Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
(The World of a Black Mage and Arguments)
The next morning did not greet Rayne with a hangover, like she feared it would, but rather with the sound of running boots and worried voices. She opened her eyes to find herself back on her hammock, but the rest of the room was empty. Just as she sat up to look around, she heard three sets of feet run passed the porthole by her head and heard Braska talking to someone.
"It's coming in on the right side! Guardians, get ready!"
"Right."
"Right!"
She was about to bang on the wall and ask what was happening when the ship suddenly pitched to the left and she was thrown off her bed and into the wall.
"It's coming!" Someone shouted.
Ignoring the pain that was now growing in the back of her head, Rayne scrambled to her feet and ran out of the bunk room and towards the deck. The sight that met her wasn't a pretty one. Huge grey tentacles were draped across the deck and a huge throbbing mass was stuck to the starboard railing.
"Young lady, come back here right now!" Rayne turned to face the passengers, all of whom were huddled in the back. "There is a summoner and his guardians up there dealing with it; don't get in the way!"
'It's alright.' Another voice said, this time in the back of her head. 'You have power now; it's time to learn to use it.' Rayne recognized the voice as that of the old man's.
She smiled and nodded to the passenger who had yelled at her, calmly saying, "I know who's up there, and I'm going to help them."
"Then take this!" A blue vial was thrown at her and smacked her in the side of the head. "Sorry!"
"Oh, and this!" A bottle of green powder was thrown.
"And this!" A bottle of purple liquid.
"And a couple of these!" A bundle of red feathers tied to a container of red liquid.
Rayne struggled to catch all of the offerings, succeeding in catching only two while the rest hit her in various places all over her body.
"And you just might need this later. Thanks for your help!" She nearly blacked out when a heavy red bag of Gil hit her temple.
"Jeez, are you all trying to kill me?!"
She quickly emptied the Gil into her old bag and stuffed the offerings into the new one, tying it beside the old.
"Well, I'm off!" As she stumbled onto the deck, she heard a chorus of cheers before the double doors were slammed shut and the heavy locks were thrown into place. "Gee, thanks for the encouragement."
"Look out!"
She turned and screamed as one of the heavy tentacles came flying at her. Before it could hit her, though, a heavy katana sliced through it, cutting the appendage off and spraying rust-colored blood everywhere. She looked up to her savior only to reel backwards when she was slapped by Auron's angry glare.
"What are you doing here?" She couldn't hide her flinch at the bite in his words.
"Um, I came to help?"
He flipped around and swung his sword at another tentacle, then turned back to her and pointed to the bridge. "Then 'help' by going in there until this is over. 'Help' by staying out of the way!"
She bit her lip as he turned and walked back into the sea of flailing tentacles, slicing through them one by one with his sword.
'Never mind him,' She heard the old man's voice say, 'You can do this. You can help.'
"How?" She muttered as she dove to dodge a tentacle. "What can I do?"
'Start by helping the person behind you.'
Rayne turned and blanched when she saw Jecht's body laying haphazardly on the deck. He was covered in gashes, all of them bleeding profusely, and he was extremely pale. He looked like he was…
'He almost is, but not quite. You can still help him. Just use a Phoenix Down.'
"How do I do that? Do I even have one?"
'The tuft of red feathers with the red vial tied to it.'
With shaky hands, Rayne reached into the red bag and pulled out the soft red feathers, kneeling down by the guardian with them clutched tightly in her fist.
"Now what?"
'Pull out a single feather and dab a little of the red liquid on it. Then, press it onto his body. Stand back and watch the rest.'
Doing as she was told, Rayne sat back and watched as the gooey feather glowed in a brilliant gold light and melted into Jecht's skin. Not even a second later, his eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword from behind him and slicing through the nearest part of the fiend. Most of his more serious injuries had disappeared, though a few scratches still remained, but he looked pumped and ready to fight.
He turned and grinned to the shocked girl. "Thanks, kid. Now, go hide somewhere until this is over." Not waiting for a reaction, he ran passed her and jumped into the fight.
'Good work. Now, go up to the second deck.'
"Why? The fiend's down here."
'You don't need to be in a close range, just close enough. Besides, you don't want to be standing right in front of it if you can't get it right the first time.'
She nodded and scrambled to her feet, ducking a few more tentacles as she ran up the stairs. Once at the top, she looked around for the three men and found them all standing by the main part of the fiend, the huge throbbing mass. She watched in awe as they hacked and slashed at it, all of them working in almost perfect harmony, just like before.
'Now, close your eyes and search for the power inside of yourself.'
"And how am I supposed to know when I've found it?!"
'Peace. You'll know when.'
Unsure, Rayne closed her eyes and downed out all distractions, focusing only on her body and mind. She drifted around for a bit, not entirely certain what she was looking for. Suddenly, though, she did run across something. It was something in her mind; something that she had previously thought was a memory. It had been a picture of a dim grey orb on a black background, but now it was glowing silver and pulsating. She knew immediately it wasn't a memory.
'Correct, it is not a memory, but rather a psychological manifestation of your inner power. And it's awake.'
As she hesitantly poked the orb, the pulsations grew erratic and it glowed brighter. Frightened, she pulled back.
'No, don't run from it. Stay close to it until it calms down. It has to adjust to being awake and active after sleeping for so long.'
Obeying the old man's voice, Rayne stayed with the picture of the pulsing orb. Soon, the pulsations had calmed down and smoothed out, but the glowing stayed brighter. She reached out for it again and this time it stayed calm.
'Good. Now, open your eyes and use your inner power, but keep the image of the orb close.'
Rayne opened her eyes and looked at the octopus-fiend. It was bleeding its rust-colored blood from various gashes and several of its tentacles were missing, but the summoner's party was injured and tiring, as well. Keeping the image of the silver orb in her mind, Rayne focused on the main body of the fiend, a single word rising to her lips.
"Thunder."
The sky darkened and a single bright bolt of lightning shot down and struck the mass, making it shrivel. All of the remaining tentacles and the stubs curled back in on themselves and, seeing the opportunity, the guardians leapt forward and struck the fiend one final time before it fell from the side of the boat and dropped into the sea, its blood staining the surface a metallic brown.
Suddenly exhausted, Rayne dropped to the ground and watched between the railings as the passengers poured out of the hull and ran to the group, congratulating, thanking, and showering them with gifts. She smiled, happy to have been able to do something, happy to have the power to help.
'Welcome to the world of the Black Mage.'
She heard voices around her. They were familiar voices. They were talking about her.
"Are you sure?" Auron.
"Who else could have done it?" Jecht.
"I'll admit, I am a bit surprised." Braska.
"Yeah, me too." Jecht again.
"Where did she get this power?" Auron again.
"What makes you think she hasn't always had it?" Jecht.
"If she had always had it, she wouldn't have thrown the rock when we first met her." Braska.
"She also wouldn't have passed out unless she had never used it before. You need serious training to use black magic, and it exerts a heavy toll on the body." Auron.
"Since when has she had any time for serious training?" Jecht.
"She hasn't, which is why Auron believes that someone gave her the power." Braska.
"Is that possible?" Jecht.
"It would take a powerful magic user all of their strength to pass their powers onto another. It would kill them." Braska.
"So, do you think—"
"Quiet, she's waking up." Auron cut Jecht off.
Coming back to the world of consciousness, Rayne groaned and rolled over, slitting one eye open. She saw Braska sitting beside her, Jecht standing beside him, and Auron leaning against the wall a ways away, all of them staring at her.
"Welcome back." Braska said, a smile on his face.
"I feel like crap." She muttered in response, not thinking.
Jecht chuckled and shook his head, "Well, yesterday was an exciting day, wasn't it?"
"Yesterday?"
"Yep," Jecht nodded, "You were out all day yesterday and all last night after you used that 'Thunder' spell."
"'Thunder'?" There was a slight bzzt and a spark crackled in the air in front of her eyes, making them grow wide.
There was a collective sharp intake of breath and Braska looked at her, blinking, "So it was you…"
Nodding slowly, Rayne pulled herself into a sitting position, "Yeah, it was." She winced and grabbed the back of her head, the memory of slamming into the wall flashing before her eyes.
A brief 'Cure' was muttered, and the pain went away. She looked at Braska, poking the back of her head gingerly before dropping her hand, bowing slightly, "Thank you."
He nodded, but then paused. "How long have you been able to do it?"
Rayne's hands clenched and her jaw muscles tightened, "Yesterday was …the first time I actually… used it…"
Braska nodded slowly, forehead creased as he thought. "Have you any idea why? Have you ever trained before?"
She shook her head, shifting her eyes away from his, and looked around the room. "We aren't on the S.S. Winno…"
"We're in Kilika Port. Got here yesterday." Jecht filled in.
Rayne blinked and turned back to Braska, "Have you been to the Temple?"
"No," Auron's voice sliced through the air, his eyes piercing hers when she turned to face him, "We've been waiting for you to wake up."
It looked like Braska was about to interject and Jecht was about to snap, but Rayne beat them both to it, "What in the hell is your problem?!"
They all watched wide-eyed as she jumped to her feet and stormed passed Braska, planting her feet in front of Auron and looking up at him, her eyes actually conveying anger towards him, "Ever since you first met me, you have shown me nothing but annoyance and animosity, and why? Is it because you think I'm spineless? a pushover? a pathetic weak person who needs someone to hold her hand? Well let me tell you something; these last few days have been HELL for me! When you found me, I was scared out of my wits, and all you managed to do was glare me to hell and back for getting in your way! And, despite that, I still tried my best to help you, but guess what? You always shoved it back in my face in the rudest way you could possibly imagine! You know what, in light of your charismatic attitude, I honestly wish that Bahamut hadn't saved me, then I could have died! Oh, but wait, I would have gotten in your way even then, right?! Because then, Braska would have had to perform a sending for me, and that definitely would have taken away from your precious time, wouldn't it?! Well guess what; don't bother! I'm off! For good! See ya later, and I hope you have a lovely day!"
That being said, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, grabbing her coat and bags from several hooks and slamming the door when she was out.
The three men stared at the door with wide eyes, surprised by the outburst that the usually timid Rayne had just let out.
"Well," Jecht began slowly, shifting his eyes in Auron's direction, "She kinda did have a point…"
But the guardian didn't say a word; he just stared at the door with a blank look on his face.