Lily: Update! Woohoo!
Erika: I like this chapter.
Anna: Me too. I kick ass!
Stephanie: Eheh...
Rosalina: Stephanie is pretty cool in this too.
Stephanie: *blush* Thanks, Rosa...
Conway: We would like to thank: FF4Life, Shivafan, Tannerdarko, jesswilliams, FFXIIAS aaaaaand Nomyy!
Fantasy: Enjoy the chapter!
Vaan dropped to his knees. The others ran over to him, catching him before he could fall all the way. Penelo was near tears as she lightly touched Vaan's cheek.
"What do we do?" Conway frantically asked.
"Pull the blade out?" Erika suggested.
"That's not a good idea." Anna stated.
"We can't just leave it in there!" Erika replied.
"Let's just hope it's not in anything vital. Anyway, we need to be prepared to stop the bleeding. Nicole, get some towels or some cloth, just something. Anything! Anna and Penelo, you two will need to work at him with your most powerful Cure's." Daniel instructed.
The three nodded. Nicole took off towards the ship, running as fast as she could. Anna and Penelo began raised their hands over Vaan's chest, visible tears sliding down Penelo's cheek.
"Conway, I need you to help me with the knife." Daniel motioned for Conway to come over. After hesitating for a brief moment, distracted as he stared down at Vaan whose eyes had closed, and his breaths become slower and slower, Conway finally walked over, sitting on the ground.
"Vaan..." Filo buried her face into Kytes shoulder.
Conway held Vaan up, Vaan's back facing Daniel so he could pull out the blade by the handle.
"I've brought some towels. Some are dry and some are wet." Nicole placed the towels down on the grass, next to Daniel.
"Thanks. Conway, hold up Vaan a bit more. Nicole, grab a small towel and place it in Vaan's mouth and then grab his hand."
Nicole did as Daniel instructed her.
"Shouldn't we put him on his side? It would be easier that way, especially for Anna and I to heal him." Penelo suggested.
"Right, let's do that." Daniel nodded. Conway and Daniel gently placed Vaan on his side, Conway keeping Vaan's head up like Daniel told him to. Daniel sat behind the blond boy. "One," Filo and Kytes grabbed some towels, preparing for the moment that the blade came out; they could put pressure on the wound. "Two," Llyud had inched over at this time. "Three!" Concentrating, Daniel grabbed the hilt of the blade, with steady hands he began to remove the blade slowly as to not make any sudden movements and cause the wound to become worse.
Vaan's eyes snapped open as he bit down on the towel and gripped Nicole's hand, digging his finger nails into her. She winced but didn't pull away. Vaan's cries were muffled by the towel, saving everyone from hearing the high pitched screams full of pain. Filo and Kytes began putting pressure on the wounds, not caring if blood ended up on their hands. Anna and Penelo, on both of Vaan's sides with Filo and Kytes, began casting Cura's.
"It'll be okay..." Penelo whispered to Vaan.
Vaan's muffled cries soon died down, his energy drained. He released Nicole's hand, which was now bleeding a little itself from when Vaan had dug his nails deep into her skin. Conway handed her a potion, and soon the small wound was healed, only leaving tiny scars behind.
When Anna and Penelo were sure that the wound was closed, they dropped onto the ground, both exuding air at a high rate.
"Vaan, how do you feel?" Kytes asked, concerned.
Vaan looked over at Kytes with half open eyes. "I still hurt, but not as badly as earlier." he then turned to Penelo and Anna. "They did well... You all did well... Thanks," he closed his eyes.
"Vaan!" Filo gasped.
"He's just sleeping now. I'm no doctor, but I believe he's stable, I think. Luckily the knife didn't hit anything vital, or he probably wouldn't be alive right now... I think. He'll be fine... Hopefully. Good work, kiddos." Daniel ruffled Filo and Kytes hair.
"So many reassuring words there, Daniel." Nicole spoke.
"Well I can't be positive." Daniel retorted.
Erika smiled down at the sleeping Vaan before standing up, her gaze lingering on the bushes. "Who the hell is there?" she lowly growled, clenching a fist. "You ass is fucking grass, ya hear!"
Fantasy stood next to her, equally pissed. "Come out now! I know who you are, so there is no point in hiding!"
The Gamers gave Fantasy a curious look.
"Are you upset, Fantasy XII?" A woman stepped out of the bushes, her long white dress dirtied. She held two long blades in both her hands, both pointed down to the ground.
Nicole, Anna and Conway all froze in place. They stared wide eye at her, their thoughts running back to the dreams they had. It was her. They couldn't believe it.
"Y-You… You're…" Conway clenched his fists.
Fantasy glared. "Upset? I'm beyond upset. I cannot believe what Master X has done. You… What the hell did he bring you back for? !"
"How am I supposed to know? We might not ever know… Maria… Orlando… Master X… the only ones who knew about me are dead."
Fantasy's eyes widened, his body shaking slightly. "D-Dead… You killed them? You… You killed Master X…?"
Janelle nodded. "Affirmative,"
"Master X is… Is… Master X is...dead?"
"Fantasy, get a hold of yourself!" Anna shook him, but he did nothing of the sort. He was off into his own little world, mumbling over and over about how Janelle killed his Master X.
Nicole walked up in front of the boy, staring at him for a moment before slapping him right across the face. "Sorry Fantasy," she apologized afterwards.
Fantasy shook his head, coming back to reality. "No, no… I needed that, Master. Thank you."
Nicole nodded and walked back to Erika, whispering, "I felt really bad for doing it, but dammit, I've always wanted to do that to someone!" Erika gave her a low five for that.
Rubbing his sore, red cheek, Fantasy glared at Janelle. "And what do you want now?"
"I want to kill you, of course."
"Then why did you hurt Vaan!"
"He…was in the way."
"He was in the way?"
"Anyone who stands next you…they are obstacles. They would do anything to protect you. So, they are in the way."
"Janelle, how did you even get here?"
"Why, through your portal, Fantasy XII."
Anna gasped. "Trevor…Ryan!"
"What have you done to Trevor and Ryan?" Fantasy asked.
"I killed them. They tried to stop me from going in, so they were disposed of."
Conway clenched his fist. "You bitc-," Daniel threw himself over Conway, the two tumbling to the ground as a blade that Janelle had thrown at Conway when he stepped forward, landed on the ground.
"You killed two of our dear friends, you almost killed Vaan… There's no way in hell we're going to let you get away!" Stephanie screeched, tears streaming down her face. Tomaj kept a tight grip on both of her shoulders, pulling her back when she tried to advance forward.
"Fantasy…" Nicole looked down at the young boy.
Fantasy narrowed his eyes. "I don't want any of you fighting her. You'll just get hurt…"
"Oh, you can't expect us to follow that bullshit line of yours." Anna rolled her eyes.
"E-Excuse me? !"
"We'll help!" Filo raised her hand.
"Sure thing, kiddo," Anna smiled.
"A-Anna! You can't be serious!"
"Oh, but I am, Fantasy. Whether you like it or not, we're killing that bitch. You can't expect us not to fight after she murdered two of our friends and then tried to kill Vaan! Fuck you and your whining. Bitch is goin' down!"
Fantasy hung his head. "I've lost…"
"Can you two get out of that position and prepare yourselves for battle?" Anna inquired of Daniel and Conway, the two still on the ground.
Both awkwardly coughed, remembering what position they were in. Daniel scrambled off of Conway, but didn't bother to help his younger friend up. Conway stood up and placed Butter near Velis, telling him to watch over his beloved potted plant.
"You have strange humans with you, Fantasy XII." Janelle remarked.
"Just a little," Fantasy huffed.
Anna picked up a blade, the one Janelle had thrown at Conway. "Screw healing, I'm fighting this bitch."
"Llyud, will you be fighting with us?" Daniel raised a brow.
"Tomaj, I think it would be best for you to take Vaan and Velis and go back into the ship." Stephanie spoke, pushing Tomaj towards Vaan.
"I shall fight with you." Llyud confirmed.
Stephanie watched as Tomaj and Velis rushed back to the ship, Tomaj carrying an unconscious Vaan. Stephanie could see Cu Sith at the entrance, curiously watching with a perplexed expression. But Tomaj only pushed her back in, closing the entrance.
"Last chance to head back to the ship," Daniel spoke to the remainder of the people.
"Not a chance." Filo grinned.
"Yeah! You're our friends too! There's no way we wouldn't help!" Kytes exclaimed.
Anna couldn't help but briefly smile at the two, honored to be called their friend. She turned to Janelle a moment later, brows furrowed together. "Ok, bitch. You're goin' down." Anna charged at Janelle, swinging the blade once she closed in. Janelle disappeared, but soon reappeared behind Anna, a knife in hand. Llyud stopped the attack with his spear. Janelle held her grip down, but Llyud pushed her weapon above her head. Daniel swooped in, punching an icy punch into her gut. Janelle released her weapon, the blade falling to the ground a few feet away. Janelle disappeared once more before reappearing behind Filo, but Kytes casted a Firaga, so she vanished once more, coming back into view on the sideline.
Weapons materialized in her hands, she threw them both at Nicole and Fantasy as she ran and kicked Conway across the field. He slammed into the Galbana, groaning in pain on his way down. Nicole attacked Janelle with her spear, swinging it across her stomach, then her neck. Janelle dodged both of them, and then appeared behind Nicole. She brought a blade up, going for the middle of her neck, but Nicole dodged, crouching slightly. The blade ended up in her shoulder, and she cried in pain.
"OOOOOOW DAMMIT!" She crouched. Janelle brought up another blade, but was stopped by Erika's wild firing. She disappeared once more. "Oh gosh this hurts." Nicole hissed through gritted teeth. Penelo ran up, handing the girl a potion and sending her a couple of Cura's as Daniel slid the blade out. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" she repeated until the blade was fully out. Tears poured down her face, staining her cheeks.
"Didn't you feel worse last year when you…you know…" Penelo lowered her head.
"I died a painless death, thank you." Nicole blinked. "Remind me to say that never again. That just sounded extremely odd coming from my own mouth…"
Penelo giggled and helped Nicole up. Daniel ran back into battle, and after a few more heals, Nicole did also. She casted a Lighting Blast, but Janelle easily avoided it. Nicole cursed.
"Are you sure your shoulder is going to be okay?" Penelo asked with concern.
Nicole nodded. "It only hurts a little now... Your Cura's took most of the pain away." she replied.
Anna huffed and puffed with all the running around starting to get to her. She slashed at Janelle; Janelle did the same to Anna. Luckily, Anna avoided it just in time by ducking, but Janelle kneed her in the gut and Anna went flying back into Llyud.
"Sorry, dude." Anna apologized, after regaining her composure.
"Sorry?" Llyud repeated.
"…Just…never mind."
Filo yelped as she was also thrown back, and into Llyud for that matter. Right when the poor guy had just gotten back up. He just had some bad luck lately.
"Sorry Llyud!"
"…"
"Filo, up girl," Anna pulled the eleven year old up to her feet.
Fantasy sent a Firaga, a Blizzara following soon afterwards, along with another Firaga. Janelle dodged the first two, but was hit in the back with the last. Janelle let out a small shriek. She threw several long blades at Fantasy. Fantasy somersaulted to most, and ducked to the last.
"Why will you not die?"
"There is no way I would die by your hands, Janelle. Why is it you want to kill me so badly?"
"I am not obligated to answer that question." Janelle materialized more blades, raising her hands in the air to throw them at a slightly distracted Fantasy. She was stopped, however, and her blade fells to the ground and she stumbled forward from a powerful Lighting Blast hitting her back.
"HA! FIVE POINTS, YOU DIRTY WHORE!" Nicole shouted, jumping up from behind a bush and pointing her finger at Janelle.
Janelle raised her hands again, carrying more blades.
"Shit…"
She threw them. Nicole jumped back into the bush.
Anna came up from behind Janelle, trying for a sneak attack. However, Janelle caught her and stopped her attack with a knife of her own. Anna was pushed back to the ground, Janelle standing over, hand raised. Just as Janelle began to bring the knife down upon Anna, she opened her mouth and let out a loud, high pitched scream that resonated throughout the battle field. The blades were blown away into some bushes, and Janelle flew back in the ship.
"What the heck?" Erika asked, puzzled.
"Did I…did I just do that?" Anna blinked, dumbfounded.
"You know that one power I didn't tell you about when you all first arrived here?" Fantasy questioned her.
"Yeah…"
"Congratulations! You figured out your power!"
"WHY WASN'T I TOLD THIS EARLIER? !"
"Because I thought it'd be more fun to let you figure it out…?"
"FANTASY YOU LITTLE RUNT!"
"MASTER!"
"DON'T HIDE BEHIND NICOLE!"
Nicole pushed Anna back, Fantasy cowering behind her. "Anna, we're trying to kill…uh…"
"Janelle, Master."
"Janelle. Not Fantasy."
"Which reminds me…" Anna spun around, Janelle slowly sliding down the ground, eyes closed. "Nicole, I'll be stealing your awesome line from earlier for a moment: HA! TEN POINTS, YOU DIRTY WHORE!"
"I said five…"
"My awesome trick calls for ten."
"Ok… WOULD YOU ALL QUIT STEALING MY LINES? !"
"Can I shoot her?" Erika popped her head up.
"Yeah, go ahead." Daniel waved her off.
"Yay~! Bullet in the head, here we come~!"
"Darn, now I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight." Anna pouted.
"Janelle is back up!" Fantasy announced, frantic.
Llyud fended her off, Janelle only able to lightly cut his cheek and torso. Filo charged in, with Kytes shooting magick from the side. Erika shot away, carefully avoiding her friends. Daniel rejoined moments later, with Anna and Stephanie tagging along.
"She's so tough." Kytes huffed.
"She avoids all of our attacks." Filo puffed.
"What should we do?" Stephanie questioned.
Janelle repeatedly struck at Stephanie, who did her very best to block. It wasn't easy going all defensive. She was way too used to attacking more than blocking, and Janelle was a quick one. She could almost compare to Rosalina.
"Kya!" Stephanie stumbled backwards, but caught herself. However, she was cornered by Janelle.
"Now…you die."
Stephanie clenched her eyes shut tight, her heart beating rapidly against her chest. This was it. She couldn't believe it. She was going to die, and there was no way she would be able to be brought back like Nicole had been. No longer would she be able to see her friends. She wouldn't even be able to go home to her family. No longer would she be able to continue this adventure, and find out all of the forty-two questions with no answers as of yet, she had.
Yet, Janelle never struck her down. Odd, Stephanie thought, but then figured that was a good thing.
"You can open your eyes now, Steph."
Not even slowly did she open her brown eyes. They snapped wide open. The person with an tremendous familiar voice stood right next to her, a little bit shorter than Stephanie. Her long, coal black hair was just a tiny bit longer. A rope of some sort was wrapped around her tan wrist, her fingers holding onto a part of it. Stephanie looked over to see Janelle bound by the rope – correction, the whip.
Stephanie gasped. The woman smirked.
"ROSALINA? !"
Lily: Short chapter! About nine pages. Sowwy. We'll make the next one longer. Promise! But I hope this chapter was ok... Was kind of reluctant to put it up.
Anna: Huuzah! Rosalina has appeared!
Rosalina: I was wondering when that was going to happen.
Erika: Flashbacks will be coming most likely in the next chapter. We get to see what Rosalina has been up to!
Stephanie: I was cut and almost died...
Lily: I was stabbed in the shoulder...
Daniel: Vaan was almost killed.
Stephanie/Lily: ...Yeah, he wins.
Fantasy/Conway: *Sweat drop*
Anna: Btw, we have no medical experience, but we used as much as we knew from TV shows (ha) for the Vaan case. Don't sue us if we did something wrong or if it sounded bad. Nicole and I figured Vaan wouldn't be exactly all manly while getting the knife pulled out. We made him cry out in pain like a normal person.
Lily: We are looking for 4 reviews. The next chapter is complete, so if you want it, then you need to review up to that number. But more than 4 would be nice, too... 8D
Daniel: 'Till then, see ya.