Chapter Seven: Sphere Secrets

I could never have begun to image what one of the spheres from the game would look like in real life. The graphics made it hard to tell like everything else, so I assumed it was like a round ball. As I stared into the misty surface of the aqua sphere I realised just mow magical it looked.

It was as though a storm had been captured inside a fragile glass orb. It raged inside, enveloping quick flashing images as it rolled like clouds in the wind. I stared in wonder and touched the surface, finding that it was soft and my finger left a small indent that slowly fleshed itself out again.

"Amazing…" I breathed.

Seeing my awed face, Rikku giggled and clapped me on the back. "If you think that's cool, then you should actually try to watch it! Go on, try and figure it out!"

I was uncomfortable with being in the spotlight in front of these three girls, having to do something I had no idea about. I racked my brain to try and think of a scene when they had watched a sphere, but none came to memory. I swore quietly to myself and stared into the orb, tyring to see it through the rising mist. I couldn't see a thing, so I pressed my eyes up close to the surface and widened them until they hurt.

Paine sniggered and pulled it out of my hands. "Let me show you before you hurt yourself," she said unkindly, pressing it to her temple until the edge flattened out against the pressure.

"Are you trying to squeeze that into your brain?" I asked, half joking, half serious.

Rikku burst out laughing and lounged her arm on my shoulder. "Rach, Rach, Rach… All you do is hold it to your temple and whatever is recorded on it will be visible to you, but you have to close your eyes or you'll lose it and have to start over."

It sounded like watching a DVD, only it was in your mind. "Does it pause and rewind?" I asked, joking completely this time.

Paine opened her eyes and sighed. "I can't make any sense of it," she said with a heavy sigh, passing it to Yuna. "You try and figure it out."

Yuna watched the orb, and once it was finished she looked as puzzled as Paine. "What the…"

"Let me watch it!" Rikku gasped. "I'll figure it out!"

The cocky blonde received the orb and almost cracked it against her head in her eagerness (if it was actually possible to crack it). She screwed up her face as the orb played before her closed lids, then opened them to stare into blank space as she thought. She groaned as she came to no conclusions and passed it off to me. "Se if you get it," she said. "It's just two kids talking about some sort of vibes to each other… Sounds kinda kinky if you ask me." She had to add that part in, and Paine rewarded her with a smack to the back of her head.

I held the sphere up to my head and almost jerked at the freezing cold sensation. Every part of me started to lose feeling as I started to hear voices that were not there. They were fuzzy and faltering, so I quickly closed my eyes before I would lose the recording.

Sand blew across a shutting iron door that scraped along the paved ground. Whoever held the recording was working in a hurry. They were panting and shaking as they turned and hurried down a crimson hall, gripping the orb so tightly their fingers could be seen on the rim of my vision.

The recorder rushed around a corner, then threw open a door so hard that it slammed against the wall.

Inside, a voice came, sharp and angry. "Careful, you idiot! Are you trying to get us caught?"

"Sorry, Marelle, but I'm really nervous. I thought I heard footsteps following me."

The voice hushed the recorder. "Shut up, will you! I'm sure that our boss doesn't want to hear pathetic small talk like this! He'll have our tongues if you don't watch it!"

"Sorry…"

A light was flicked and the entire room lit up, showing a very empty storage room the girl Marelle whom glared at the recorder. "Well, hurry up and put it down! I need your help with this!"

The orb was placed on the ground and the recorder, and a boy of about the same age as Marelle stepped over to her and embraced her quickly. She allowed it for a moment before pushing him away and telling him to take a seat on the floor.

"Before we start, I need to tell you that it is getting harder to find that feeling," she said angrily, clenching her fists. "I can't even recognise its location anymore. We need to find it and extract it before I lose it completely."

The boy looked up at her sadly. "Maybe you need a rest. Let me do it tonight, sis. I have more energy than you, so I think I can handle it."

Marelle glared at him sharply. "You think I can't do it!? You think you could do better!?"

Her companion turned away, hiding a secret smile. "No, sister, I'm sorry!"

"You should be! We might as well stop the sphere, now. There's nothing more to do that he doesn't know about." She turned to it and smiled, bowing a little along with her brother. "Sorry about all of that, leader. It seems my idiot brother here does not know how to show you proper respect. As I have stated to him, I am having trouble sensing the power anymore, and my mind is constantly rattled. I apologise if you are disappointed. I will try harder if I can manage it."

The sphere went black.

I dropped the orb from my hands and felt it shatter my feet.

"Good going," Paine said sarcastically, though she gave me a confused stare as I stood shaking like a leaf.

Yuna gripped my hand. "Sorry, I didn't think the first sphere would affect you like that," she said guilty.

I shook my head and took a step away from the sphere as though it were made of evil. "It's them… it's them…"

Rikku caught my free hand. "Are you alright? Who was it?"

I didn't have time to reply. I started to fall backwards as my legs lost all support. To my surprise Paine had rushed forward with amazing agility and caught me. She sat me down and set in front of me, staring at my face and blocking out the panicked Yuna and Rikku.

"Who where they?" she asked calmly.

I took a deep breath, tried to steady my shaking hands, and answered.

"The two that took me out of my own world. It was them. I saw them!"

*****

"What?"

Brother could barely understand what was happening. It seemed I was more trouble than I was worth, and he didn't want to get involved.

"That's not fair!" Rikku cried, getting her face right up to his. "She's practically a Gullwing, and you want to just ignore this? They could be hunting for her!"

He shook his head and pulled away from her. "No! I'm not putting the rest of us in danger just for her!"

"Oh, come on Brother!" Yuna piped up, too kindly to be taken seriously. "You'd go if it was for one of us. Why not her? She's proven that she's trustworthy."

"That's not entirely true…"

Everyone turned to Paine as she stared at me with piercing eyes. "She seems to be quiet more powerful than we expected. What was with that little lightshow during battle? And don't blame it on your dress here. It's been checked by Shinra, so there's no point in weaselling yourself through that hole."

My heart plummeted. "You saw that?"

She nodded. "Spill."

I knew that what I had to say would sound bad because I didn't actually know how I had done it. Nevertheless, I had to try. "I'm not entirely sure how I did it, to be honest. I didn't feel anything at all, and I wouldn't had known about it if Yuna hadn't told me."

"They were like flames," she pointed out, standing in front of me as though Paine would throw herself at me in an instant. "Maybe she just accidentally used magic. What's weird about that?"

"Hmm, let me think," Paine said with her head tilted to the side, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe it's weird because she was in her warrior dress here! The last time I checked you can't use magic in that sphere unless it is an ability, and it only affects the weapon, not the whole damn person!"

Rikku jumped to my aid. "Maybe she's skilled with magic!" she suggested in a voice tight with fear from the situation. "Some people can use certain abilities no matter the dress here if they're experts! I can steal in most of mine!"

Paine shook her head. "I'm not buying it. I don't know about the pair of you, bit it felt different. When I saw it I felt almost like my eyes were burning. My heart was tight and I couldn't breathe, as though just having it in my sights affected me. Imagine the damage it could do if it was actually used against someone in an attack!"

Yuna lowered her head. "I felt it too… but Rachael wouldn't do something like that! You know her Paine!"

The warrior rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall of the bridge. "Yuna, you can protect her all you want, but you're listening to lies. This is all a charade so she can get us caught by her little friends in that sphere and they can kill us, or take all of our stuff, or whatever! Either way, I want her off this ship as much as Brother."

"Yes!" Brother shouted, pointing at me tauntingly. "That is exactly why I want you off as well! You're dangerous!"

"No, I'm not! I don't know what's going on with me, seriously!"

Paine growled and pulled away from the wall, coming at me like a beast on a rampage. She stopped right in front of my face and spoke in a deadly quiet voice. "Go and collect your things and get the hell off of this ship."

Yuna gripped my arm and pulled me away from Paine, asking the enraged warrior why she was doing this. It ended in an entire crew argument, and I didn't want to hear it. I slipped out silently and headed to the rooms to collect my things.

If they were going to turn against me like that, than I would have no way in surviving. My old feelings of escaping the world through my own means bloomed inside of me. The passion of suicide was a powerful thing to think about, and it brought me to tears as I gathered my things. It seemed I couldn't win in either world.

"Rach?"

I turned to see Rikku, Yuna, and Buddy standing in the elevator doorway, looking as guilty as I felt depressed.

Before any words could be said, Yuna threw herself at me and hugged me. "I am so sorry," she gasped in my ear. "It's not fair, and you shouldn't be kicked off like this! It makes me so angry!"

I released her gently. "Well don't take it out on Paine. She's mad enough to take anyone's head off by the sounds of it."

"Actually," Rikku said through gritted teeth. "She's quiet proud of herself at the moment." She looked close to tears and hid it behind rage.

Buddy took my small bag of things that seemed very unimportant now, and we stepped onto the elevator together. I hastily wiped my eyes as I realised they were wet with tears.

"You're a good person," Buddy said suddenly before we reached the bridge for my descend. "I know that you're innocent, but unfortunately Brother calls the shots. However, if it had been up to a vote, you would still be here. I promise you that the only two against you are Paine and Brother. You still have our thoughts, even when you are off of this ship."

His character in real life seemed a little different in the game with such heart warming words, but then again as I thought about it I realised that there were not many opportunities to really get to know him that well when you were playing. Regardless of the sudden discovery, I thanked him in a quivering voice, knowing that soon they need not be worried about me. The bitter thoughts still plagued my mind, and I knew better than anyone else that they were hard to get rid of.

We re-entered the bridge to see a silent Paine and Brother watching as I prepared to leave the ship. Brother didn't share me any more thoughts as he released the stairs to the ground below. They fell loose with a sharp clang that made me jump a little as my nerves went wild.

"We're in the Calm Lands, so there are plenty of places to rest and eat. It's safe, so you shouldn't have any hassles," Paine explained emotionlessly as she nodded her head to the ground below.

I took a step towards the edge of the stairs, trying to remember what the Calm Lands looked like. It was a bright green field at the edge of a cliff, a place for betting games and competition. That was what I expected to see, but instead I was staring at the darkened ruins of Baaj Temple.

I realised the trick and took a quick step back, but Paine pushed me forward. I caught a flicker of a savage smile across her face before I tumbled out of the ship to land in the green acrid water below. Bubbles surrounded me in thick clouds and I had to kick hard to escape. I surfaced to see the ship flying away and could hardly believe how the heartless turn of events had occurred so quickly.

Now I was truly alone.