Fini: Come on guys! We have to find Yuko!

Fuu: Where could she be? Is she hiding somewhere?

(Basch enters with a stuffed animal Cactoid)

Fuu: Uh, Basch, what is—?

Basch: Bait.

(After about twenty seconds, we see Yuko's head peeking from a corner, she approaches quickly, taking the Cactoid in her arms.)

Yuko: So…soft.

Fuu: Basch levels up for luring in Yuko-chan.

Basch: Epic win…

Fini: Who hasn't said the Disclaimer yet?

Fuu: Yeah! We're already running out of people! I mean, last time freaking Garbuden said the disclaimer!

Migelo: ME!! I HAVEN'T SAID IT YET!!

Fuu: Okay, Migelo, give it a go.

Migelo: Fuu does not own Final Fantasy XII. This all includes plots, characters, and settings. The only people she owns are herself, Fini, Yuko, Misa, Jude, and Rozaline. Oh, and Garbuden and Hiroyuki.

Fuu: Okay. That's settled. Enjoy chapter twenty-one y'alls!

Going into Ivalice

Chapter 21: Panic at Mt. Bur-Omisace

The sight was truly shocking. Everywhere I glanced and everywhere my head turned, there were people lying in pain. The Imperials invaded Mt. Bur-Omisace and injured its villagers!

"Fuu, we must find Yuko-chan." Fini said slowly. I could tell that the sight appalled her, too. I nodded my head slowly in response, and we walked further into Mt. Bur-Omisace, seeing more people injured. Some wounds looked fatal on some.

"Call help! Make haste and call help!!"

"Mommy! Daddy! Mommy, where are you?"

"We're losing him! Someone bring assistance!"

"Momma, please don't die!"

"Fuu!" I looked forward to see Misa zooming into my direction. Our faces nearly collided because of how fast her little wings were fluttering.

"Misa! Where's Yuko?" I asked.

"She ran to the Gran Kiltias," Misa panted. "But there was so much smoke…and so many screams were heard from ahead…the smoke was too much to handle for me to accompany her…WHAT IF SHE DIES IN THERE?" I was staring at her, beads of sweat slowly dripping down my face from the constant pressure, the heat from the flames and the smoke from ahead, and because of my fear. I was scared for Yuko. There was no way in Ivalice that someone like Yuko would survive in a chaotic mess like that. I looked up at the smoke bellowing from the temple grounds. For some reason, I felt…calmer. I felt like I had enough confidence to run in there, grab Yuko, and bring her back to safety. I turned around and I just saw Balthier and everyone else just enter Mt. Bur-Omisace. Balthier spotted me, and that's when I turned to Fini and Misa.

"I'll get Yuko. Don't worry." I gave them a small smile of confidence before I ran into the smoke ahead of me.

"FUU! DON'T DO THIS! YOU COULD DIE!" Fini shouted. I turned around one last time to see them floating there in intense apprehension and worry. I looked ahead of me as black smoke was surrounding me everywhere. But I never stopped running. I kept going past people, injured, little kids lost, and broken down objects. It didn't take me that long to reach the temple, and I ran into the heat with utmost courage. It felt like running through a bonfire, hot, burning your cheeks, and it made me sweat even more because I was wearing a black zip-up hoodie. I got out of the flames and nearly tripped on each stair. I feared the worst for Yuko, but I couldn't give up just yet…I continued up the stairs until I reached the very top. I stood, motionless, as I saw imperial guards, holding Yuko up by her wrists above her head, making her be lifted off of the ground.

"Tell me, brat, where's your friend the Legend?" A guard asked Yuko.

"I'm not saying a word to you repulsive monsters." Yuko said through clenched teeth. Despite being five years old and innocent ninety percent of the time, Yuko was pretty damn scary when she glared. A guard punched her in the stomach, hard. Yuko flinched in pain and blood trickled out of her tiny, pale mouth.

"TELL US NOW!" Another guard said, slapping her face, which would've hurt ten times more with strong armor going rapidly against your cheeks. Yuko was then thrown to the ground. "You bitch." The same guard kicked her in the side many times, and I couldn't bear hearing Yuko's defenseless screams. I was still shocked that they didn't notice me at the top of the stairs, but that was good, since it was my chance to attack. The guards were occupied with harming Yuko, so none of them saw me as I started to run. I slammed my entire body into one guy, which caused the kicking to stop. I fell on the ground but immediately stood back up again.

"Well, well, there she is." A guard snickered. I glared at them all.

"Do you even realize what you jerks have done to this sacred place?!" I screamed at them. "Just about everyone is injured, children can't find their parents anywhere, and people are DYING!" I screamed the last word the loudest. The guards didn't seem to react to my emotions.

"Is that so? Better tell that to Judge Bergan." One guard said. They moved out of the way and towards me, and I got a glimpse of Yuko. She was lying there, shaking a bit, the blood dripping from her mouth landing in a small puddle next to her mouth. I was worried for her, but I faced my attention to the guards coming towards me.

"NO! NO! LET ME GO!" I shouted. They only laughed as they walked me over to where the Gran Kiltias was…but instead of sitting in his throne, Anastasis was on the ground, motionless.

Anastasis was dead.

"How could you do this?" I growled. "Do you realize what you have done?"

"Do you realize that if this pace is kept to a steady beat," A different voice echoed. Appearing from behind me. I suddenly recognized the face. It was Judge Bergan. "Ivalice can easily fall into our hands." He gave me a gruesome smile and I tried to shake the guards off of me even more. "Ah, the Legend arrives alone, does she?"

"No, everyone else isn't far behind, I assure you, so don't get your hopes up." I hissed.

"Well, that's good, they have nice timing." Bergan laughed. He walked right in front of me, holding his helmet in his left hand, his face just inches from mine. "They will be able to see my proposal."

PROPOSAL? Was he serious?

"I saw that fiery look in your eyes, Legend," Bergan laughed even more, grabbing my chin tightly. "You need to learn your manners and give much more appreciative looks to your Imperials, my dear." Okay, I wanted to shout a bunch of things to this nut job. One, how old was this guy anyway? He looked just around forty or fifty-something, and me, being fourteen, I'm pretty sure that's illegal, even in a place like Ivalice. Two, obviously he didn't give pigeon shit about me and he just wanted to marry me for power to rule Ivalice and all that bad guy jazz, so he was showing no signs of affection now and will never do that (Bergan being affectionate? Yuck.) Thirdly, even if I got as far as standing on the altar in wedding gown and all, I would still say ABSOLUTELY NOT. Ah, yes, so many things I wanted to screech into this guy's old ear, but my throat stopped me from speaking for some reason. I guess I was too scared to even make a little mouse-like squeak. However, I was able to do something else that made me ten times more Badass.

With flawless timing, I was able to spit right into his face. Aw, yeah, total epic win for Fuu. He flinched in disgust as he wiped my spit off of his face.

"Take it as a sign of love, asshole." I glared at him...it was the only thing I could die to prevent myself from laughing in his face. He glared back, and with one swift move, he slapped me right across the face.

"Like I said before, you need to learn better manners…" He then laughed while I was dragged over to a bunch of chains. I was tied up in them while he ran up and grabbed my neck with his one hand. I gasped, and he was clenching pretty tight, too. "I think one way of improving your manners is to make you my wife, and you will accept it." He said. I was ready for another spitting, but he covered my mouth with his other hand. "Hold still and I'll handle you well." He clenched my chin again as he lowered into my face…okay, there was NO WAY that I was going to waste my first kiss on this guy, so I struggled as much as I can. I turned my head to the side and I felt his gross lips on my neck.

"Gyah!" I flushed bright pink. The chains were bound on my wrists and ankles tight, so there was no way I would be escaping just by shaking side to side…I had to think of something. Bergan's disgusting ways weren't helping me in this situation, either. I looked over, praying that Balthier and everyone would come in with a parade of angry villagers as they took down Bergan and the Imperials with their torches and pitchforks…yeah, in my dreams. And dreams don't happen in nightmares. "Someone…help me." Slowly I felt my confidence fade away…but I still didn't give up hope. Maybe Belias and Mateus would come out of me and beat the disgusting crap out of Bergan? But that can't be possible because only I can summon them when my arms and legs are free…damn. I also glanced over to see where Yuko was…but she disappeared. I only saw the small, red dot on the floor where she was lying before. Great, it was just me, Bergan, and about a half dozen Imperial guards. "SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" I shouted even louder. About that time is where I heard footsteps…I looked over and saw everyone. Yuko was in front, wiping more blood from her mouth. She had gotten everyone to rescue me. I was so happy to see everyone that I barely noticed that Bergan had removed my jacket.

"Ah, our vagrant princess…swift as your lust of revenge led you to the Sword of Kings." Bergan stated.

"Put her down, Bergan!" Ashe said as she looked over at me. I tried to get out of the chains, but nothing worked out well. I looked into Balthier's eyes, and he looked ready to bash the crap out of Bergan. I felt really guilty because I already broke my promise that I would be "fine and dandy" all of the time…so far, things weren't fine and dandy. Bergan was talking, but it was kind of muted out…during that time, I felt this…adrenaline rush. It felt eerily similar to the feeling I had back when we fought Ghis on the Dreadnought Leviathan. That situation where I felt pain but strength at the same time…except, it was stronger.

"Don't overexert this." Mateus's voice chimed.

"Use only the amount you feel you need to utilize." Belias's voice also chimed in my head.

"Go, my preferred," Raithwall's voice this time. "Do all you can without harming those you love."

That's when it happened…and it was all a hasty blur…but a memorable blur.

As quick as lightning striking down, the chains on my ankles and wrists shattered. I jumped with all of my might and tackled Bergan to the ground. He got up quickly, and he looked at me. Except this was a look of fear. I immediately charged at him again, and I punched him…hard. Bergan fell backwards into a wall, denting it greatly. I ran over, and there, I started beating the crap out of him. Armor? What armor? My punches were somehow so incredibly strong that his armor felt like nothing more than clay.

"Slow down, Fuu." Mateus said. "You have done your deeds appropriately."

But I didn't slow down. I only quickened my pace.

"Fuu," Belias growled. "Stop. Stop. You've done sufficiently."

But once I gained this mysterious adrenaline rush of strength, I never wanted to stop. The only time I felt like I should properly stop is when Bergan would turn into a pile of dust.

"YOU MUST STOP!" Raithwall's voice shuttered in my mind... That's when I stopped. My fist shook violently as it was only a matter of inches away from punching Bergan in the face again. I looked down to see his eyes shut…unmoving. He was dead.

"Fuu…" Penelo's voice shook in fright. I turned to look at everyone, just staring at me, every once in a while they would glance at the corpse of Judge Bergan, but they mostly kept their eyes on me.

"The one with knowledge and the one to attain all Espers with markings and wit," Rozaline shivered. "The one who has been chosen by the Dynast-King Raithwall himself many years ago, the year of his death, to be precise…the one chosen to be almost apart of the kinfolk of Raithwall…this girl, from what we've seen now with her true powers…is the soul of the Legend, Delfenynn."

"Delfenynn." Fran whispered, as if she heard Rozaline's saying, which she did not.

Before I would ask who this Delfenynn was, I felt all energy drain from me as I fell backwards, passing out from exhaustion.

…

It felt so long before I woke up. It was dark outside, and everything was shrouded by random shrubs and trees. There was a small campfire beside me…and there were two tents with some lanterns on in them. Where…was I?

"Fuu!" Vaan ran over to me. Okay, good, I'm not in the fourth district of Saturn.

"What is this place, Vaan?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my head achingly.

"The Salikawood. You missed it after you passed it in Mt. Bur-Omisace. We all decided that we had to go to Draklor Laboratory in Archades to destroy the Dusk Shard. We have to go there on foot, though. So, we walked through the Mosphoran Highwaste, and now we're camping out here. We'll be heading to the Phon Coast tomorrow, but we all decided that tomorrow should be…a break day."

I blinked.

"Break day?"

"Yeah. It's the Phon Coast for crying out loud! Who doesn't love a good, relaxing day at the beach? And then the day after that, we'll be all refreshed to go to Draklor." Vaan stated a little too excitedly.

"So, we're trying to save Ivalice and saving it includes playing beach volleyball and snorkeling at the Phon Coast?" I had a blank stare on my face as I asked this. Vaan scratched his head, sighing.

"Ashe, Fran, Basch, and Jude said the same thing."

"Hey, I'm cool with it." I gave him a grin. "I was just testing you, blondie." Vaan excitedly grinned back.

"All right!" I chuckled and then glanced over at the tents.

"So, where did those come from?" I asked, pointing at the tents.

"The Moogles here lent them to us. We figured we could carry them around in your backpack, if that's okay." Vaan said.

"Yeah, there's plenty of room still." I said. And to be honest, there was. Honestly, I could keep a Triceratops in my backpack and there would STILL be enough room.

"I'll go tell everyone else that you're up." Vaan stood up and walked over to the tents. I blinked a few times before glancing over to see Fran sitting beside me…I never noticed her there until now.

"Uh…hi." I said.

"Are you concerned?" She asked me, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Concerned about what?" I questioned.

"What you did to Bergan." She said. "You must show some signs of…trepidation."

"Well…I try not to show it, to be honest." I stated. There was a blanket next to me, and I took it, wrapping it around me as tight as I could. I also moved myself closer to the little campfire. It was quiet for a bit, but it wasn't really awkward anymore…I guess Fran and I kind of kindled a friendship and we decided to stick with it no matter what. I sat there, re-thinking all that happened back at Mt. Bur-Omisace…Judge Bergan…Anastasis…Raithwall and the Espers talking to me through my head…everything. But there was one thing I remembered that really stuck to my brain like glue…the name Delfenynn. I looked over at Fran, who kind of had her eyes closed most of the way. I swallowed hard before I asked her.

"Fran, who is Delfenynn?"

It was silent for a bit, but I watched as Fran slowly opened her eyes again. She looked at me. She smiled a bit.

"Caring for a story?"

"Yeah, as long as it doesn't have any big words in it." I chuckled nervously.

"Well, I will do my best to describe it to you," Fran stated. She looked at the campfire one more time before turning to me. "Long ago when the Dynast-King Raithwall was still active, pure and alive, he knew a young woman by the name of Delfenynn. She was vibrant and powerful, a sorceress who knew a lot about Ivalice's past. She wanted to know more, and she believed that marrying Raithwall would no longer limit her powers and her needs, although she did not love him. She knew that Raithwall would achieve so many objectives in his lifetime." I nodded my head, wanting Fran to continue with her story.

"But before they married," Fran said. "Delfenynn grew…abnormal. She did research on beings called Espers, and she summoned eleven of them with the help of a marking she drew. She could not summon all thirteen, because one was in Raithwall's grasp, and the other was not to be there until all of the others were in the location. Delfenynn went on a rampage, thirsting for power to control these beasts that defied the gods above, but she did not face Raithwall in battle. Raithwall sealed her spirit away, and she withered into nothingness. However, her powers were kept. Raithwall separated the Espers back to their original locations whence they came, and he kept her spirit in the palm of his hand." I continued to nod my head. This was all leading up to something important…

"Raithwall knew that the day of his death, he would have to release the energy of Delfenynn, and he decided to awaken her in the future, only as a different being to enter the world of Ivalice. He wrote many texts about one who would know many things about Ivalice's history and its people, and how she can hold many powers within her…much like Delfenynn."

It all began to make some sense now…

"The energy of Delfenynn…is sealed within you, Fuu. You and Delfenynn are connected…intertwined with knowledge, power, and the ability to control Espers. You are both Legends, but she never lived up to be one due to her greed and egocentricity."

"So," I cleared my throat, ready to put this in simpler terms. "This girl, Delfenynn, she had all these magic powers and she wanted to marry Raithwall so she can discover more powers. She discovered the Espers and wanted to control them all, but Raithwall stopped her from doing so by sealing her away and kind of killing her, but not her 'energy'. Her energy was unlocked when I entered Ivalice!"

"You've been listening well." Fran smiled.

"So, I'm Delfenynn?"

"Not quite. You just share the same abilities and the same rage…that rage you had when you killed Bergan and used it on Ghis back on the Leviathan, that was the anger and energy of Delfenynn…the rage she wanted to use on Raithwall to obtain Belias and complete her madness." I sat there, looking at the sparks coming out of the campfire.

"I wish someone had told me about this a little sooner."

"We did not realize that it was Delfenynn until you defeated Bergan."

"Well, I guess that explains a lot," I stated. "It really wasn't like Raithwall just came up with this icon for everyone to look out for in the future." I looked over at my knowledgeable Viera friend. "Thank you Fran, you know so much."

"It is not a problem." Fran stood up, walking over to a tent, which I assumed was the girl tent. "Not too much longer out here. We shall leave at dawn to get through the rest of the Salikawood, and then we shall, as Vaan declaims it, have our break day."

"I think everyone needs a little break, Fran. Even you." Fran stood there for a bit, then entered the tent. So, it was just me outside…until someone else came out to pay me a little visit. Ashe.

"Legend," She said. I turned around and looked at her. "Do you think we have enough time to…converse?" I blinked a few times before nodding my head. She walked over and sat beside me.

"What's up?" I asked. Ashe looked up at the sky.

"Nothing is up, why do you ask?"

"Oh…it just means 'what's wrong?' or 'what's troubling you?'" I stated. I'd better say that now before everyone else starts looking up at the sky randomly, like Basch in Barheim Passage.

"Well, what is troubling me is all the wrong I have done to you." Ashe sighed.

"Wrong?" I asked her.

"I have said some things that were taken as offensive. I pledge to never insult you again." Ashe put her hand on her chest. "After what happened at the Stilshrine with the Esper…and that situation with Judge Bergan…I recognized your true power. You're not just a girl with an energetic behavior…although you lack in some forms of charisma, I wish I had taken back some of the insults I spat at you."

"No worries." I smiled. "And sorry for all the mean, senseless crap I said to you, too."

"So…will our vows be kept?"

"Our vows shalt be kept." I spoke like Shakespeare. For a small moment, I saw Ashe try to stifle a laugh.

"I guess having some life to the party emphasizes…fun." Ashe smiled at me. I nodded my head. We stared at the fire together.

"Ashe," I said. She looked down at me. "Sorry I keep taking the spotlight from you sometimes."

"Spotlight?"

"You're very important. I mean, you're a PRINCESS. You're a descendant from Raithwall himself…but I was kind of chosen from Raithwall, so it sometimes looks like we're on the same wavelength. But I'm not the one who has to rule Dalmasca. I'm not the one who has to save Dalmasca. That is your job…but because I'm the Legend, it sometimes looks as if I'm the one who deserves the trophy. It looks like I'm the one who will be queen of Dalmasca, which I don't deserve just because I know a lot about Ivalice and I summon big monsters." I turned to Ashe and looked at her deep in the eyes. "I may be apart of Raithwall like you, but I'm not the one who deserves any of the praises."

"Fuu," She said. "I will be sure to give some praise to you." I smiled at this.

"Thanks Ashe." Suddenly, I felt really drowsy and sleepy, despite having being sleeping since I passed out at Mt. Bur-Omisace, I felt my eyelids quiver, trying to stay awake. I failed at keeping them open, and I felt my head go on Ashe's shoulder as I was slowly drifting off into a sleep.

"That's it, Fuu," I heard her say. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow we'll have a rest from our mission and just enjoy ourselves."

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO!!

Guess what? Delfenynn is NOT an original character in Final Fantasy XII. I made her up, so she's MY OC.

Guess what else? Her name is pronounced DELPHA-NIN, in case you wanted to know that. I'm pretty good with making up old-time-sounding names, like Garbuden!

Yeah. I hope you didn't fall asleep during Fran's story, but I hope you got it. If you're still confused about Delfenynn and how she connects to Fuu, just re-read it a couple of times, you'll get it eventually.

Okay, see ya! Buh-bye!