(3-7) = IIIII WAS NOT VERY PROUD OF THIS CHAPTER so I fixed up a LOT of things in here. Also took out some chunks that I really felt didn't need to be there. There's still a lot of just talking though, so just an FYI.

Chapter 7: Black Stone

"Hey…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"What, uh…what time is it?"

"Uhm…about around ten, I guess."

"…Shit, really? I thought it would be later."

"Why would you think that?"

I can't help but throw up my hands at Genis's question, groaning a bit. "Because we've been walking for a while and it's been a long day!"

…So yeah, hi again. If you've just tuned in to the little adventure I'm having at the moment, we have been walking a pretty long time. We left the village behind about…possibly three hours ago? That's only an estimate, though, as I can't check my phone to be sure. Seeing as phones don't exactly exist here.

I'm not…really doing so well, all things considered. Seeing as I've put my feet through a lot of crap this whole day. I practically scraped all the skin off my feet from running around the village like I did, and although I fixed most of that with another Apple Gel from the nifty belt I acquired, they're still really tender and well…bare, so it really didn't help much. Plus, once again, we've been walking for a pretty long time, not once taking a break. And since the only roads here are basically just the ground, which is littered with a truly ungodly amount of sharp things (rocks, twigs, etc), my feet are almost non-existant at this point. And combine that with the mud produced from the rain, I'll be surprised if I don't give myself an infection at this rate.

Not only that, but my nerves are pretty frayed after what's happened so far today. I mean, I'm not the only one – Lloyd and Genis have had it a lot worse than I have. We've only just started idly chatting with one another, because all of us were feeling pretty down until not too long ago. But being from Earth, I'm not used to being so…up close and personal with all of this stuff. Fires and people trying to kill me, death all around…that stuff gets to you. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's really hard when the incident is so fresh in your mind.

…At least it stopped raining.

Lloyd looks back at me as we trudge along the path. "C'mon, we haven't been walking that long. Why are you complaining?"

I give him a look, silently grateful for the distraction from my thoughts. I point down at my poor feet with my free hand, seeing as I'm carrying my stolen pistol with the other. "Lloyd, I'm walking barefoot here. I'm pretty sure I've got like ten pounds of mud stuck up in my feet at this point." I've basically given up on using anymore of my healing items on my feet – since I don't have any shoes, I know that this is just going to keep happening.

Lloyd makes a face at my explanation. "…Good point." He brings his focus back onto me. "Do you wanna stop for a bit?"

I start at the question, not expecting it. Yeah, my feet hurt like a bitch, but I don't wanna slow us down. …Then again, we have been walking non-stop for a while.

After a pause, I give a small nod before answering. "Uh…sure…I mean, as long as it doesn't slow us down much."

I follow the two boys, along with Noishe, over to some stray trees alongside the path. I'm surprised that there are even trees here to begin with – this area was pretty much a massive field in game…maybe I just missed seeing the trees? I dunno, it's been too long since I played the game.

When I sit myself down under a particularly large tree, I almost instantly find myself feeling a little less stressed. Even though I have a slight grudge against them right now, I still love trees with a burning passion. I live, and grew up, in Missouri, which means that there's a lot of plant life around. Because of that, I happen to really love all kinds of greenery.

I can't help but think about home for a moment, staring up at the greenery…we have at least five massive trees on our small property, and there's a bunch more all over my neighborhood and everywhere else in the city I live in. I remember when I was younger, due to childhood ignorance, I imagined that the people who built all the houses in my neighborhood put it right in the middle of a forest, simply due to the sheer number of them, as well as their enormous size. It was always so pretty around this time of year…

…Ugh, homesickness. I divert my attention from the canopy above, glaring at the ground slightly. Maybe thinking about home isn't the best idea right now.

I manage not to react when the two boys plop down on either side of me, but I do end up jumping a bit when Noishe thumps down next to Lloyd, making the ground shake a bit under his weight. While they get settled, I take the next moment to look over my feet again, peeling back the tattered ends of my pant legs to get a good look.

Sure enough, they're scraped and cut up to heck and back. Honestly, it's not as bad as I was expecting it to be – the injuries are pretty minor. But there's also a bunch of mud and leaves caked onto the bottoms of my feet, so that's probably not helping at all. I also can't help but huff a bit at the state of my pants – it's a weird combination of mud and holes from where the Desian whips cut into my calves, along with some of my leftover blood stained around the holes. I'm gonna have to get some new pants at this rate…

I groan slightly under my breath. "Man, my feet are killing me…" Absently, I start picking some of the leaves and mud clods off of me, wincing when one peels away from one of the cuts on the sole of my foot.

Jeez, if my feet are this bad now, I really don't want to imagine having to walk through the desert. I might not be able to walk afterwards.

I'm snapped out of my reverie when I find an Apple Gel being handed to me by Lloyd. I look at him a second, before taking it from his outstretched hand.

"Thanks." I tell him, beginning to rub half of the gel on one of the larger cuts my left foot (it actually works like this too), ignoring the scrapes for now. "But, y'know, this'll just keep happening until I actually get myself a pair of shoes." I wince a little at the sting from the gel healing the cuts but I recover pretty quickly.

"Why are you even walking around barefoot, anyways?" Genis asks me, and I spare him a glance before going back to my feet, beginning to apply the rest of the gel to the other foot.

"I think you've already brought this up, my dear Genis." I see him scowl at me from the corner of my eye, but continue regardless. "And I didn't expect to be walking around barefoot to begin with. It just kinda happened."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Lloyd joins in, and I see he has a confused look on his face. I feel a little bit of nervousness settle in the bottom of my stomach. Shit, I hadn't meant for that to slip out…

"Uh…nothing." I reply after a minute, avoiding looking at the two of them. I finish with my feet, so I place my hands in my lap, crossing my legs at the same time.

There's a pause, then Genis speaks up. "Does this have to do with all that stuff that happened yesterday?"

I flinch a bit, ducking my head down towards my chest. "…Uhhh."

"That reminds me…you never did explain everything like you said you would." Lloyd joins in, and I duck my head down further. "Y'know, why you were in that tree and stuff."

Dammit, I was kind of hoping they'd forget about all of that. I still don't really know what to tell them!

I glance at the brunet from the corner of my eye. "…You want me to tell you guys this now?"

Lloyd shrugs a bit at the question. "Hey, we've got some time." He leans back against the tree trunk, keeping his eyes on me. "We're all ears."

"Yup." Genis this time, and when I look over, I see he has that same look on his face. And now I have both of them staring at me.

Noishe whines a bit, and I see that he's staring at me too.

So now it's three against one.

Goddammit.

After a few moments of this, I sigh through my nose and run my hands through my hair in a nervous gesture. "I don't really...ugh, I don't know how to explain what happened, though." My voice is shaking slightly with my nerves.

"Well, just start at the beginning." Lloyd says, still looking at me. "It'll probably make more sense when you start talking."

I place my head in my hands for a few seconds at his statement, thinking. Finally, I heave a giant sigh and throw my head back, so I'm looking up at the leaves for a moment. Then, looking straight ahead, I start talking.

In a small span of time, I manage to tell them about all the weird events I remember that led to my abrupt meeting with the trio. I make sure to leave out a couple of things, like me talking to my dad on the phone, and of course I leave out anything to do with the Gamecube. I don't think that would go down too well with them. I'll just keep all the details about Earth to myself for now.

Also, I had...really no idea how to explain the whole 'me falling from the sky thing'. Somehow, I managed to come up with the (lightly cliche'd) excuse that I had blacked out at some point, and the next thing I remembered was being in that tree. I'll have to remember that for later in case anyone else asks.

When I finish my tale, there's silence from the two boys, leaving me to fidget around with my hands for a minute or two. Finally, I heave my third sigh, speaking up once again.

"Uhm, that's it, I guess." I tell them, keeping my eyes glued to the path in front of us. "…If you have any comments, go ahead and say them."

"Uh…" Lloyd finally speaks up, a stunned look on his face. He shakes his head a bit before speaking again. "That's a…pretty wild story."

"Told you." I mumble, and I move my hand up in a random gesture. "I don't even understand half of what happened to me. Though I can say this- from where I was before I ended up near Iselia, I can tell you that it was nowhere near here."

Oh, what an understatement that is.

"Yeah, but…" Genis begins, and I look over to him. "How can something like that even happen?" He gives me a skeptical look. "You aren't making all this up, are you?"

Okay, yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

"Wh-No!" I blurt out, giving the young mage a look of my own. "Why the heck would I make something like that up?!" Irritated, I start making weird gestures with my hands. "Dude, do you not remember how bad I was yesterday?" I start counting my fingers as I speak. "I fell through trees, into a pond, and off a cliff. I ended up covered in cuts, bruises, and I got a broken wrist." I point to my feet. "I'm running around here friggin' barefoot! How could I be making any of that up?!"

There's a long, long silence after my sudden outburst, creating a moment of awkwardness when I realize just how loud I was just then. And also, both boys are now leaning far away from me with slightly frightened expressions. Welp.

After a few moments, I sigh again dejectedly, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "I…I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm really confused about what's going on right now. One minute, I'm at home, and…and the next thing I know I'm somewhere I don't even recognize."

I bury my face into my knees. "I don't even know how far away I am from my family. And then…with the Desian attack, and you guys getting banished, and everything else, I just…" I exhale shakily. "I have no idea what to think."

I stay in my little ball, not speaking, thinking over what I just said. Talking about that kind of stuff with some people I just met (personally)…it's weird. I mean, it would be weird for anyone to do that, but…these guys aren't even supposed to be real. That just makes it really weird.

That and I usually don't confess stuff like that without bursting into tears or something. Unfortunately, I'm a sensitive little idgit when it comes to my emotions, so talking about personal stuff like that without crying…is extremely weird for me. I can feel some tears brimming in my eyes right now, actually. Dammit.

I jump slightly when I feel a hand on my shoulder, and when I unbury my face from my knees, I see its Lloyd again. He's looking at me with an unreadable look…at least for me. I'm not so good at reading faces.

I rub my face with my hand, trying to distract myself and also blink back those dang tears. "Sorry." I look back to Lloyd, my hand still on my face. "I shouldn't have just dumped…this on you guys all at once." I feel my cheeks flush a little in embarrassment. "I don't even really know you all that well yet. I can't…ugh, I'm sorry."

Yeah, I am so good at explaining shit. Look at me go.

Lloyd shakes him head slightly at me, an awkward smile on his face. "Hey, don't worry about it." He looks somewhere above my head, most likely glancing at Genis. "I mean…we're gonna be stuck together for a while. Better to get this stuff out in the open now, right?"

I raise an eyebrow at that, looking back to the road. "…I guess so." I give a little snort. "Well, thanks for listening to me anyways."

"No problem." Lloyd gives me a little pat on the shoulder, making me feel a bit awkward, before dropping his hand again. He gets a sort of serious look on his face. "Still…what happened to you is kind of…weird."

I scoff. "Yeah, that's an understatement." I stop for a second, and then shrug. "…I guess there's really no point in discussing it right now, though. I told you guys what happened to me, and we don't really need to go further into it right now. It'd just be a waste of our time."

"Well, now what?" I look at Genis, who I actually kind of forgot was there. He hasn't really said anything the whole time. He shrugs at my stare. "We can't just sit here doing nothing."

I know he's right, and I look to the road again, thinking for a few seconds…

Ooh, idea!

I nod to myself. "Well, I don't know about you guys…" I reach down next to me, pick up my forgotten weapon, and hold it in the air. "But I kinda wanna look over all this stuff I got."

"Oh yeah!" Lloyd says, looking at the pistol in my hand. "I forgot you had a weapon now." A small silence. "…What is it, exactly?"

"Looks like a gun to me." I say, waving it a bit. When he gives me a confused look, I cock an eyebrow. "Y'know, a projectile weapon?" Hm, maybe they haven't seen these before. I bring said weapon back down from the air, looking it over. "I got it off a Desian back at the village. He was about to shoot me with it, but I knocked it out of his hand and took it."

As I look over the gun, I see that it's actually quite different from the kinds back home. It has similar dimensions to a 9 mm handgun, but with a few differences in the build. The chamber part of the gun is a light silver color, and there's a small scope on the top, close to the muzzle of the gun. On the back is a little half circle, with a piece of metal that I believe is the hammer, but it seems a bit different. The handle is curved slightly, made of wood, with a metal plating covering the inside portion of the handle.

One of the most obvious traits about the thing is a container of sorts placed where the inside chamber of the gun, where the bullets sit, usually is. A strange liquid of sorts sits inside, a vibrant blue, and strangely, filled with bubbles. Little wisps of something appear at random points in the liquid, but I can't tell what they are.

Something else I notice is that, when I accidentally fire the gun into some trees, it makes less noise than a regular gun. While the ones back home fire with a loud crack noise, this one fires with a dull boom noise. Plus, the bullets it fires…aren't really bullets. When I found the point where my accidental shot landed, instead of a real bullet, I found a bullet-sized white pellet, tinged a slight blue color. When I tried to pick it up, the thing disintegrated, and I felt a little jolt of…something…pass through my hand. It would explain why those bullets I fired into the Desians didn't have as much as an effect as real bullet would have.

I'm gonna have to find someone who can explain this weapon to me.

After our look-over of my gun, Genis decided to go ahead and make us some lunch, in the form of some sandwiches, since we had already been sitting there for a while. While he did that, I decided to take off my belt and go through all the random pouches on the thing, taking note of my new inventory.

So far, I've found about seven Apple Gels, four Orange Gels, three Panacea Bottles, and way too many Magic Lens. I know that those things could come in handy when fighting monsters, but honestly. There were a lot.

Of course, it didn't really matter. Apparently, we were low on supplies anyways.

Along with that, I happened to find a bag of Gald in one of the pouches, which was pretty exciting. As it turned out, the money is exactly the way I imagined it- a bunch of gold coins. The smallest piece is a ten Gald piece, which was the size of a dime, and the biggest piece in the bag was a hundred Gald one, roughly the size of a half-dollar.

The cool thing about them was, each different coin had its own special engraving, like the coins we have at home. Only instead of the faces of the Presidents, it was stuff like the Great Kharlan Tree, and the Tower of Salvation. Some of it was stuff I didn't even recognize, which…probably means I should study up on some history while I'm here.

Right now, all that stuff is sitting in a pile next to me, while I investigate the remaining pouch, the largest one on the back of the belt. I'm talking to the two boys as I do this, having finished my own sandwich, so it's taking me a bit to actually open the damn thing.

"Wait, so you just took the belt off the Desian?" Genis asks me, putting away his cooking ingredients while he talks. While he does that, Lloyd is sitting by Noishe, absently scratching him behind the ears. He got scared and ran off when I accidentally fired my gun, but he came back about five minutes later. He seems to have calmed down, but he's sending me a growl every couple of minutes, most likely because I scared him.

"It's not like he was using. Dude was knocked unconscious. I didn't have enough room in my pockets, anyways." I'm still fiddling around with the flap of the pouch as I talk. All of the pouches have little cords on the flaps that are supposed to wrap around a button on the actual pouch, to keep them secure, but this one seems to have twisted up on itself, and I'm currently trying to undo the stupid knot. I think I've almost got it…

"Well yeah, sure, but…" Lloyd gives me a weirded-out look. "That seems kind of weird, don't you think?"

I just shrug at him. "Hey, if it makes you feel better about it, imagine him waking up and standing only to have his pants fall down. That'd be interesting." After a few more twists, the knot comes undone. "Ha! Got it! Now let's see here…"

Well, the first thing I manage to pull out of the pouch is a knife. It looks like one of the ones some of the Desians in the game carry around. It's about a foot and a half long, with a grey leather grip and a golden hilt. Pulling it out of its grey sheath, I can see that its one edge is wicked sharp, gleaming in the sunlight.

I raise an eyebrow, slightly confused. Why the heck was this in the Desian's belt? I remember that in the game these things were strapped to their legs, usually. Was the guy just not using it?

…Well, whatever. It might come in handy later. I shrug and place it down on the ground next to me, looking through the rest of the pouch.

Sadly, most of the rest of the stuff in there is nothing but a bunch of junk - broken pencils, scraps of paper, etcetera. I do find some sheets of paper with a bunch of diagrams on them – some kind of notes, I guess - but the handwriting is so sloppy that I have absolutely NO idea what they're trying to say. But the words are in English, that must I can make out. Which is a great relief, because I don't think I could handle it if this world had a different writing system.

I set those down next the knife, and then set back to digging through the pouch. My fingers brush against another object, and I grab onto it. Whatever it is fits easily into my palm, and I bring it out into the open, so I can see what it is.

What I find surprises me. Laying in my palm, glinting in the sunlight, is a gold-colored ornament, covered in strange, foreign runes, with a depression lying in the middle.

"What the…?" Now I'm really confused. What the heck is a Key Crest doing in the belt?

"Hm?" Lloyd looks up at my confused statement. When he sees what I'm holding, his eyes widen, and he stands up and comes over to where I'm sitting.

"Hey, that's a Key Crest!" I hear astonishment in his voice, and he crouches next to me, staring at the object in my hand. "Where'd you get that?"

I stare as well, with the same expression. "It was in the belt pouch…" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Genis wander over as well, but I'm too busy being confused to really pay attention. I know that the Desians use Exspheres, so if the Desian I got this belt from was using one, then this thing should be still on him, right?

…So why is it here?

Searching for answers, I stuff the Key Crest into my hoodie pocket, and then dig my hand into the pouch once again. I move my hand around carefully, so I don't miss anything in the seemingly empty pouch.

Then, near one of the corners, I find what I'm looking for. My fingers brush against a small object, something smooth and rounded. I immediately grab it and bring my hand back out, uncurling my fingers to reveal the item.

It's not what I was expecting.

The object I'm holding is a round stone of some sort, about the size of a large marble. It glints in the sunlight where it sits in my palm. Normally, since it was in the same pouch as a Key Crest, I would think it was an Exsphere – common sense, and all. However, there's a problem with that theory.

Now, from what I remember from the game and the OVA's, Exspheres are usually a red color, or sometimes blue, as Lloyd's sphere indicates. So what's the problem with this thing?

This stone is black.

Staring at the sphere in my hand, I notice something else about the color too. It's not just a solid black color, but rather, a shifty, rolling black. What appears to be swirling clouds move around the inside, making intriguing shifts of black and dark grey.

I roll the stone on my hand, until I'm holding it firmly in my fingers, bringing it up to my face. "What the heck is this thing?" Confusion seeps into my voice, and I can only imagine that it's plastered on my face as well.

"Let me see it." I turn to Lloyd at his statement, and when he motions to the stone with his hand, I fork it over to him. Holding it in his fingers, he holds it up to the sunlight, squinting at it. "Weird…it kind of looks like an Exsphere. Except…" He brings it back down, giving the stone a confused look. "I've never seen an Exsphere that's this color."

I lean towards him a bit, trying to get another look at the strange sphere, when I hear the crinkle of paper under my hand. Looking down, I see I've placed my hand on those pieces of paper that I found earlier.

However, this time, I notice something that catches my attention.

"Lloyd, let me see that again." I say, picking up the papers with my left hand and beckoning with the other. I don't look at him, so I don't see his face when he places it in my hand a few seconds later.

"What are you looking at?" Genis speaks up for the first time, and when I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, I can see him eyeing the papers curiously.

"These were in the pouch with the stuff. I think they're some kind of notes…" I reply, not diverting my attention from the papers. I didn't see it before when I first scanned through them, but one of the diagrams on the first sheet has grabbed my attention- a black blob of ink near the corner. Normally, one would mistake it for just an ink blot, but as I bring the sphere to the paper, I see that it's not the case.

The blob on the paper is the exact same size as the sphere in my hand.

It's then that I realize that it's not a blob - It's a sketch. A very messy one, but a sketch all the same.

I look at the random scribbles on the paper more intently, trying to decipher what's written next to the sketch. Unfortunately it's pretty impossible – whoever wrote these notes must have the worst handwriting known to man. All the words look more like random scribbles than actual letters…and I think it's in cursive too. Man, what the fuck – who the hell wrote this shit?!

Oh, wait, okay – there it is. I finally recognize one of the words next to the sketch. It's really messy, almost illegible, but I can tell what it says, at least.

"Okay, I think this is an Exsphere." I finally say, pointing at the scribbled writing with the hand I'm using to hold said Exsphere. "This is really hard to make out, but these notes are talking about this thing."

"Really?" Lloyd speaks up, and I can practically feel him leaning over my shoulder to look at the papers in my hand. Awkward. "But then, why is it that weird color?"

"I…dunno." I reply, making a face at the papers in my hand. "These notes are pretty hard to read…I can barely make out anything written down on here. Maybe this is something the Desians were working on?" Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. They already have the Angelus Project going on – maybe they have some other Exsphere experiments going on along with it. Wouldn't surprise me.

…Question is, why did that Desian in Iselia have these? The guy didn't really seem that important – didn't look it, anyways - so why was he carrying around something like this? It doesn't make a lot of sense…

Suddenly, a spark of an idea comes to my mind. Thinking, I look down at the black Exsphere in my hand, and without looking, pull the nearly forgotten Key Crest out of my pocket. I bring both up closer to my face, one object in each hand.

Oh man, I really don't want to…but…

"Hey, Lloyd." I speak up before I can change my mind. I sense the brunet look at me at the mention of his name. "This Exsphere…" I look towards him, thinking. "Do you think it would be safe to use?"

He blinks at me. "Um…I don't know." He freezes, before glaring at me slightly. "Hang on; you're actually thinking of using that thing?!"

"Well…yeah." I shrug a bit. "I mean, nobody else is using it right now. We can't just let it go to waste." I hold up the stone, waving it a bit. "Plus, I don't actually have one, myself. I dunno, it could come in handy."

If I'm being honest here, I'm really not feeling too confident about actually putting on this thing. Forget about the weirdness of the stone – Exspheres are basically made using someone's life, which is pretty horrific in its own right. If I wasn't in this situation, I wouldn't even think of putting on one of these damn things. The idea of using someone's life like that is just…disturbing.

But I know that if I don't, I really won't be of any help here in this world. Lloyd's entire group uses Exspheres, even if they don't like doing it, and that's what helps make them strong. I won't be able to keep up with any of them unless I have this thing. I don't like it, but…I mean, what choice do I have at this point?

Lloyd continues to give me that look. "I don't think it's a good idea." He points at the little stone, which I'm still holding up. "I haven't really seen too many Exspheres myself, but no matter how you look at it, that thing isn't normal. We don't know what it could do to you."

"I'm with Lloyd." I turn to Genis, who's giving me a similar look. "That thing was with a Desian. If they had it, it has to be for something bad."

I huff a little, even though they're probably right. Knowing how the Desians work, we really don't know what exactly they were doing with this Exsphere. If it's the result of an experiment by them, it could probably do something weird to me…like how the Angelus Project turned Presea all soulless. But she didn't a Key Crest, and I do! That has to count for something, right? Lloyd's Exsphere was a result of the Angelus Project, too, but it doesn't do anything funky to him cause of his Key Crest.

…Dangit, now I'm not feeling too confident. Ugh.

"Okay, okay, how about this?" I finally reply, glancing between the both of them. "As a test, I'll try equipping the Exsphere -" I hold up a hand before Lloyd can interrupt me, "- and if it does anything weird to me, then we'll toss it, kay? If it doesn't, then I'll keep it, but we can keep an eye on it in case it does anything freaky later." I bring my hand back down, keeping my gaze on the swordsman. "Does that sound fair?"

Lloyd still looks skeptical, but I guess something in my expression gets to him, because after a few seconds, he gives a resigned sigh. "Fine. But don't blame me if something weird happens."

Oh, holla, my argument worked! I figured I'd have to throw in some begging, but I guess I was more convincing than I thought I was.

Humming triumphantly, I take the time to find out where I want to stick this Key Crest. After a few seconds of debate, I decide to stick it on the back of my left hand, like Lloyd, so I can keep an eye on it easier. Plus, it's just more convenient that way.

"Have you ever put on an Exsphere before this?" Lloyd asks me as I stick the Key Crest on my hand, flexing my wrist afterward. Weird, it just kinda stays put there…kind of like a really good Band-Aid. Freaky.

I look at him, shaking my head. "No. Why?"

He taps his left temple. "You'll probably get dizzy, then. It happened to me when I first put on my Exsphere." His face screws up a bit, like he's thinking. "I…can't remember why, though. I think the Professor explained it to me once."

I see Genis roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye. "Lloyd, she explained it to you five times! How do you keep forgetting?"

The brunet blushes at this, reaching over me to shove his friend. "Hey, shut up, Genis!"

Behold, Lloyd, the model student. I sort of giggle to myself at their antics, before holding up the black Exsphere. "Welp, here goes nothing…"

Moment of truth. Carefully, I line up the stone with the indent in the center of the Key Crest. Once I have it in place, I slowly push down on it, trying to prepare myself for some of the dizziness Lloyd described.

There's a small click.

And then I can't see.

Green lights flash in my eyes as a rush of dizziness hits me, and I feel myself fall over from the sheer force of it. Blindly, I grasp the nearest object, desperate to keep myself upright, only to grab some fabric. One of the boys. I blink sharply and rapidly, trying to clear the explosions of light under my eyelids as a cold tingling shoots up my arm. I feel a hand grab onto my shoulder, and there's voices I can't make out over the sudden ringing in my ears.

After a few seconds, the lights begin to fade from my vision, along with the cold, tingly feeling in my limbs. As my vision swims back into focus, I happen to glance at the Exsphere now sitting on my hand.

I see the faintest color of blue fade from its black surface, and suddenly everything's clear again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I manage to get out, before my companions can say anything else. I look to see who's holding on to my shoulder, and of course, it's Lloyd. I also see that I was grabbing onto the sleeve of his jacket, and I release my grip on him quickly.

"You don't look alright!" the brunet replies, sounding concerned. "You look like you're about to pass out!"

"Yeah. You're really pale." Genis chimes in, with the same worried tone in his voice.

Jeez, I've known these guys for two days. I have got to make them stop worrying about me.

I wave my now free hand at them. "I'm fine, really!" I repeat, shaking my head slightly to relieve the leftover dizziness. "That was just a bit…worse than I was expecting."

They still don't look convinced. I roll my eyes. "Honestly guys, I'm alright." To prove my point, I stand up, catching them a bit off guard. "See? Never better!"

I'm really not lying to them. As I stand, I feel…some sort of manic energy running through me. Like I just ate a bunch of sugar or something, and I'm practically bouncing in place. God damn, suddenly I feel like I could friggin' run a mile. And I never feel like that. That's really weird.

Lloyd and Genis look to one another, then back at me. A few moments later, they stand up as well, and Noishe, seeing this, does the same.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lloyd asks as Noishe walks over to him. I give him a thumbs-up, practically hopping off the ground with the manic energy running through me.

"Yup-yup." Remembering something, I crouch back down to the ground, and begin quickly packing all the stuff that I took out of my belt back into their pouches. I quickly put back on the belt (at least, as quick as I can), grab my gun off the ground, and quickly stand back up. I wave in the direction of the trail with the weapon.

"So, are we gonna get going?" I say, grinning. "We still need to catch up with Colette and the others, right? We've wasted enough time here."

That gets Lloyd to stop staring. Astonishment covers his face, and he looks up towards the sun, which is almost directly above us, indicating it's almost noon. "Oh, you're right!" He looks back down. "We'd better get going!"

"Alright then!" Almost exploding with excitement and newfound energy, I begin to march down the road, pointing with my free hand. "Onward!"

I had almost forgotten about monsters.

Almost.

After our very long pit stop, my little group's been trudging along for a few hours now, and for the most part, I was feeling pretty good! That crazy energy that came over me before we set off stayed with me for quite a while, and I could only fathom that it must have come from my new Exsphere. The thing may be weird, and also disturbing, but I have to admit – it sure is cool!

However, my feeling of glee didn't last too long. With all the business with the Desians this morning, the discovery of my new Exsphere, and everything else in-between, I had completely forgotten about the monsters roaming around. If I think about it, that's not too surprising – I hadn't run into any of them personally, and the one's I had seen, I didn't fight, so it's really no surprise that I sort of…forgot they existed.

That little blunder was quickly rectified, as we've just so happened to run into a large group of them.

The group of monsters we've encountered consists of some Wolfs, Hawks, and some of those weird mushroom things that hang around the Iselia area in the game. Minicoids, I think? They looked pretty adorable then, but now? Not really.

I have to duck down when one of the two Hawks decides to try and take my head off, and while I'm down there, I fire some rounds at one of the little fat mushrooms as it tries to swarm my feet. Dammit, these things look pretty harmless, but in a group like this they're really annoying. "Guys, I need some help over here!"

"Kind of busy!" Lloyd shouts back, whacking one of the Wolfs over the head with a sword. While Lloyd is taking care of them, Genis is trying to Fire Ball one of the Hawks out of the sky. He's not doing so well at that, as one of them tries to claw my head again, just barely missing my hair.

I yelp a bit when one of the mushroom guys tries to jump on my face when I duck down to avoid the Hawk, but I manage to slap the thing out of the air before it can hit me. I fire at a few more bullets at the little creatures, and I'm relieved to see one of them go down in a flurry of spores.

My relief is short lived, as that damn Hawk must have a grudge against me. I only manage to hear its screech before it knocks me square in the back of the head. I do a graceful faceplant into the rest of the Minicoids, and then I end up flailing on the ground when they begin to latch onto my face and neck.

"Agh! Get off me!" I bat at my face with my free hand, trying to dislodge one of the mushroom things. All I manage to do is stir up another cloud of spores, which I choke on when I accidentally breathe it in.

Oh my god, I would kill for a Fire Ball right now!

At that thought, a sudden dizziness overtakes me, and I feel something begin to swirl around me, dense and full of heat. I close my eyes, bringing a hand to my face to try and shield it. I realize it's my Exsphere hand, which feels just as warm as the strange force around me, and I feel the little monster on my face fall off with a shriek.

I hear strange little pops, and the sound of something rushing through the air. Confused at the noise, I open my eyes slightly, and see balls of fire soaring through the air, some impacting that Hawk that kept dive-bombing me, some hitting the little mushrooms. They're different from the Fire Balls Genis makes, a lot smaller in size, and I'm left wondering where they're coming from.

When I sit up, I see a strange, fuzzy inscription fade away from under me, and I realize.

They came from me.

Shock fills me, as well as a bit of fear, so much so that I don't hear the rest of the monsters being taken care of by the two boys. I'm left staring at my hands, still sitting, until I hear footsteps behind me. When I turn, slowly, still holding up my hands, I see Lloyd and Genis standing behind, both with astonished looks on their faces.

I try to say something, anything, to the two, but I only manage to gape like a dying fish.

Finally, Lloyd breaks the silence. "How…how did you do that?"

I look down, back to my hands. "I…I don't…know."

The brunet gives me a strange look. He's silent for a few seconds, but speaks up again. "Only elves and half-elves can use magic, right?" His tone is unreadable. "Are…you a half-elf?"

"No!" I reply immediately, looking back at him. "I'm not! I've- I've never been able to do that before!" Even as I say that, I feel a small doubt in the back of mind. Did…coming here do something to me?

Just to make sure, I quickly bring my hands up to my ears, feeling for anything that wasn't there before. But they feel just the same as they always have. No points.

"I don't think she is one." Genis speaks up, and I see he's biting his lip, like he's thinking about something. "I mean…her mana doesn't feel like a half-elf's…or an elf's." Confusion flits over his expression for a second, but it's gone before I can even register it.

"But then…" I speak up, staring at him. "How was I able to…do that?" I look down, my hands falling away from my ears. "How could I just…use magic? It shouldn't be-"

I stop as a thought enter my mind. Maybe…?

Slowly, I look down, until my eyes are on the Exsphere sitting on my hand. Lloyd and Genis do the same, most likely seeing the look on my face, and there's a collective silence.

"You don't think…?" Lloyd trails off before he finishes. I keep staring at my hand for a few more seconds, before standing back up.

"There's only one way to find out."

Looking back down, I point myself in a direction away from the boys, towards a small bush nearby. I lift my hand so it's level with the bush, and the Exsphere glints in the sunlight.

Okay, so…how did I do it before? I think for a few seconds, before I just decide to try an obvious method. I close my eyes, thinking hard to what happened a few moments before.

I say it at the same moment I think it.

"Fire Ball."

The same rush of dizziness overtakes me, and I open my eyes this time. In front of me, the Exsphere is still the same, but I feel the same strange heat around my hand. I see a glowing inscription underneath me.

A ball of fire appears in front of me. It's small, but it's still surprises me, and it flies into the small bush, causing it to burst into flames.

But not before I see my Exsphere flash a faint, light blue.

"Whoa!" Lloyd exclaims next to me, staring at the now blazing bush. "You did it again!"

I nod, astonished, and then bring my hand closer. "Yeah…but I don't think it's me that's doing it."

He looks down at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

I answer with a sigh through the nose. I've got to try something really quick, to see if I'm right…

I bring my left hand up, grab the Exsphere with my nails, and, bracing myself, pull it out of the Key Crest.

"Whoa! What are you doing?"

I don't answer him at first, reeling from a sudden exhaustion. Shaking my head a bit, I look back to the burning bush, lifting my hand a second time. "Testing something."

I once again attempt to form a Fire Ball to hit the bush, concentrating.

To my astonishment, and relief, nothing happens. No strange heat. No rush of energy. Nothing.

I open my eyes, and stare down at the black sphere in my hand. "Okay, that's just freaky."

"What happened?" I look to Genis, who looks as confused as I feel. Same with Lloyd. I gesture to the Exsphere in my hand.

"I'm not too sure, but I think this thing has something to do with it." I can hear my voice fill with a kind of wonder as I explain what I just found out. "When I had this thing on, I was able to throw that Fire Ball at that bush over there." I point to said bush, which is now nothing but smoldering ash. I point back to me. "But when I took it off, which I just did, I wasn't able."

I continue. "Not only that, but like Lloyd said-" I gesture to said brunet, "Only elves and half-elves can use magic. I'm human, so I shouldn't be able to use it, right?" I wave the Exsphere at them, the volume of my voice rising in excitement. "But somehow, this thing let me use it!"

I nod to myself. "And now I think I know why the Desian I stole this from had it in the first place."

I have no idea how…but this Exsphere can let me use magic.

Removed the author's note from down here. Bleh bleh bluh.

NEXT TIME: Nova's Caravan and deserts.