"Come
on, Alexis, let's get out of here." Squall said.
"What
makes you think I'm going to go anywhere without some information?"
I replied.
"Because we asked nicely?" Tidus suggested. I
threw a discarding gesture towards him.
"Look, kid, it's
really important that we get outta here now…" Jecht added.
"I'm
not a kid, and I ain't going anywhere until I get some answers from
Squall or…"
"Leon." he interrupted.
"Squall."
I replied.
"LEON!" he shouted, annoyed.
"SQUALL!" I
shouted back.
"LEON!!!" he shouted louder. I rolled my eyes.
"Screw it, what the hell are you
doing here?!?" I shouted.
"I told you, we don't have time!"
I smiled and sat down on the floor. "Make time." I replied.
They all looked at me as I transformed Persephone back into its
ordinary form. Squall growled.
"Alright! I'll tell you what you
want to know," he said, kicking the cell's bed. I smiled and
stood back up.
"Okay, what brings you here?" I asked. Squall
sighed and looked at the floor for a few minutes.
"…I was
sent by the Organisation to meet you when you came through the door."
he replied. I was surprised.
"The Unknowns? But, why?"
"I don't know… They said they knew that you, Alexis
Edmenton, were about to open Earth's door again, and I should come
here to make sure you stay alive long enough for them to find out
why. They said they would find us once I had met you."
"They
want to speak to us? Is that the reason for this rush?"
"No,
if we don't get outta here, the Ronso clan that have us under lock
and key are going to make us fight a big monster. We don't want
that, believe me. So, we need to get out of here." Tidus said. I
nodded in recognition.
"Oh… Right, well we better get this
over with quickly, then. Have we got a way to escape from this
planet?" I asked Squall, with a sense of urgency creeping up on me.
Squall gave me a funny, accusing look. I thought over my words and
realised how they sounded. "I mean, how did you get here?" I
rephrased myself. Squall nodded.
"I did have a Gummi Ship, but
it was dismantled when I was captured, we'd have to rebuild It."
"Sweet. That's not a problem. What about the rest of your
people? Yuffie, Cid, where are they?"
"I left them in
Traverse Town. We'll have to meet them as soon as we get out of
here. What about your friends? The ones you were supposed to come
through the door with?"
I thought quietly. "I… I don't
know. We were together when we got through, but the next thing I knew
a Ronso had captured me. He asked me which Clan I was aligned to, but
I couldn't answer him, you know that. I was knocked out as more
arrived, and then I woke up here… I hope they're alright…" I
said, solemnly.
"You'll never find out if we get killed by
the monster. Come on!" Jecht said, standing up. Tidus followed
suit.
"No, you're right. I'm nearly done... How come you
and Tidus are still alive then?" I directed to Jecht.
"Well,
technically, we never were, but, from what Squall told us while you
were away with the aeons, you'd already know that, right?" Jecht
replied. I nodded.
"Yes, well, when we defeated Yu Yevon, we
were ascended, but something dragged me, us, back. To this day, we
don't know why it happened. We've just kept our heads down and
stayed out of trouble. We didn't want to hurt any of the friends
who thought we were gone for good. Unfortunately, this Ronso clan
have been after us for a long time. If we're not careful, we might
find out why." Tidus replied.
"O.K. Final question, why am I
the person who has been chosen to…" I began
"I don't know
anything else, Alexis... I'm only a Guardian, those things are on a
need-to-know basis, and I don't need to know." Squall replied,
cutting me off. I sighed.
"Right, then, let's get out of
here." I said, pressing the Scythe button on Persephone. I swung it
diagonally at the bars of the cell, and it cut through, causing the
iron wall to collapse. I smiled smugly.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Sam
woke up with Pippa and Alice sat next to her in bed.
"Hi, Sam.
Are you alright?" Pippa asked, as Sam stirred. Sam looked up at
them both.
"Err… I think so. Bit battered. Where's Alex?"
she asked, sitting up. Alice and Pippa grimaced.
"Kinda hoped
you wouldn't ask that yet…" Alice said. Sam's eyes widened.
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What happened?" she
replied, getting off the bed.
A little while later, as they explained what had happened…
"Well,
do we go after them?" Sam asked.
"No doubt." Alice said.
"We were only waiting for you to wake up." Pippa
replied.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sam
said.
"Wait." A voice said from the doorway. It was Yuna.
"Yuna, what is it?" Alice asked. She pulled two winged
pistols from her skirt. Sam reacted instantly.
"LOOK
OUT"
she said, jumping to the front of the girls and getting ready to fire
a spell. Pippa pulled her aside.
"No, you dopey bint, she's
one of the people who saved us!" she said, putting her down. Sam's
eyes widened as she bit her fist and sat down, mouthing sorry.
"I
wanted to give you these, Alice." Yuna said, glancing to Sam with
an embarrassed but forgiving look before handing the guns to Alice.
Though she took them in a way that she was expected them to be heavy,
Alice was pleasantly surprised by their lightness. "They are called
Vengeance and Redemption; they were given to me by a stranger
visiting the Calm Lands. The guns seem to run on its own limitless
energy."
"They're beautiful... But, why give them to
me?" Alice replied.
"The Stranger told me that these
were destined to arrive in the hands of a loving, gentle-hearted
woman fighting for a just cause… I want you to have them." she
finished. They exchanged looks and smiles.
"Are you going to
come with us to help?" Alice asked. She shook her head.
"I
can't. I must ensure a salvageable peace between the different
Ronso clans, and between them and the other races on Spira. It's my
job. Good luck, Alice... All of you." She finished. They nodded at
each other.
"Let's go, guys." Alice said.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Which
way is the exit?" Squall said, as he led the way.
"No idea.
Guys?" I replied, talking to Tidus and his father.
"Nope."
Jecht replied.
"I've never been here before." Tidus
replied.
"DAMN IT!" Squall and I shouted. I looked at him.
"I hate crossroads, Squall... As we can't split up, I'll
take the baton and say we go straight on and hope for the best." I
said.
"For the last time, its Leon,
and I think we should go left," he replied. I smiled at him and
shook my head.
"You will argue this till the end of time... All
right, tell you what, we go straight forward, and if I'm wrong, I
will forever call you Leon. If I'm right, you have to put up with
your real name, deal?" I replied. He sighed.
"Fine, let's
just go already." he said.
We ran up the corridor and saw a
light at the end of it. I laughed, and I'm pretty sure I heard Squall
sigh. As we got out, we realised it wasn't the exit. We came out at
a huge dome-like structure and Ronso, tridents at the ready, suddenly
surrounded us. I hung my head low. "Sorry, guys. Sorry… Leon."
I said, sitting down and throwing Persephone to the floor.
"It's
alright, man. We can get through this." Tidus said, ready to
fight.
"Are you sure?" Squall - sorry, LEON
- replied.
"We've come up against worst odds, and we're
still here. Damn straight." Jecht said. The Ronso started to
close in.
"STOP!!!" A voice boomed. The stopping of the Ronso told me the voice was of the leader. They backed up, and a scarred Ronso in tribal paints stepped forward. The one scar in particular gave away his identity...
His horn was missing...
