Hey, guys and gals! Guess what happened to me a few days ago! I graduated!! Gah, I'm so happy right now, I just can't seem to describe it! I feel liberated and relaxed, but scared at the same time! It's just crazy! I mean, how many times can one graduate in their life? Ah, I need a tub of Hagen Daaz right now...but I'll get fat...erg, I hate that.

Anyhoo, sorry about not updating in a while. School was such a pain in the butt. But now it's over, and I can go back to being the lazy idiot that I am. Oh! By the way, I got accepted into my first choice in colleges! One of my 'friends' was mean and said that everyone who applies there gets in, and that really bummed me out. I'm still mad at her.

Oh, right! You probably want to read now. Well, enjoy the latest chapter as much as possible. It might not be as good as my other chapters, but at least it's an update.

Don't own, don't sue. Flame and you die.

Chapter 10: ADVENTURE!!

Today's…just another day on the road.

I quietly rolled over onto my side and faced the wall, pulling the bed sheets up to my chin. It was still dark outside, but I was close enough to dawn where you could see a faint yellow light over the horizon, signaling its swift approach. And yet, I couldn't even muster the strength to turn over again and go back to sleep. Today would go on just like the others that had come before. Train with Kratos and Lloyd, eat breakfast, go somewhere new, and save some person I didn't know.

The question that I wanted answered was…how long could I go on doing this? Was I really cut out to travel the planet and help reunite the worlds? Today was one of those days where I felt like quitting and running. Not running away, but just running somewhere else.

Maybe a run was what I needed.

I got up quietly and slipped my shoes on as quickly as possible without tripping over my own feet, then headed for the door. Kratos was gone, meaning he was already outside, either waiting for Lloyd and myself or just killing time somewhere. I was gunning for the latter.

I found him outside on the bridge a few minutes later, a lone silhouette in the predawn light. He looked as stoic as usual, but something about him just threw it all off. Something about his presence…it seemed to be less intense than usual. I left him alone, despite my curiosity.

Quickly dispersing any thoughts of talking to him, I began lightly stretching, getting ready to take a short run. I was sore from all the walking we'd done yesterday, but it had been a lot worse during our trek from Triet to Izoold. That 'walk' had left me stiff and unable to even fully extend my leg in front of me.

I did one last stretch before taking off down the street, away from Kratos, and around the corner. I kept as quiet as possible for a part of the run, but as soon as the sun came up, I stopped caring. My feet made harsh sounds as they slapped the cobblestone, and it even echoed slightly. Without people out walking, the town seemed kind of…ghost-like. It was too empty for my liking. I preferred clogged streets and shouting seafood vendors to this.

I took a short break near the fountain on the Main Plaza, near the Governor-General's building. Maybe taking a run hadn't been such a good idea. My sides were aching up a storm now, and I was having trouble breathing. Great, my flaws from Earth had followed me here. Did that mean I was going to have trouble swimming in Altamira? Of course, my allergy was to chlorine, so I might be safe…I had no clue, though. Did they have chlorine there?

After a few more minutes of resting and mental wandering, I took off for the inn. Everyone was probably waking up by now, and I didn't want them to worry. We already had enough to worry about. Plus it was about time for breakfast.

"So," Lloyd began as he swallowed the last of his omelet, "we just have to go see this Governor guy and get the Book of Regeneration? Then we can head for the next seal?"

"Uh-huh," Colette said. "The book will tell us where the next seal is."

I nodded and sipped my water, my mind ever wandering. I was itching to get to the market and buy a journal, but I had to wait until everyone was done to do so. Someone might want to accompany me. I mean, who wouldn't want to explore a new city? The idea of wandering around an unknown city frightened me a little, but if I had someone with me, I'd feel a little better. Heck, I wouldn't care if Kratos ended up coming with me. All I needed was a journal. That wouldn't take long.

"Ari, are you okay?" Genis asked. "You've got the same look as Lloyd trying to think."

Lloyd smacked the kid on the head as I shook my head and smiled. "Well, I was thinking of going to the market. I wanted to pick up a few items before we headed out."

"Sure. As long as you don't take too long," Raine replied.

"If you guys want to go get the book and meet up, that's okay. I don't know how long my shopping will take." I shrugged. "I have a habit of getting wrapped up in it."

"Alright," she said. "Let's meet up near the fountain."

"That sounds good. I'll try and be done in twenty minutes. Was there anything we needed?"

"Just a few Life Bottles and a new cape for Lloyd," she listed. "Be careful, Ari."

"Of course!" I said as I got up and headed for the door. "No need to worry!"

As I slipped out into the hallway, I distinctly heard her say, "That's what worries me." I grinned and headed downstairs to the front door. Her muttered words meant that she cared about my wellbeing, even if it was only a little. I'm happy with a little worry. I don't need anyone asking me if I'm okay every time I speak.

I forced my slowly darkening thoughts away and turned my attention to the streets. They were already filling up with the mid-morning shoppers and vendors. People with baskets and bags in hand crowded in front of the stands like gamers to the release of a highly anticipated game, but with less enthusiasm and B.O.. These people were nice. When someone bumped into you, they apologized quickly and offered a smile, unlike Earth, where if you bumped into someone, they'd push you back or glare like you'd insulted them. And the prices! Oh man, things were so much cheaper here! A whole fish cost only 100 Gald, which evens out to about $20. The place I used to work had sold a whole fish for about $25 or $30. I could seriously get used to pricing like that!

I was beginning to wonder how much a few books would cost when I stumbled across a small doll on the ground. The soft fabric of its face had been smudged with dirt from being kicked around, and the seams of one of the shoulders and also in one of the legs had been ripped open. I frowned and picked it up off the cobblestones and tucked it into the crook of my arm. I was going to fix as soon as I found the owner.

"Excuse me," I asked the nearest vendor, "but do you know where I could buy a needle and some thread?"

The man sitting in the stand nodded, then pointed to a booth far across the venue, at least three lanes towards the nearest buiding. "That'll be where you get those items."

"Thank you. Um…I have one more question."

"Hmm?" He raised his eyebrows as I presented him with the doll.

"Do you know the owner of this doll? I found it on the ground, and…well, I'd like to get it back to them."

"Not sure…I'm sure I've seen it, but I can't place it. Try asking the merchant family next to the seafood stand, since they sell toys."

I smiled, thanked him again, and took off down to the docks. The smell of fish and seaweed was just as powerful as before, but I attempted (failed) to ignore it as I pressed on through the crowd. The breeze blowing off the sea was chilly, and carried a wonderful scent on it. What was it…it smelled like…like…

"Apples!!" I exclaimed, scanning the area quickly. My attention was drawn to the stand to my right, which happened to be right next to where they sold books. What luck! I quickly headed for the fruit stand and paid for an apple. It was juicy and sweet, and the flavor was unlike Earth's apples. These were slightly tangy, and had more of a punch, but not like green apples. These were firm like green apples, but they were yellow and absolutely fantastic.

I headed for the book vendor next, and purchased a book titled "Fighting Styles; Modern and Old" and a small pocket notebook with 100 of the gald Nurse Agatha had given me. I was down to 390 now, which meant I needed to keep my eyes open for a cheap cape for Lloyd. Goddess knows he goes through them like Michelle in the fanfic 'Tales of Yet Another Self Insert', but he didn't name his. I'd suggested it once, but no one had listened.

I found a cape a few minutes later and forked over 50 gald for it, then continued on my merry way, tossing the core of my apple in a wooden box labeled WASTE on the side as I passed it. Today was turning out better than I'd originally thought. Palmacosta was a really nice, clean city. I was really starting to like the market, too.

I stepped in front of a tailor's shop and sighed, looking at the small rips in my gloves.

"I really should get a backup pair or something," I mumbled to myself. "Just in case I destroy this pair in some horrible accident."

To be honest, with the concept of mana and magic being true, some things were no longer impossible, and some of the more gruesome results of exposure to fire and lightning put a monkey wrench in my gut. I realized I had to be extra careful now. Magnius could use fire-based techs, so he was going to be a problem, but at least he used something other than magic. Looking back on the fight with the K-creatures of the Triet Ruins made me realize that I couldn't just press a button to dodge anymore. This was real. All the fighting, the magic, and ailments and illnesses…they were all real now.

"Are you alright, young lady?" an old man asked from across the wooden counter. "You look worried."

I blinked several times and offered him a smile. "I'm okay. It just dawned on me how hard traveling really is."

"As every traveler should know," he said as he returned the smile. "So what can I get for you?"

"Do you have a pair of gloves with a hole in the left hand for and Exsphere? Something that looks like this?" I pulled off one of my gloves and handed it to him, and he hurried to the back wall, searching a large bin for several minutes until he came back with two pairs; both black with silver lining, but one had metal pieces over the knuckles and finger joints.

"Are these alright?" he asked.

I nodded vigorously. "How much for the pair with the metal?"

"Those would be 70 gald."

I dropped the money in his hand and slipped my new gloves over my arm, feeling happy. This was great! I liked days like this. If only things could go on like this forever, but as always, karma comes around and bites you in the butt. That was bound to happen sometime soon, but I shrugged it off and headed for the sewing stand in the next lane.

The woman behind the counter was tall with long blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her face was heart-shaped and her skin looked smooth. She almost looked like a doll from a distance, but the one thing that gave her away was a bandage that was wrapped around her right arm from her wrist to just above her elbow. It was in a sling, too. Had she been hurt recently? Had she broken it, or was it just a hairline fracture?

"Hello," she said with an airy voice. "How may I help you today?"

"I…uh." I suddenly found myself without a voice, and I knew my face was turning red with embarrassment. Why was I so flustered?! Because she was pretty! Why did I care if she was pretty?! Because I didn't want to look like an idiot!

"Are you…okay?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. Her blonde bangs fell in front of her eyes, and if I had been a guy, I probably would've gotten a nosebleed right there. But I didn't, since I'm a girl. I just took a deep breath and began rambling.

"Well, I was walking through the market a little while ago and I found this doll on the ground and it was all dirty and torn and I though 'hey, maybe I should fix this up for its owner,' so I've been wandering around looking for a place to buy a needle and thread and I just found this place and here's the doll, but now as I ramble I realize I have no idea how to sew anything since the last thing I tried to sew got ripped up by my cat and I was hoping maybe you could help me figure out how to fix it since you're the owner of this shop!"

I reached the end of my lung capacity and sucked in several deep breaths as the woman, plainly surprised, just stared at me. I felt my face go red both from exhaustion and from embarrassment. I hated when I got like this. I felt like such a weirdo when I did stuff that got me embarrassed. I glanced at the woman as I sucked in another breath, but I was shocked to not find an angry look on her face. Usually people who heard me go off like that got annoyed or mad at me, or made fun of me.

But she just smiled at me and held out her hand.

"May I see the doll?"

I nodded and gently placed the small toy in her open palm. Her hands were soft, but calloused at the same time. She was a hard worker, despite the fact that she looked to be the pampered type. As she turned the doll over and over in her working hand, her expression stayed the same; kind and caring. It was like the doll had a life of it's own in her hand, and she was going to heal it.

When she was done, she handed it back to me and beckoned for me to follow her to the back of the stand. I hesitated for a second, but shook it away and headed back. There was a small bench near the front of the small wooden stand, and the woman motioned for me to sit down while she handled a last-minute customer. I ran my hand over several bunches of yarn that hung on spokes above my head, and the loom next to me caught my attention as well. It looked to be old, but when I touched it, I found it was quite sturdy and smooth.

"My mother gave that to me on my fifteenth birthday," the woman said when I asked her about it. "She loved that I had an aptitude for sewing, so she taught me everything she knew and passed that down to me. I plan to pass it down to my daughter when she gets older."

"It's beautiful," I murmured. I had tried to use a lap loom once, but had failed miserably. I'd quit halfway through designing a purse.

"By the way, my name is Astrid." She smiled.

"My name's Ari. It's a pleasure to meet you, Astrid." Her name was Astrid. It was Norse for divine strength. I've done my fair share of research on Norse mythology, since Tales of Symphonia had ties to it. I've also learned a fair share about Greek and Chinese mythology as well, but that had nothing to do with my current situation.

"Alright, well, the first thing you do is choose the proper color thread to go with the fabric," Astrid said as she ran her fingers over several large spools of pale yellow and white thread. She plucked one off the rack and slipped a needle out of a large pin cushion on the counter. "Next, thread the needle and knot the end."

"If I may make a suggestion?" I interrupted. "If you pull the thread all the way through the eye so the ends of the thread are touching, wouldn't that make it sturdier?"

"Yes, but that consumes far more thread than necessary," she replied. "Good observation, though. Have you done this before?"

"Only a little, but I really stink at it."

"Well, let's get you started." She passed the doll and the thread to me and smiled. "I'll instruct you, but you must sew it."

"B-but I'll mess up!" I stammered, getting flustered again.

"I'll make sure you won't," she assured me. "Now, let's get started."

Half an hour later, I found myself glowing with pride and full of confidence. With Astrid's assistance, I was able to finish the doll and stitch up the rips in my gloves without missing a beat. It looked almost perfect, except for a few mishaps I'd had with running out of thread. But now the doll was completed, and my gloves were fixed.

"You've improved greatly, Ari," Astrid praised. "I'm happy for you!"

"Thanks! I've never done so well before! You're teaching skills are amazing!"

"Why thank you!" Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "It's nice to have a willing student once in a while."

I smiled and began absentmindedly fold my receipt for the fighting style book into a small crane. This made 55 cranes. Nine hundred and forty five cranes left until I get my wish.

"Mom, we're back!" a child called from the street mere moments later. "We couldn't find it anywhere!" The source of the voice was a girl no more than eleven or twelve years old with waist-length ash blonde hair and her mother's blue eyes. The man behind her was at least five foot ten, if not taller, and had light brown eyes. He was obviously strong, and he carried a large but simple staff strapped to his back.

Astrid smiled at the girl and pointed to me. "I think you might want to speak to our guest. She has something for you."

"I don't know if I can talk to anyone…," the girl said sadly. "I'm in mourning…"

I stood up and headed around to the front of the shop. I couldn't stand seeing people sad. I had to help her.

"What did you lose?" I asked.

"My doll. My mom made it for me when I was a baby."

I blinked in surprise, then held out the doll I'd just fixed. "Is this it?"

Oh my god, the look on that little girl's face was absolutely priceless! Her expression went from gloomy, to surprised, to teary-eyed, to overjoyed in a matter of seconds! It was like I had given her something of the utmost importance, a treasure that couldn't be replaced.

"Isn't it wonderful, Bruno dear?" Astrid asked the man, her husband.

Bruno nodded. "I'm glad to see Marta's happy again."

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!" Marta cried happily as she hugged her doll. "Where did you find it?!"

"Somewhere around the fish stands, I think. It was over a…half…an hour…ago…" As I trailed off, something very important dawned on me.

"OH MY GOD THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME!!" I shrieked, going absolutely rigid in terror. Astrid and Bruno looked surprised by my outburst, while Marta just hugged her doll and spun in circles.

"W-who's going to kill you?" Astrid asked warily.

"My travel buddies," I said in a panicked voice. "I was supposed to meet them a while ago, but the doll distracted me, and now the Stoic One is going to force me to train until dawn as punishment!" I knew I was exaggerating, but to hell with it. I was in deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep trouble. "Do you have a sewing kit I could purchase quickly? I really gotta run!"

"Sure. The one we used was only 40 gald, so if you want to buy that one…"

"It's perfect. I'll take it," I said quickly, scanning the crowd. I could've just sworn I'd seen a head of spiked reddish hair. Oh my god, my death was swiftly approaching as far as I knew. I had to run. Now.

When I had my things in hand, I bowed deeply to my new friends and smiled. "Thanks so much for helping me. I'll stop by once I'm in Palmacosta again!"

"Be sure you do! If you're in a big hurry, take the path behind the stands," Astrid called. I quickly shook her and Bruno's hands, waved goodbye to Marta, then worked my way back behind the stand and down the path. It was a pretty straightforward walk, but I had to run. I had to make it before Lloyd and the others got mad and left without me!

The wooden boards of the docks turned into the familiar cobblestone streets after a little bit, and I could already see the item shop's sign swaying in the breeze. I had three more blocks until Fountain Square, so, ignoring the burning in my sides, I pushed myself to run even faster than I would've liked. I apologized to those I bumped into, and reached the fountain in time. No one was there, so either they left without me, or getting a meeting with the Governor General took longer than I'd realized.

Heaving a huge sigh of relief, I sat down hard on the lip of the fountain and took several deep breaths. I felt very 'bleh,' to be frank. Achy, sweaty, and I found the smell of fish lingering on my skin was not very pleasant. I splashed the cool, clean water on my arms and face and sighed. If they weren't out in ten minutes, I was going to scream. Or kill them. Whichever I felt like doing first.

It was another twenty minutes before they emerged from the building. I looked up from the second chapter of my new book to find their expressions to be…happy. What the hell…had they gotten the book?

When I voiced that thought, Raine answered, "As it would turn out, a group of people claiming to be us came here earlier and took the book."

"Then why are you so happy?!" I demanded. "We have to find them and get it back!"

"Not really," Genis said. "Turns out, Dorr had the book copied on the Day of the Oracle, just in case."

"So we have the copy?" I guessed.

"We have the real thing!" Lloyd stated with a grin. "Now we'll know exactly where each seal is!"

I sighed happily and sat up, truly relieved. "Thank goodness. I'd heard someone saying the Chosen's group had already claimed the book," I lied. "Good to know we have the real one."

"I'll say!" Lloyd replied. "But if I see those imposters, I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind!"

"Agreed, Lloyd. Now let's head for the next seal."

"Did you get me a new cape?" he asked.

I tossed it to him and hit my target, his face. "Here ya go. I wasn't able to grab any Life Bottles or gels, since I didn't know how long it would be before you guys finished, so we'll have to make a quick stop at Cacao's place."

"That's alright," Raine said quickly. "

"Wait, everyone!"

I jumped at the husky voice and spun around to see General Dorr standing at the top of the building's steps. He was just as the game portrayed, other than the fact that he wasn't chibi-fied. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a pony that hung limply against the back of his neck, and his soft blue eyes tugged at something in the back of my mind. Why did I feel like this? Was it...pity?

"What is it, General Dorr?" Raine asked as she began climbing the steps again. Dorr descended a few steps and clasped her hand firmly, his eyes pleading.

"I have a request for you. It seems that there has been a disturbance a little ways north of here, near the House of Salvation. I would be most grateful if you could…look into it."

I kept my face straight as I went on a rampage in my mind. Great! Just when I thought I'd get to see Thoda Geyser, this traitor meanders on up to us and asks us to check out a 'disturbance' his little militia could easily look into! What a jerk! I seriously hoped we would turn him down, but knowing Lloyd's little 'hero condition', what choice did we have.

"We will, Governor Dorr," Colette chirped, completely oblivious to the man's true motives. With any luck, we'd avoid the House all together and just head for the Seal of Water. Huh, I wish…

I suppressed a sigh and looked behind Dorr, catching a glimpse of blonde curls disappearing into the building. Don't worry, Kilia, I thought to myself. Your time will come soon. It had better. I was not going to let her get away, no matter what form she took.

"Alright," Kratos said with a nod. "Let's be off then."

Looks like we won't be saving any time while traveling…

Ahhhhh!! Lol, I totally just stuck Marta in there! I am sooooo awesome! (completely off her rocker)

I do not recall putting any titles in there, so I guess that's it...awww...Back to the drawing board and on to Chapter 11.

See you all next chapter!! Happy End-of-School!! XD