Author's Notes: I actually finished this chapter after my new tablet nibs arrived, but kept writing because why not. As of writing this, I have the end of this 'book' done and I'm pondering a few things of the next one. There are some things here that were actually different in the game in how it's set up, but I changed it for some very good reasons. Which you will have to wait to see.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 12: The Place I'll Return to Someday

Much to Drake's relief, no one expected him and Odette to take part in the Beltane rituals. Dagger was also considered exempt, due to her royal status. The kids, of course, had games to play well away from where the adults were holding their festivities. More than one of the adult section of the adventurers decided they would rather watch over the children rather than take part.

Drake ended up playing his flute until he was breathless. Freya showed the young ones how to dance as the burmecians did, and Odette told and listened to stories. Quina was there to make sure everyone had food, of course, and Amarant wandered around the edges of the light shed by the bonfire to make sure that no creatures snuck up on them.

The next morning was pretty quiet. Those that had been taking part in the ceremony the night before were mostly still asleep, which left Drake and the others to take care of the children again as soon as they woke up. Drake found out the hard way that some of the children hadn't yet outgrown the stage where they wanted to run around completely unclothed, regardless of how cold it was.

Around noon, all the parents had finally collected the youngsters, and Drake was allowed to go out and sprawl on the grass in the middle of the village and relax. He wasn't able to relax as much as he had hoped to, between the knowledge of what was ahead, and keeping an eye on a dozen or so children at a time.

At least his brothers had been too busy to bother him about suggesting he take Odette over to the ceremony. Edgar and Sabin had been spending time over there themselves, and Zidane was just as busy as Drake was, keeping track of the kids. Not that Drake knew who Edgar had decided to bed for the night. There were plenty of women from all around the mountains that were interested in him, it could have been any of them and Drake wouldn't know any better.

The archer was tugged out of his thoughts by a thick fabric getting dropped directly on his face. He flailed for a moment and then tugged it off, looking up at his mother. She looked weary, but well. She was smiling down at him, and he sat up with a slight grunt. A glance at what she'd dropped on his face made him frown a little, looking confused.

"I already gave the rest the enchanted items. This is yours." She sat down gracefully on the grass next to him, and he adjusted the fabric in his hands, trying to figure out what it was. "After hearing about those tonberries in that castle, I figured it may be best for you to stop wearing that green." Drake started to laugh as he realized he was holding a black hood, embroidered with the magical signs of protection. "I actually got it last time there was a market set up between us and the stag clan. My cousin made it, I just made it better."

Drake grinned a little as he manipulated the fabric until he could put it over his head to see how it sat. The section at the top of the cowl was stiffened somehow, so it shaded his eyes effectively. His mother smiled, glad to see that he liked the object. He leaned in, and she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, ma. It makes me feel much better, knowing I've got some of your handiwork keeping me safe." Her hand patted his head, and then she let go. "I'll try not to need it too much." That got a laugh from her, and he got the hood yanked down over his eyes.

"You'd better not, you little troublemaker." Her words were fond as Drake pulled his hood back off of his head. "You've worried me enough." Drake leaned over to give his mother a hug with one arm, and then groaned as he heard his uncle Niall yelling his name. "Your armor's probably done as well. Niall mentioned he was just waiting for it to air out last night."

Drake pulled himself to his feet and offered his mother a hand up before trotting to see what his uncle wanted. Sure enough, his armor was done. His uncle had even gotten some help from his mother, there were silver-thread embroideries at the collar and on his glove. They weren't as intricate as the ones on his hood, but they were there, marking protection from blades and magic. The archer and his uncle double-checked all the pieces to make sure they still fit him properly.

They were still working on that as Sabin came by to pick up his armor. Drake lifted an eyebrow at how little there was of it, but as Sabin tested it, he could see why. His blood brother needed flexibility far more than any of the other fighters, even Amarant. He was bigger than most of the rest of the group, sans Quina and Steiner, so he couldn't rely on just speed like the others that fought in such close range. After all, he had more bulk to move.

"Drake, Sabin!" Both of them turned to look at Edgar as he walked over to them. Drake lifted an eyebrow. The older of the two princes still had ruffled hair and tousled clothing, though he didn't look like he had a headache. Apparently he hadn't had quite as much to drink the night before as Drake thought he might.

"What, did you get thrown into a tree?" Edgar gave Drake a flat look, even as Sabin and Niall both cracked up. Drake just grinned widely, knowing that he was still able to push his buttons with the minimum of words.

"Odette's looking for you, I think she was by the stream. And Aoife's with the chief an' his wife, not sure what they're doin', but she asked me to find you." Both men blinked a couple of times. Drake glanced to Niall, who shrugged a little in return.

The armor was left behind, of course, because Niall still had to go over the pieces to make sure that there wasn't anything he needed to fix or correct. Drake had been pretty sure that his armor hadn't shrunk enough in the heat to be harder to wear. At the most, it would keep the padding he wore underneath his armor closer to him.

Odette was sitting upstream from where the villagers all did their laundry, at a pool that the young adults swam in from time to time. Drake couldn't help but smile as he saw her. She wasn't dressed as a noblewoman. She was in breeches and tunic, sitting on a log by the water's edge and watching the sky. For a moment, Drake just stood and watched her, trying not to think that but for the sounds of the forest, they could have still been on Earth, with the way she was dressed and sitting.

"Mm? Drake, there you are." Odette's voice broke Drake out of his thoughts, and he walked over to her as she stood, brushing her rear off. "Your mother said last night that she could do the totem ritual after the embers went out." Drake's eyebrows rose. He hadn't been aware that that was where she'd disappeared to last night, when the rest of them were struggling to get the children to go to sleep.

"Oh? How'd that go?" Drake plopped down on the bank without a worry about what he was sitting on. Odette gave him an exasperated fond look, and walked along the water's edge. "I'd been wondering what your totem would end up being. You probably could tell what mine was just from looking at my parents' lodge." Odette nodded, linking her fingers behind her as she walked slowly.

"I wasn't too sure at first, but...Well, hawks don't usually travel at night." Drake's eyebrows shot up, and he grinned. When Odette paused to look back at him, he didn't bother to hide that smile. "You suspected that was the case, didn't you?" Drake nodded, and stretched himself forwards.

"It's interesting, though. I've got a totem that's connected to the moon, and yours is a sun totem. I had a feeling it would be a hawk, though. Kuja certainly used you as one." Odette sighed a little and started to walk again. She hadn't gone far before there was a hissing sound and a swan flew at her from the water. Drake was on his feet in seconds, and Odette yelped and backed up before trotting back down the bank away from the bird.

It took only a few moments before the two of them started to giggle madly. Odette leaned on Drake and he wrapped an arm around her, keeping an eye on the swan that now seemed content to just swim about the pond. It took them a while to get their laughter under control.

"I guess he's not a fan of your name." That got Odette to giggle again, while Drake thought. His parents obviously approved of Odette, which was really all the concern he'd had. Even if he weren't in love with her, it would have been in his favor to marry her, if just to cement his claim over the estates that Dagger had given him. As it was, the two of them had been told they already acted married, so all that was left was to make it official, wasn't it?

"I guess he isn't. Though I can't say that I'm surprised. After all, I've been told several times that dragons dislike you in a rather violent manner." Drake groaned a little at that, but he was already pulling out a little velvet bag. Odette noticed him moving and pulled away from him a little to see what he was doing.

He simply handed her the bag, trying to keep from blushing. She gave him an odd look before overturning the bag into her hand. She paused a little, and Drake scratched behind his ear, his face steadily turning red. She then lunged and him and wrapped her arms around him, forcing him to catch her.

"So that's a yes?" Odette giggled tearfully into his neck and pulled away to kiss him. He relaxed a little as she pulled back enough to put the ring on the correct finger, admiring how the light caught it. "I had a little hawk carving that I was going to have hold it, but well..." Odette shut him up with a kiss.

"It's perfect already." Drake sighed with relief and kissed her gently. It was a while before either of them spoke again. "We should probably go tell your parents then, shouldn't we?" Drake groaned, but nodded and started back down the river to the path that led to the village.

Of course, the news was all over the village by nightfall, and would be all over the mountains by week's end. Drake had to try to fight his urge to hide as person after person came up to him and Odette that night to congratulate them. At the very least, people accepted that they were going to wait a year to actually get married. By then, they'd have given the news to the nobles as well, which meant that all the noblemaidens would stop chasing Drake whenever he was in Treno.

Unfortunately for Drake, there was also a lot of teasing because someone had mentioned what he'd gotten in his barmbrack at the beginning of the last year. Odette didn't do much to help, just sitting and smiling into her food. Freya gladly helped Drake to figure out what they needed to do for their upcoming trip.

The celebration of the betrothal lasted well into the night, but the travelers retired early, seeing as they were leaving in the morning. Part of it was the fact that Drake looked like he was planning n hiding under the table the closer it got to midnight. At the very least, it was quiet in the morning, only the baker and hunters awake as the group departed near dawn. Drake was a shadow in the forest, his black hood and armor broken only by the purple cloth he wore around his hips.

Regent Cid looked relieved to see them as they entered the canyon, and started to bark orders at the crew to get them ready to go as well. Drake and Zidane went up to the bridge as soon as they got on board, to help chart the course to Esto Gaza in a way that went past Lindblum. A few people gave Drake an odd look for his black armor, but he ignored them. Black wasn't a color of grief in the mountains, that was red.

When they were finally off the ground and flying, Drake was able to relax, and went down to where the others were. Odette was sitting by the window, admiring her ring in the light that came through it. Drake couldn't help but smile at that, and walked over to the hammock to sit in it. A piece of wood that he'd barely started to carve came out of his pouch, along with a piece of paper-wrapped charcoal.

"What's this one gonna be?" Drake glanced to Edgar as he walked over, and rolled the piece of wood over in his hands. On one side there was a sketch of a female figure with strangely long hair that twined around like a snake's body. "What's that? I've never heard of a monster like that." Drake smiled slightly.

"The guardian of the Fire Temple. I figure I might as well capture her likeness because I'm one of the only people to ever see her." Edgar's eyebrows went up. "She wasn't an easy foe. Interesting that the Constellato aided all of us, though." The hammock swung a little as Edgar sat down next to Drake.

"Probably because we were actively going against the keepers of the seal to Terra. Anyone fighting them is a champion of Gaia, even if they weren't trained to it like the Chosen are. As it is, four Chosen in one group of fighters is quite a bit. Anyone that knows we're Chosen can tell there's something big going on." Drake shrugged a little and started to sketch a side view to his planned carving.

The tedium of the trip only had a break when they stopped in Lindblum to get supplies for the trip. Cid took care of a lot of it, leaving them to get potions of all sorts and arrows for Drake, not having to worry about the food because the regent was gathering that for them. Baku was glad to see them all safe, though he did cackle at the fact that Drake was engaged. The rest of the guys just complained that he was the first one to find a woman he could stand to be with for so long.

In a couple of days, though, they had to leave again, boarding the ship for the trip to Esto Gaza. Drake split his time between the bridge to watch the landscape pass by and the lounge, where he did his best to keep from pacing. He wasn't the only one that was having trouble sitting still. Edgar actually did pace around the ship, though Sabin was meditating most of the time.

All of them could tell when they neared the snowfields, because the air temperature dropped like a rock. Drake hoped that they didn't have to worry about Terra being freezing cold. He would need to ditch the heavy gloves that kept his hands warm to use his bow, and he knew for a fact that they'd be doing some fighting once they were actually on Terra. At least they wouldn't have to land first.

Drake was double-checking that he had everything when Odette poked her head into the cabin he still shared with Zidane, Edgar, and Sabin. He glanced up to her and smiled a little before finding a wayward sock and putting it with its match. She saw what he was doing and helped, saving a glove from its hiding place in a crevice.

"You know we've arrived, then?" Drake nodded to Odette's soft question, and sorted through all the things that were found, dumping the belongings of the others on their bunks. His things he folded carefully and put away into his bag, leaving out the cold weather things he was going to need.

"Not that hard to figure out, our altitude has decreased, and it's much colder than it was a couple days ago. Can you go find my brothers? They need to put their things away as well." Odette smiled a little and kissed Drake on the cheek before sweeping out of the room to do as he asked, leaving him to triple-check the room.

Only once he was sure that the last of the hidden things had been found did he head up to the bridge. It was warmer there than it was outside, but people were still bundled up warmly. Regent Cid was moving a little stiffly, but still greeted him with some cheer. Dagger was standing by the windscreen, cloak draped over her shoulders and muff hanging from one hand. Eiko was bouncing around nearby, chanting something that Drake didn't quite catch.

"Everyone ready?" Dagger jumped a little as Drake spoke, and smiled at him a little. Drake smiled back, and glanced around. The only ones missing were his blood brothers, Steiner, and Amarant. He wasn't concerned about Steiner or Amarant. The knight was bound to be holed up in someplace warm for as long as possible before putting his armor on, and Amarant was in some corner watching everything until it was time to leave.

"Almost. I think we're only missing a few people." Drake nodded and walked over to where Freya was, looking at the sky. He followed her line of sight and frowned a little. The game hadn't been too clear on a few things, among them being exactly where Terra was or how to get there, beyond 'go to the Shimmering Isle and watch this cutscene'. This, though, seemed to fit the bill well enough.

"You're sure of this?" Drake glanced to Freya, who had kept her voice low. He nodded slightly, and she sighed, shifting her weight from one foot onto the other. Drake shivered a little and pulled his cloak out of his bag to wrap it around his shoulders and debated pulling his gloves out as well. The cabins were closer to the heat of the furnace than the bridge was.

"Yeah, this was part of the story." Freya sighed at that confirmation, and dug her hands into her pockets. "Hopefully it won't be as cold, where we're going." Freya snorted at that, and Drake switched from looking at the portal to Terra to watching the rest of the group in the reflection on the window. Zidane was walking in, his pack attached to the harness on his back. Edgar walked by the open door, headed towards the deck, Sabin following behind.

"Alright, everyone, let's go!" Drake took a deep breath in through his nose, and pulled his gloves out, adjusting the scarf he'd been wearing all morning securely around his neck. He wasn't the only one getting ready to put an extra layer of clothing on, though the others had their things draped over railings and the like in the bridge.

Drake was glad for his scarf when he stepped out onto the deck. The wind immediately picked up his cloak and flailed it around as he stepped over to the railing, looking around. They were nearing the uprising sparks of light, but he couldn't feel anything dragging him up into the sky yet. Odette hung onto the railing next to him, doing her best to keep her cloak tight to her body.

There wasn't much to do besides wait for the ship to get to where they needed to be, and it wasn't like they could hear each other over the wind, either. When they reached where they were supposed to be, they certainly knew it. Drake yelped a little as he felt his weight rise off of his feet, and clung to the railing for a moment. Odette did the same, until they realized that they weren't falling, they were rising.

Drake took a deep breath in before letting go and allowing himself to float upwards. Zidane and Dagger were already floating up towards the portal in the sky. All it needed was a little thought about where they were headed. Odette caught up to him and glanced at him with wide eyes. He smiled reassuringly at her and then glanced around to make sure that the others were following. Edgar and Sabin were staying near each other. The others were arranged near enough to each other for comfort.

The transition to Terra was not quite what Drake had expected. What he noticed most was an increase in temperature instead of a tingling of any sort. He did have to close his eyes against the bright light of the portal, though. He landed with a thump, and glanced around before rolling out of the way for Odette, who nearly landed on top of him. He pulled himself to his feet and looked around before helping her up.

The blue light was already starting to mess with his eyes, but he was able to adjust his hood and block out a fair amount of it, though he still had to squint a bit. He was feeling far too warm for his winter weather clothing, though, so his gloves and cloak went back into his pouch. His scarf moved back to his hips, draped over his pouch to hide it from obvious view. Zidane and Dagger had already removed their winter clothes and set them to the side, looking around.

They sat and waited for the others to arrive. Drake pressed his fingers to his eyes to try to protect it from the light even more. Odette wandered around, on hand on a sword in case there was anything that decided she looked tasty. It didn't take long, thankfully, and once the rest had landed, Drake put their winter things in his pouch for safe-keeping.

"So this is Terra." Drake nodded to Zidane's words as they started to walk along the stairway they had landed at the end of. "Weird blue light." Drake closed his eyes with a slight sigh and rubbed at them. Odette placed a hand on his arm, getting him to look at her.

"I'm fine. Blue light just hurts a lot more than normal light, and I've still got more sensitivity to light than everyone else." He didn't speak very loudly, though the others still glanced at him. Freya was walking on Drake's other side, her spear slung over her shoulder.

"We should see if we can find a place to stay, then. We're all out of our elements here." There was a murmur of assent amongst the group. Drake blinked at Zidane as he saw an uncharacteristic scowl on his face, and wondered if there was something he'd forgotten. He had a feeling there was, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hey!" Everyone turned to look at Zidane as he stiffened, at the front of the group. Drake broke into a trot and saw a figure running away from them. He halted and squinted. That individual wore pink and had the same sandy blonde tail that Zidane had. But wasn't there someone else that made an appearance first? It had been years since he last had a refresher to this knowledge, he couldn't help but feel that he had lost a great deal of information.

"Zidane, what is it?" Drake blinked at Dagger, who was right next to him. Of course, she was shorter and didn't have the eyesight of an archer, so she hadn't seen what he'd noticed. He looked at Zidane, whose tail was flicking lightly, eyes still focused on the path.

"I...just a trick of my eyes, I think." He didn't sound too sure of himself. Drake eyed him a little, but didn't say anything, just continuing to walk. Coincidentally, he followed the fork that the figure had ran down. No one questioned it, just followed along.

At one point, Odette paused and fell behind the others, trying to pry something from between a couple of stones. Drake blinked at her before walking back to see what she was doing, just as she pulled a slightly scraped ring of silver with some slightly bent protrusions on one side. Drake tilted his head to the side, and Odette smiled a little at him before noticing how far behind the others they were.

"Hey, what'd we miss?" The others were all staring at Zidane, who looked like he'd seen a ghost. Everyone jumped at Drake's voice, and turned to look at him as he and Odette reached them. Dagger looked particularly concerned for Zidane, though she did take a double-take at what Odette was holding.

"The locals here look just like Zidane." Drake simply blinked a few times, which got Steiner angry at him, who had been the one to tell him. "Why aren't you more surprised?" Drake adjusted his hood a little, trying to figure out how to word it without revealing anything or seeming to be hiding anything.

"I saw that girl that Zidane spotted earlier, and noticed she had a tail." That made everyone jump. "I can understand why he thought he imagined it, because who would expect it? But there has to be locals here, right? And, well..." He gestured wordlessly, no trusting himself to continue without revealing spoilers.

"That makes sense." That was Edgar, who was fidgeting over to the side, arms crossed. He looked uncertain and on edge. No doubt he felt the same thrumming tension that Drake felt. Vivi, Dagger, and Sabin also looked like they were on edge. "You were at the head of the group, and you're taller than most of the rest of us, and you're an archer, so it would make sense that you could see something that the rest of us couldn't see."

"Right. Odette, what is that?" Everyone looked to Odette as she held up the object she held, their attention drawn to it by Dagger. Drake still didn't have any idea what it was, though Odette apparently knew.

"It's a coronet. I spotted it wedged between some stones. I don't know how it got there, but it's definitely of the design that the Mist Continent uses, specifically those that are entitled Duke." Drake blinked a few times, and looked confused. Odette seemed to notice, and smiled at him a little. "It's probably one of the many things that went in one ear and out the other while people were trying to cram all the information about the rank in your head." Drake rolled his eyes and flinched a little at the pain it caused him.

"It's bent out of true, but you're right. It has no cap to mark royalty." Odette offered it to Dagger, who took it in her hands to look over it. "And it does have the leaves of the ducal rank. Perhaps we can find someone to fix it." Dagger handed it back, and Odette nodded. Drake just hoped no one expected him to wear it, he much preferred the hood his mother had given him.

"Shall we keep going, then?" Sabin sounded as unnerved as Drake had ever heard him, tapping his foot quietly as he gripped his belt. "The surprise has been revealed, we've admired the pretty, can we go?" Drake snorted a little, and reached into his hood to scratch just behind his ear.

"Yes, let's. I know Drake's eyes must be hurting, because mine are aching." Drake blushed a bit at that, and fiddled with his hood again. He couldn't deny that was the case, it was why he had his hood up. He really just wanted to get someplace where he could take a nap. "Perhaps we'll find more locals, and get some information there." Everyone nodded in agreement.

There was a bridge not too far from where they'd stopped, and on the far side of it, the tailed girl was waiting for them. Odette nudged Drake, and handed him the coronet. Drake grimaced a little but put it into his pouch, glad that it was bent out of shape enough that he could. He had to wonder if it had been Kuja's. That was about the only reason he could think of that it could have been where it was, being of the design favored by the nobles of Treno.

Before they got close enough to talk to the girl, she turned and started to walk away. Drake's pace slowed a moment, and he blinked, thinking. He was starting to remember a bit about this section of the game. This wasn't the first Terran that had been shown, not counting Kuja. He couldn't quite remember who the other had been, though. There was so much that he had to remember now that some things had been buried.

"Something wrong?" Drake turned his head to look at Freya, who was walking on his side opposite of Odette. He gave her an odd look before remembering what he'd told her and Amarant before shaking his head, a slight smile on his face.

"Just trying to figure something out," he said. Freya studied him for a moment before nodding, accepting his answer. All of them were trying to understand what was going on, one way or another. Instead of bothering with trying to remember information that continued to slip between his mental fingers, he looked over the group, assessing their readiness for an attack.

Unlike in Burmecia, when they had arranged themselves in a highly defensible formation, they were spread over the path in no particular pattern. Yes, Amarant and Freya were near the rear, but so were Drake and Odette. Quina and Vivi were towards the middle, with Eiko bouncing from side to side, investigating things and Steiner to oversee the children. Sabin and Edgar walked in front of them. Judging by how they were moving their hands, they were holding a conversation. Dagger and Zidane were in front of them, apparently walking in silence.

All of a sudden, Zidane stopped and stooped to pick something up off the ground. He looked over it as the others caught up to him. Drake sighed a little, disappointed that there was yet another delay. He didn't want to get to Bran Bal with a migraine that kept him from fighting. Thankfully, there wasn't much to talk about, Zidane had simply found some sort of bracelet made out of bones. Freya accepted it and promised to look over it closely once they'd found someplace to rest.

There were a half-dozen more bridges for them to cross. They glimpsed their distant guide a few more times, usually at forks in the path. Drake's eyes started to water from the light, and Odette had to quietly cast a healing spell on him before he could see straight again. He wanted nothing more than to find someplace dark to curl up and nap until it was time to fight.

"You never hear about eyesight being a permanent injury, really..." Drake glanced to Freya, who was looking ahead with a slight frown on her face. "Especially not with ranged fighters like yourself. Once all this trouble is done, what will you do?" Drake blinked a few times and tilted his head to the side.

"I...haven't really given it much thought, really. There's still a great deal to come. I'd rather not dwell on it until we get closer to peace." Drake had to make sure that he spoke lower, as Steiner had slowed down a bit, tiring. He was easily the oldest member of their group, and wore some of the heaviest armor.

Even Drake groaned when they found they had to climb down some spider web-shaped ladders, though. All of them were ready to stop, but they hadn't found a place to rest. Their guide was waiting for them near another bridge, though. Drake rubbed at his eyes with a slight groan, wondering if he could trust anyone to guide him so that he wouldn't trip on anything, because he really wanted to just close his eyes.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" The girl's voice was rather monotone, with the barest change in pitch and inflection. She didn't acknowledge anyone but Zidane, either. Zidane didn't do more than make a very confused and grumpy face at her, though. "Follow me, and you will understand us, and maybe your own heritage as well." Drake wasn't the only one to catch the plural, he could feel Odette start next to him.

"So that's why he has a tail..." Drake was pretty sure he was the only one that heard her, and he couldn't help but smile, remembering just minutes before their souls were taken to Gaia, she had asked about that. He hadn't been sure she would remember it, as that was fuzzy even to him, but apparently she did.

"Hey, wait! Hold on a sec!" Their guide was running off again, and Drake heaved a sigh. Who knew how much father they had to go. He had a feeling that she'd only stopped to talk to them to spur them into continuing instead of stopping to rest. So far his own need to stop was more to rest his eyes than anything else, but the kids were starting to lag enough that he was starting to think someone needed to pick them up and carry them.

Their guide wasn't far ahead, though, halfway over the next bridge, just standing and waiting for them. She gestured down the bridge and said something to Zidane that Drake didn't quite catch. Zidane gave her an odd look before walking on. Thankfully there weren't ladders on this side, just staircases.

After one of the staircases, everyone paused for a bit. Drake sat with his back against one of the patchwork stones and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. It hurt a little, but it also helped with the painful light. Odette sat next to him, whispering the words to a healing spell that eased the pain even more.

"What the heck...? What is this place?" Drake lifted his head a little as he heard Zidane, but didn't open his eyes, relaxing with the darkness. His brain drifted back to what Freya had asked him before, about what he was planning on doing once the battle was over. He was pretty sure that he'd have to find something besides fighting, he was already getting quite tired of it and he still had more to do.

"It looks really artificial. So different than before." Drake blinked against his palms and thought. It did look more artificial, the steps from the other side of the bridge had been rough-hewn, and these were laser-level. Finally, he put his hands down and tilted his head back, keeping his eyes closed. He still grimaced, though, the light that came through his eyelids still hurt a bit.

"Yeah...But it doesn't seem very lively." Drake heard Edgar mutter something about how they weren't even properly in a town to Zidane's comment. The archer snorted faintly, still keeping his eyes closed. Odette shifted to sit on the rock behind him, and gently massaged his temples, relaxing the muscles there.

"Welcome home. This is where you belong." That was the monotone voice of their guide. Drake immediately tensed and opened his eyes. Odette's fingers had paused, and she was looking in the direction of the girl. "The place to which you shall offer yourself...is here." She had turned and started to walk up the stairs mid-sentence, which made Drake narrow his eyes suspiciously. He could hear the others mutter about her words, but nothing was terribly clear.

Unfortunately, at the top of the staircase was a bright light that made Drake flinch when he looked there. He was really starting to wish that he could get sunglasses. That was one of the things he missed desperately about Earth right then.

"Hold on a second! What the heck are you talking about!?" Zidane almost sounded angry, and charged partway up the stairs after their mysterious guide. For a second Drake thought that he stopped because he'd stepped wrong on the stairs, but then he felt the ground beneath him vibrate. Odette grabbed his shoulders to balance herself, and Drake looked up at the sky, his skin crawling. "Wh-what the-?!"

Drake remembered wrong about where the ship came from. The spires of the ship Invincible appeared to his left, off the cliff there. He stood and helped Odette to steady herself with one arm as he scooped his bow up off the ground. They hadn't been attacked by anything, but they had seen some creatures. And while his bow would do nothing against the cannon of the Invincible, it still made him feel better as it hovered over their heads.

There was a bit of a fuss as Dagger fainted suddenly, leaving Zidane to barely catch her before she hit her head on the stone steps. Seconds after, the rest of the group rushed over there. Drake glanced skywards as the Invincible flew off somewhere and then stepped over to the cluster of people. After a few moments, Eiko scolded everyone into backing up, because having people hovering over her when she woke up would be a very bad idea.

"We gotta find a place for everyone to rest. Edgar, you come with me, we'll scout out the area. Freya, you too. Everyone else can stay put, we've been walking a lot today." Drake nodded to the orders and found a spot to sit back down, putting his bow in his lap with his quiver by his right elbow and closed his eyes.

It was impossible to sleep, but he was finding it impossible to keep his eyes open for too much longer anyway. While the light hat came from the crystal not far away was green, it still hurt his eyes far too much. The others paced around to make sure that no creatures attacked them while the ahead team scouted out a place for them to rest.

He was pretty sure there was something about the blue light that was keeping him from concentrating on much of anything. It was possible that it was deliberate, he'd read once somewhere before that red light was used in blackrooms for photography because the human eye could still see by it but it wouldn't make the chemicals on the photographic negatives react. So which color light belonged to which place?

He wasn't sure his thoughts were even making sense, but there wasn't much they could do besides wait. There was someplace in the nearby village that they could rest, he remembered that much because it was a fairly important plot point, but the name of the place and what would happen was evading him. He couldn't feel the effect of his Stellazio as much anymore, either, even with it tucked into the pocket that Niall had made in his armor.

"How're your eyes?" Drake pried one open as Sabin sat down next to him. The monk had a slightly stressed look on his face as well. A quick glance around told the archer that the others were wandering around still. Odette was sitting near Dagger and Eiko, talking quietly with the child.

"Painful. Blue light hurts worse than normal light, and I swear it keeps messing with my mind." Sabin lifted his eyebrows as Drake closed his eyes again. "And I feel like I'm missing some armor. I can't feel the Einherjar." There was a pause and then Sabin made a noise that sounded kind of like 'hunh'.

"I can't either. I only just noticed. Maybe that's what's been bothering me. The light doesn't hurt all that much, it's just kind of boring seeing everything in different shades of blue. Odette looks like she's getting a headache, though, maybe it's something about the two of you?" Drake hummed thoughtfully.

"Maybe. It's possible." He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hands again, scowling. "I'd just really like to take a nap or something. Maybe a blindfold for a while." Sabin patted his shoulder roughly, and then shifted to look at the stairs.

"We found a place to stay!" Drake opened his eyes and looked up to where Zidane was trotting back with Edgar ad Freya at his heels. Sabin helped Drake up to his feet and went to pick up Dagger carefully before following the others. Edgar gave Drake a worried look, but he merely smiled.

The inn was a relief, with no lights on at all inside, and several beds. Sabin laid Dagger on one of the beds before catching Drake's arm as he was about to head back outside to see the town. The monk didn't say anything, just nodded his head towards an extra bed. Drake just sighed and shrugged a bit before going to lay down on it, hooking his arm over his eyes to protect them from the ambient light more.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Dagger was shaking him awake. He blinked a little and sat up before yawning and glancing around. The others were around, but Zidane looked like he had one hell of a headache, and there were lamps lit, again in blue light. Drake tried to avoid looking at those, but he did feel much better.

"And that's the last of the people taking a nap. You feeling better, Drake?" The archer nodded and stretched, feeling muscles that had tightened a bit while he slept loosen. It wasn't as vital that he stretch as it would be if he fought solely with his hands and feet like Sabin did, but it was still important.

"A bit. My eyes don't feel like someone poured sand grains in them anymore. Are you okay, Dagger?" She blinked at him as he turned his head to look up at her, and then nodded, smiling a little. Odette was by the door, hand on one of her swords as she stood guard. Drake couldn't help but smile at that, it was a sign that the others were starting to trust her.

"Yes, I'm fine. I merely realized that the airship we saw at the entrance to this settlement was one I've seen multiple times before." Drake blinked a little and tilted his head to the side, trying to remember how many times he'd seen it. As far as he knew, two. "Alexandria, the Iifa tree, and Madain Sari, when I was a child." Drake hummed a little, and then nodded.

"At Alexandria, it was what caused the explosion that blinded me, isn't it," he said, more a statement than a question. The others nodded, and Drake nodded again, getting to his feet. "So it's just a confirmation that Kuja's been at this longer than we thought." Zidane shifted a little.

"How are you so calm about it?!" Freya went still, and Drake managed to keep himself from glancing to her. "You're as far away from home as any of us can get, you just blink and accept that?!" Zidane sounded like he was about to blow a gasket, which made Drake just blink at him.

"...Zidane, have you forgotten about what I said about Earth? There are things far stranger than airships there, even airships that can flatten a city without a single person reaching the ground. There's a technology there that was created long before I was born that can not only do that, but render the area dangerous to live in for decades." Drake hadn't really appreciated how terrifying nuclear technology was until he no longer lived in a world where it was a threat.

"It's true. We were taught about it in school. It was held up as a lesson, what could happen if the world went to war." That was Odette, speaking quietly by the door. "It's why Drake was concerned about the war spreading. Even if those weapons aren't here, the knowledge of what is possible remains with us. We've seen images of silhouettes of people incinerated by the weapon Drake spoke of, of people with burns. We've read stories of people who were mere children when the weapon was killed, who died from it decades later."

The room was silent for a while. Drake's jaw set, thinking about what was to come. Spells had the potential to be just as deadly as the atomic bomb. The destruction of Terra that was to come was easily on level with the strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even if there wasn't any lingering radiation, the initial destruction was still similar.

"So what's this place called? I didn't hear a name before Sabin told me to take a break." Everyone seemed to relax as soon as Drake changed the topic. Eiko came charging in, then, and ran up to Dagger. The last of the tension disappeared pretty quickly.

"Dagger! Are you alright?" Odette stepped in then, and Drake saw that Amarant was just outside as well, holding a conversation with Sabin. The archer ran his fingers through his hair, making his short hair stand on end. It felt somewhat matted because of his nap.

"I'm fine." Eiko propped her hands on her hips and scowled up at Dagger. She looked like she had been running around, and she was slightly out of breath. Drake had to wonder what sort of mischief she'd been getting into, and who had been keeping an eye on her.

"No you're not! You're still pale! You gotta rest!" Eiko turned to look at the rest of them and blinked. "Hmm? How come everyone looks so pale? What's wrong?" Drake looked at his own skin and blinked a bit.

"That might be a trick of the light, Eiko. Besides, we're in a strange place. It stands to reason that we'd get tired faster than normal." Eiko blinked a bit, looking a little bemused. Zidane started for the door, and Drake followed him with his eyes.

"Hey! Where are you going, Zidane? Oh, that's right. That weird girl that led us here said something strange again!" Drake blushed as he felt Odette's fingers comb through his hair, fixing the mess of his hair. He leaned into her hand anyhow. "She said she was waiting for you in some underground laboratory! What a pervert!"

Odette choked on a laugh, and Drake cleared his throat a little to try to keep from showing his amusement, scratching at little at his upper lip. Freya turned her head to look at them, finally relaxing a little. Dagger blushed faintly at Eiko's accusation. Drake was pretty sure that Dagger was as innocent as possible, but apparently she knew enough or had heard enough that she could guess at what Eiko thought their guide wanted to do with Zidane.

The only one that didn't react was Zidane, who simply walked out the door. Drake blinked a little and tilted his head at that, but didn't get up to follow him. Dagger merely gave the door a concerned look, ad sat back down on the bed she'd napped in. Apparently she was still feeling slightly unwell, like Eiko had said.

Drake moved to sit on the floor and stretched carefully, taking his armor off to work his muscles a little better. He was a bit fuzzy on the time frame to the next event, but until then there wasn't much for them to do. The only one that would be doing much of anything was Zidane, who was getting revelations he wanted nothing to do with.

Eventually, Dagger and Eiko left, taking Sabin and Steiner with them. Freya and Amarant stayed to keep an eye on Drake and Odette. After a while, Freya turned to look at the archer, who was bending himself in half to stretch his back.

"Something's going to happen." It was worded as a statement, but Drake could hear the question in it. He sat back up and cracked his neck before leaning back against the bed. Amarant was in the doorway, pretending not to pay attention.

"Yeah. Zidane's gonna get himself in a bunch of trouble. Getting in the way of that is going to cause so many ripples that I can't predict what would happen." Freya and Amarant both stiffened, and Drake held up a hand. "This is a much bigger deal than Cleyra was. It won't end in his death if it goes as it does in the story. If we try to intervene, anything could happen." Odette glanced between Drake and the other two from under her bangs, her hands folded in her lap.

"You're sure?" That was Amarant, still in the door. Drake nodded, and he sighed, pushing off the door. "So after all that talk about teamwork, we have to let him do something on his own, again." Drake shrugged a little and started to stretch his shoulders.

"He'll get through it fine, and realize that he was being an idiot. Just like you did, he'll come out of it a bit wiser." Drake didn't mention that he'd also come back with a wealth of knowledge that he wouldn't have if they interrupted. He also didn't want to advertise his and Odette's presence just yet. Their presence continued to create ripples that he couldn't account for.

"How long?" Drake shrugged, and Freya sighed. "But it is soon." The archer nodded, and stood finally. Odette helped him to start putting his armor back on, handing him pieces and closing buckles that were awkward for him to get at.

"Soon enough. I'm going to go wander around. Odette, do you think we should find someone to try to fix that coronet?" She blinked at him before nodding a little. He offered her his elbow and looked to the other two. "Feel free to wander around, I'm pretty sure there aren't any monsters in this settlement itself." Freya hesitated, but Amarant nodded and started away from the door, towards the front of the settlement.

Eventually the two of them found the moogle Moorock, who had been trapped in a jar. Stiltzkin was there as well, much to Drake's surprise. He had apparently been hitching a ride on the airship and had arrived with them. Between the two of them, the moogles not only fixed the coronet, but sized it to Odette's head and enchanted it. She protested it a little, but accepted it after Drake reminded her that she had been born to the rank and he hadn't.

Drake also bought a bit more armor, including a vest to wear underneath what his uncle had made him, just as extra padding. Odette got a new breastplate and had her swords sharpened. That took quite a while. By the time the exited the storeroom where the moogles had set up shop, Eiko was running around frantically.

"Drake! Have you seen where Zidane went?!" He shook his head, and checked his pouch for his bow, just to make sure. He felt smooth wood brush his fingers as the spell encased in every stitch of the bag took hold of his thought and brought what he was looking for to his grasp. "ARG! I've been looking all over for him, and he's nowhere around!" Odette's hand tightened on his elbow.

"Perhaps we should look by the entrance?" Eiko scowled and ran in that direction, pausing by Vivi before dashing headlong towards the entrance to Bran Bal, the home of the Genomes. Drake gently led Odette after her, seeing Freya on the other side of the pool heading that way as well. "And so it begins..."

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End Notes: There's only a couple more chapters to this story, but exactly when I get them out, I'm not sure. The things that I changed from the game are where Terra is located. While I was researching things for this story, I came across the canon location for Terra, which is directly inside of the planet of Gaia. The reason for the change will be explained later, I promise.

Read, enjoy, and review!