Vaan curiously inquired.

Balthier shrugged. "Just checking things out. We were about to depart, but Fran started to sense the mist."

"The mist? Around here?" Penelo questioned.

"Isn't the mist always around though? Even when we can't see it?"

Fran nodded. "Yes, but this thick… It's growing, becoming thicker. Soon we will be able to see it."

"So it's becoming densely concentrated…" Vaan murmured.

"What could that mean?" Penelo asked aloud.

"I am not sure. However, it is seeping into this portal." Fran noted, nodding her head towards the portal.

"But why?" Filo popped up, curiously asking.

"It's just going into this portal…" Fran said.

"But wh-… I guess none of us know." Penelo undecidedly said.

Vaan stood there, hands forming into tight balls. His dreams rushed into his mind. He remembered this white color, and the sounds of people he knew calling out for help. Their bodies crammed into tubes in an unfamiliar place.

"Help…" the voices would ring out.

"Stephanie… I know one of those voices is yours…" Vaan thought, his hands unclenching. "We should go."

Everyone rapidly turned to face Vaan.

"Vaan?" Penelo blinked.

"Go? An adventure?!" Filo looked up to him with excitement.

Vaan gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Filo. Not this time. You and Kytes need to stay here."

Filo couldn't believe what Vaan was saying! Didn't she and Kytes help out with their last adventure! The two of them were practically fully fledged Sky Pirates now, right along with Vaan and Penelo! How dare Vaan say she couldn't come along!

"But why?!"

Vaan bent down to look Filo straight in the face. "Filo, it was great having you with us in Lemurés. It really was, but we really don't know where we're going this time and how much more dangerous it could be. I need you to stay here with Penelo and Kytes and keep an eye on things in case it gets worse here."

"Excuse me?!" Penelo gave Vaan a stern look. "I will not be treated like a child. If you go, then I go!"

Vaan winced. "Alright, sheesh.

Smiling pompously, Penelo turned to Filo and Kytes who looked as if they were just told they couldn't have desert after their meal. "Vaan is correct. When need you two here for another important role."

Their ears perked up. "Important role?"

Penelo nodded. "Yes. You two need to stay here and keep an eye on everyone. Keep an eye on the mist."

"Well…" Kytes frowned slightly. "I guess that'll be fine."

"Yeah, we can do that." Filo said in defeat.

"And what? Did you expect us to tag along?" Balthier inquired of his young Sky Pirate protégé.

Vaan grinned. "Well you don't have to. More treasure for me!"

Balthier returned Vaan's mischievous grin with an equal mischievous smirk. "I never said we weren't going, now did I?"

"My, it seems we all had the same idea."

The group turned around to face an incoming Ashe back in her normal outfit, her little pink mini skirt only damp from the rain, and Basch in his royal armor. Jaws proceeded to drop.

"Ashe! Basch! How?" Penelo asked.

"Lately it seemed there has been an unusual disorder nearby. It's been taking place in the Westersands and Estersands as well, and who knows where else. Fiends have been vanishing off the charts, and many people are finding this peculiar. Where could they have gone to? Where are they going? No one seems to be able to tell." Ashe spoke, leaning a bit to the side. Her sword poked out from her belt. The princess seemed all ready to go.

"I went out to take a look around the Tchita Uplands and found an open portal. I watched as a fiend walked inside of it. I was astounded and went to file a report to his majesty. We had the portal closed immediately but it made me wonder just where they are ending up and how many fiends have entered through these portals." Basch said as he drifted over.

"How did you come to inquire information about this one?" Balthier wondered.

Basch smiled. "I was heading to the Lady Ashe's palace to report the recent activities when I spotted these two youngsters shouting at one another about a portal and telling Vaan about it in Rabanastre."

Filo and Kytes nervously laughed.

"Well, there's no need to worry about anything. I assume we'll all be going then?" Ashe presumed and gestured towards the portal.

Each member of the group gave a hesitant nod. They weren't sure – this all happened so suddenly, but they felt as if they had to take care of it, to see what was happening.

And Vaan had a bad idea about his good friends, the Fantasy Gamers.

"This looks like an ok place. It's small and it doesn't look like anybody's home!" Erika exclaimed, pointing to a small, one story home.

"Why do all these houses look the same?" Nicole groaned.

"It's Los Angeles. What do you expect?" Erika retorted.

"Shut your smart ass mouth before I wash it with soap."

"You're the one who is cussing!"

"Whatever," Daniel irritably sighed. "Let's just go in and get some rest. We'll figure the rest of this shiz-nitz out when we're over our fatigue."

"Bah," Nicole scoffed, but nonetheless listened to him. Erika floated over to the door and twisted the knob, only to find it locked.

"Of course!" Erika growled. "To the window!"

Those ended up being locked too.

"Back door?"

Locked.

"I'M BLASTING OPEN THIS LOCK!" Erika screeched.

"With what?! Your loud ass voice?!" Nicole screeched back.

"Maybe."

"You really are dumb."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Love you too,"

"Of course you do!"

Daniel sighed. "Does anybody have anything like a hammer or something equally hard like it?"

Fantasy held out his staff. "This is pretty sturdy."

Daniel nodded in thanks and then turned towards Nicole. "Do have your keys on you?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you still have those Bump Keys you purchased for whatever reason?"

"Yeah and it was to practice my badassery thief skills, thank you!"

"Whatever, give me them." Nicole did as he said and handed over her keys. "I can't guarantee this will work. You might not have a key that'll fit into the lock." Daniel proceeded to try and fit the fifteen Bump Keys Nicole owned into the door lock until one finally managed to fit. "Well I'll be damned. Now if this does work, then Nicole, I take back what I said when you first purchased these Bump Keys."

"What did you say?"

"That you wasted thirty dollars of your life on them."

"Oh…HEY!"

Daniel held the key securely and then with his other hand, he gently bumped it until something clicked. He then proceeded to turn the key in the knob, thus unlocking the door.

"These aren't useless after all." He commented, handing Nicole back her keys.

Nicole narrowed her eyes in obvious displeasure. "Thanks…"

"We can enter no-…" Daniel began to say as he slowly opened the door. Everyone stopped in their tracks. Just as Daniel had it opened half way, a metal flung out, smacking Daniel straight in the side of the face and he went flying into a floating bush.

"Daniel just got pwned!" Erika shouted with glee.

"How dare you break into my home!" A girls voice shrieked.

Standing in the doorway was a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen years of age. Her ocean blue eyes glared at the gang furiously and she wielded a baseball bat.

"I am so sorry about that." Nicole spoke quickly. "Look, we're not from around here and we just need a place to stay."

The girl scoffed. "Well find somewhere else!" and with that she slammed the door.

"Look, we just need some help! We're not sure what's going on around here or where the people have gone! We're confused and very tired." Nicole tried to reason. "I'm sorry we just disrespected your privacy and invaded your home like that, but we thought everyone was gone. We thought this home was abandoned. So please…?"

A moment of silence followed and nothing came out from the other side. Nicole sighed and turned around. Daniel had gotten up and was rubbing his face. Erika was stifling her laughter.

"Master, perhaps we should try another place." Fantasy suggested.

Nicole lowered her head, exhausted. "I'm just so tired Fantasy…"

"I know, Master…"

"Maybe we should just continue our search for Zeromus. It might just be best to finish this and then take a rest." Daniel said, still rubbing the side of his head. "She didn't make me bleed did she?"

"Nope, you're all good. Besides that redness and a bit of swelling that is." Erika grinned.

Daniel groaned. "Great. We haven't even fought any fiends or Espers and I'm already mortally wounded."

Nicole rolled her eyes at Daniel exaggeration.

The door behind them suddenly cracked open. "Did…did you say Zeromus…and Espers?" The girls was quieter this time around.

The three went into panic mode. "Uh! No! Of course not!" Erika nervously laughed. "You just hit our friend so hard here he doesn't even know what he is talking about! Isn't that right?"

Daniel laughed goofily. "Yup! I am really unsure of what is going on right now. Oh look, Sonic!"

Fantasy stepped forward. "It's ok, guys. We can tell her. After all, she is one of you."

"SHE'S WHAT?"

Daniel: Alright, it's two in the morning. Exhaustion is wining.

Lily: Yeah, time to hit the hay.

Stephanie: Please leave a review! That's what will keep us going.

Anna: We'll update soon.

Fantasy: Cya!