Rystan appeared in Preston's apartment. She walked into the bedroom and found Preston awake.
"Rystan!"
"Hi Preston. You ready to go to the Final Fantasy world?" she asked calmly. He stared at her. "Attlin was taken by the Turks and we're getting him back today."
"And you want me?" She nodded, so he grabbed his mace and she brought him back to the attic in the orphanage. "Hey guys," he said.
"Nice to have you back Preston," Xander said. "This leadership role is overrated." Preston laughed. "Rystan told you why you're here, right?"
"Yes, but not why you need me."
"We need you because we'll probably need your eyesight to see from a distance, to avoid being seen by anyone as long as possible."
"That makes sense. So how are we getting there?" Xander pointed to Rystan. "Of course, I should have thought of that. But why not use the portal?" Before Xander could answer, they heard a female scream from one of the rooms below them. They ran to the room. One of the girls was standing on her bed, backed into a corner facing some sort of monster.
"What is that thing?" Eline asked.
"It looks like a Tri-Face from Final Fantasy 8," Rystan said. At that point the monster turned from the scared girl towards the new group of people in the room.
"How did it get here?" Travis asked.
"I think we need to worry about what to do with it now," Grim told him. It leaped towards them at that point. They quickly jumped out of the way, causing it to skid out into the hallway. It was now looking at Wilkan.
"What is that thing!" Wilkan screamed. He looked from the monster, to the group of eight, back to the monster. Luckily he was too preoccupied to notice Preston's appearance or Attlin's absence.
"Maybe if we get it to the back of the orphanage we can kill it," Xander told them. Grim threw a dagger at it to get its attention.
It turned and ran towards Grim. Grim took off running down the hall, taking the stairs two at a time to keep ahead of the monster. He reached the back door and led it to the back yard. The others were close behind it. As Grim turned around the monster slammed into him. Eline shot at it to distract it, giving Grim a chance to get over to them.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem. What now, we just kill it?" Eline asked.
"I guess," Xander said. "There's no point in trying to send it back to its world." Kyrton made the first move. He ran at it and attacked with his sword. The Tri-Face took the hit, but then emitted a greenish gas out of its mouths.
"What is that?" Travis asked.
"It's poison gas," Rystan said. A few of them held their breath, but the others had already breathed in some of the toxic fumes. The gas dissipated quickly, allowing the rest to let their breath out.
"Rystan, go back to the attic and see if anyone up there has any antidotes or remedies!" Preston shouted at her. She nodded and ran back into the orphanage. While she was gone, Preston attacked with his mace. He quickly pulled it back towards him so the monster wouldn't break it. Grim and Eline continued to attack from a distance with their weapons. Rystan finally came back out of the building.
"Cloud only had one Remedy," she said. She handed it to Preston. He looked at the three who had breathed in the gas, and handed the Remedy to Xander.
"We need more," Preston said to no one in particular. He then turned his attention back to the battle, and killed the Tri-Face with one last hit. They watched as the monster slowly disintegrated into nothing.
"Okay, how are we going to explain this to Wilkan?" Grim asked.
"We don't have to explain anything to him," Preston said. "We just need to make sure that he doesn't notice me or wonder where Attlin is."
"And we need to get antidotes for Travis and Kyrton quickly," Rystan pointed out. They all thought for a minute.
"Okay, so we tell Wilkan that Travis, Kyrton, Attlin, and anyone else that goes with them, left the orphanage to chase after the monster," Xander suggested. "I'll go back in and tell him that I'm going after you to make sure you're all okay. That will keep him from noticing Preston or Attlin." Everyone agreed. They brought Cloud and Vincent with them, and then headed towards the portal. They made sure Wilkan didn't see them before they left, and Xander went in search of him.
"Wilkan!" Xander shouted when he saw him down the hall entering his office.
"Xander, where are the others?" Wilkan asked.
"They chased after the monster. Can I go after them to make sure they're okay?" He waited for Wilkan to answer.
"Yes. I don't want to have to send for a doctor. And try to find out what that thing was," he added. Xander nodded and ran after everyone else. When he caught up they slowed down so he could catch his breath.
"Okay, Wilkan won't be worried about us for a while," Xander told them.
"But we still don't know how exactly we're going to get Attlin back," Eline said.
"Or where we're going to find Antidotes for Travis and Kyrton," Rystan again reminded them. Grim was carrying Travis at the moment, and Preston was carrying Kyrton.
"Cloud, Vincent, do either of you know where to get Antidotes?" Preston asked.
"It depends on where we are when we go through the portal," Cloud said. "If it's in the same place where it was when I came through, we should be near Nibelheim. I'll be able to get you some stuff there."
"And if we're not near Nibelheim?" Xander asked.
"Then once we find out where we are I should be able to get some."
"Who's going through the portal first when we get there?" Eline asked.
"I will," Preston said.
"Shouldn't someone that would recognize the Final Fantasy seven world go through?" Rystan asked.
"Are you saying you'll go?" he asked her.
"I guess. We need to get there soon, so should I teleport us to the portal now?"
"Sounds like a good idea," Xander said. She closed her eyes, and they found themselves next to the portal.
"Should I go in now?" she asked. Preston nodded at her.
"Yes, but come back through if something's wrong. If you don't come back in a few minutes, we'll start coming through after you. So don't move."
"Right." She stepped towards the portal and walked through. She found herself standing in a forest, so she figured she was in the Final Fantasy seven world. After a few minutes Grim came through with Travis. Xander followed soon after. Once he was through the portal began getting smaller.
"What's happening!" Grim yelled. A few seconds more and the portal had completely disappeared.
"Now what are we supposed to do?" Rystan shouted.
"Well, let's see if we're near Nibelheim like Cloud said and get Travis healed up," Xander told them. They followed him out of the forest and stopped dead. Right in front of them, floating slightly above the ground, stood Balamb Garden.
"Tell me we didn't accidentally end up in Squall's world," Rystan said.
"I think we did," Grim told her. "Why else would the Garden be there?"
"At least we'll be able to get Travis healed up," Xander said. They walked towards the Garden. They met no guards and were able to walk right to the infirmary. Once there they met up with a doctor. They all knew who she was.
"Oh my, what have we here!" she exclaimed when she saw Travis.
"He's been poisoned and we wondered if you might have any Antidotes or Remedies here," Xander explained.
"Of course I do." She rummaged through her desk and handed them an Antidote. "There you go. You all look somewhat tired. Perhaps you should stay here and rest up." Without waiting for an answer she rushed out of the room.
"We can't stay here," Rystan said. "We have to get back to the others!"
"If the portal isn't there then we can't get to them," Xander told her.
"I think you're forgetting what I can do," she reminded him. Dr. Kadowaki walked back in, followed by Headmaster Cid.
"I've been told that we have four young people that are in need of rest. You are most welcome to stay here until you are rested," Cid told them. Xander spoke for the four of them.
"Thank you, but we need to get back to our friends."
"Well, if you ever need to rest you can come to Balamb Garden." He walked back out with Dr. Kadowaki.
"So we're going back to the portal then?" Grim asked.
"Yes. And if it's not there, then hopefully Rystan can help us out," Xander told him. They walked out of the infirmary, heading to the exit, when someone caught hold of the back of Travis's collar and spun him around. The others stopped and looked at the stranger. Seifer stood holding Travis slightly above the ground by his collar.
"What do you want Seifer?" Xander asked. Seifer started laughing.
"I thought I'd have to make another visit to your pathetic world to see you punks again," Seifer said. "Last time we met I was unable to finish with you. I think this time we'll be able to finish our battle." He suddenly threw Travis across the hall into Rystan and Grim, knocking them into the ground. Then he pulled out his gunblade. "Ready?" Travis quickly got up, allowing Rystan and Grim to stand back up. They all pulled out their weapons and faced Seifer.
"Perhaps we should take this somewhere else," Seifer said. He quickly ran past them and out the exit. They followed him into the surrounding forest. He stopped to face them when they reached a small clearing. "Now, this is much better." He immediately jumped towards them and swung at Xander. When Xander cracked his whip Seifer moved out of the way to attack Grim. Grim had been watching him and was able to counter with a dagger. Seifer moved back and faced them again. Rystan took the moment to attack Seifer, getting into a one-on-one battle with him.
"Rystan, move!" Travis shouted. She did, moving to the side, allowing Travis to shoot off a ninja star at Seifer. Grim also threw a dagger while Xander tried to get his whip around Seifer's sword. Seifer dodged the dagger but was hit by the ninja star. He grabbed his sword with both hands and yanked it hard. Xander was caught off-guard and fell towards Seifer. Seifer quickly swing at Xander, giving him a gash across his back.
"Xander!" Rystan screamed. She ran towards him and attacked Seifer while Travis dragged Xander away. He overpowered her and knocked her back into Grim. Travis shot star after star at him, Grim circling around behind him. While Seifer concentrated on blocking the stars, Grim stuck a dagger into his back. He screamed in pain.
"You'll regret that!" he shouted. He turned around with his sword out, catching Grim across the stomach. Then he put Grim into a headlock. "Now, tell your friends to put away their weapons." Grim didn't say anything because the others had already put them away. "Now tell me where Squall is."
"We don't know," Travis said.
"Don't lie to me," Seifer told him. "You know exactly where everyone else is, so tell me."
"We don't know where everyone else is," Travis continued. "We came here by accident. If you want to know where Squall is, find him yourself." Seifer looked at each of them. He let Grim go and ran off into the forest. Grim sat on the ground choking still.
"So what now?" Grim asked when he could breathe again.
"Should we still head to the portal?" Rystan asked.
"I think we need to heal Xander and Grim first," Travis said. "Otherwise they won't be able to help us."
"I can keep going," Grim said.
"No, let's go back to Balamb Garden and get healed up there," Rystan said. "There's no telling if the portal will even take us to the right place." Travis helped Xander up while Rystan supported Grim. They reached the Garden and went back to the Infirmary.
"What happened?" Dr. Kadowaki asked when she saw them.
"We got into a fight with someone," Travis said. She put Xander and Grim into beds to rest after healing them. She then called to have someone take Travis and Rystan to rooms so they could rest.
"This is Quistis. She'll show you to some rooms where you can rest." They immediately recognized Quistis from the game.
"Follow me," she told them. Rystan had an idea as they were walking behind her.
"Quistis, do you know someone named Squall?" she asked. Travis gave her a questioning look, and they both noticed when Quistis faltered on a step.
"Yes I do. How do you know Squall?"
"I met him once while he visited my town," she said.
"Where do you live?" Rystan hadn't been expecting that question.
"It's a very small town in the mountains surrounding Esthar."
"When did Squall visit your town?" Rystan again wasn't prepared. She didn't know if the sorceress had been defeated, and if she had how long ago that was. Travis came to her rescue.
"It was a few weeks ago," he said. Rystan shot him a grateful look.
"Have you seen Squall since then?" Quistis asked them.
"No, why?"
"He hasn't been back for a few weeks. We're beginning to wonder if something's happened to him. Here are your rooms. If you need something find me, or find Dr. Kadowaki and she'll find me." They thanked her and watched her leave.
"So they're starting to worry about Squall here," Travis commented to himself.
"If things had worked out right Squall should have come back today," Rystan said.
"We can only hope that the others got to the right place and are able to get Attlin back. Then hopefully things will work out." Rystan nodded and they each went into their rooms to rest, intending to leave for the portal as soon as the others were ready.