In the past.
"This is not what I expected".
That was one of Vaan's many thoughts upon waking up, in fact, while getting sucked into that blinding light, he wasn't expecting to wake up at all, he was ready to become nothing more than a charred corpse only fit to feed the monsters in the Giza Plains.
And yet here he was, in his old room, in Lowtown, naked, looking at his reflection in the mirror and feeling that there was something wrong when he observed his body for damage.
Maybe the feeling came from seeing that his body didn't have wounds, which wouldn't have been strange, what with the great ability every race in Ivalice had, called magic, that could bring most back from near death (and with a healer as good as Penelo, you didn't have to worry), but the thing that bugged him was that his body didn't have any type of wound, and that included the scars he took in the travels with his friends. He didn't even have the faded burn he took on his right forearm in his first great adventure with Ashe and the others in Raithwall Tomb facing the Esper Belias.
However things didn't end there, for when he looked at himself with more attention he noticed that there were more things that just weren't right, from his shorter hair to his less defined muscle. Vaan looked away from the mirror, shaking his head.
"This isn't happening" he thought to himself, letting himself fall on the side of the bed.
Because he wasn't an idiot, and in a situation like this, if one was thinking things through there were three possibilities:
1) He was de-aged by the stone and was brought back to his younger body, but that possibility was dismissed by the fact that he was in his old room, which didn't belong to him anymore since he left this 'house' two years ago and the last time he saw it, it was inhabited by other people. If that wasn't enough, he could see his small possessions in the room, like his old clothes and his old mithril sword.
2) This was all some kind of feverish dream and he was slowly dying in the plains while being eaten by some hungry hyena. A morbid thought that would have been possible if it wasn't for the fact that all of this felt too real. He even tried to pinch himself and yup, he felt the pain on his arm, so even the second possibility was discarded.
3) He time-traveled to his younger body. The notion wasn't impossible in his mind, he had seen many things in his travels after all, divine beings like the Occuria and even the mystical beings punished by the gods themselves called Espers. In fact, this was probably what happened,
Thinking about it, Vaan should have left that stone where he found it.
"What the hell did I expect would happen using that stone?! Powerful as it was, I found it near Giruvegan, I should have been more careful, or a bit suspicious at least! Penelo was right." The thought of his partner sent a pang to his chest, "She told me that the stone was bad news. By the gods, she must be so worried right now…" he rubbed away the tears that were starting to form in his eyes and, taking a deep breath, started to look around the room.
He couldn't do anything about it now; what he had to do now was discover when he was sent. That shouldn't be hard, he could guess just by looking at the objects in his room, like his brother's medallion; right, he could start with that. Vaan took it when Reks was brought back in Rabanastre, along with the mithril sword that he used in the war, so he definitely was in his sixteens or in his seventeens, probably the latter, since his body had the muscle he got while rat hunting.
"I hope to have some time before Vayne comes to Rabanastre"Vaan mused while dressing up.
He had to prepare himself, for when the new consul arrived in Rabanastre, the events that brought him to meet Balthier, Fran, Basch and Ashe would start. Vaan had of course the intention to meet them again in similar circumstances, but at the same time he would make some changes for the better, because if he was stuck in the past, then he had to try and fix the things that went wrong for him and his friends, no doubt about that.
After putting his sword in the scabbard, Vaan went for the door. "But first, I need to know how much time there is before Vayne arrives" and for that, he could simply make some casual questions to Migelo or Penelo. Vaan winced, it would be hard talking to them without revealing that something was wrong, they knew him too well, but he could deal with that. However he needed a bit of time to adjust before he met them, so maybe he should get information from someone else. "I will think on it while going up in town" he decided.
After getting out of his home Vaan found himself in the narrow streets of Lowtown. He watched as people went on with their business, some with scowls on their faces, others with disinterested expressions. It was strange but he found himself a bit nostalgic seeing a pair of kids playing with each other. Even as a sky pirate, he didn't manage to live a life without a care, mainly because after getting some reputation as a criminal, he had to care for his crew and to worry about bounty hunters after his head and, even if they were weak, he couldn't afford to lower his guard easily in towns. Vaan smiled. "Maybe there are some benefits in this situation." he thought, rounding a corner and speeding up his steps to the stairs to Rabanastre.
Rabanastre.
If there was any doubt in Vaan's mind about going back in time, it was erased immediately from his head when he stepped in the streets of the city and saw the Archadian banner on the wall of a building. Staring at it and confirming that all of this was real, Vaan took a deep breath and turned towards the commercial area of the city, "Right Vaan, keep it together. Where should I go now, Migelo is at the end of this area, right before the square of the city, but before that…" Vaan grinned, spotting the Sandsea tavern; if there was a place where to get information, that was the one. He could even look at the board to see if there were any mark he knew, that would give him a clearer picture of how much time he had before the consul's banquet.
After a few minutes, Vaan was inside the Sandsea tavern, looking at the board for familiar marks. While he checked the board, another man approached him from behind, the man grinned and tapped the other teen on the shoulder. Turning around, Vaan smiled his best smile since he woke up. "Tomaj!" he said, happy to see his (slightly younger) friend.
"Hey Vaan" Tomaj responded. "What are you doing here, looking at the board?" the eighteen year old asked him with a raised eyebrow. "Tired of life?" he joked, earning himself an eye roll from the younger man.
"You're very funny, but for your information, I am ready for the desert and I mean to prove it." Vaan answered, forcing himself not to focus on how much younger his friend looked, he needed to take a mark and get the diary of the Clan Centurio from him. After all, marks were the easiest way to money and they helped him and his companions immensely the first time.
"I was just looking for a mark... you know, so I can get some gil before the arrival of our new consul" he continued, trying to keep the bitterness out of the last word, and hoping Tomaj would give him a clue on the day.
Tomaj looked at him curiously. "Why are you in a hurry then? The consul will get here in a week, you could just go for weaker prey like wolves and cacti in the Estersand and get the gils from their pelts and fruits." he asked, unaware of the relief his words gave to Vaan.
Not showing any surprise (at least he hoped), Vaan told him most of his reasons. "Well, I can always take the spoils from the monsters and animals I take down. In fact I want to stay in the Eastersand for a pair of days, you know, to explore, so I thought that I could take down the marks I found there" Those weren't the only reasons of course. While Vaan needed money, he also needed to get stronger, as he couldn't feel anymore the inhuman strength in his body that he and his friends built up in their adventures. The only things that were brought back with him were his magical reserves and his knowledge of spells, and that at least would give him an edge against a lot of his enemies, but he had to get himself and Penelo back in shape. The only thing he needed was to convince her to come with him.
Lost in his thoughts, Vaan didn't notice the look of mild concern that the owner of the bar threw at him. "Vaan, I know you have been training in the sewers killing those giant rats, but the desert is not a joke, just outside Rabanastre there is a-" he started to voice his concern, only to be interrupted by his calmer friend: "I know about the Wild Saurian, Tomaj, and I won't attack him," Vaan reassured him.
"I mean it, seriously," he continued with a reassuring smile. "I've been preparing for months now and I'm as ready as I can be, I even learned white magic, look" he said making his palm glow with a simple Cure and trying not to laugh at the surprised look on his friend's face. It was better to keep his cards close to himself, wouldn't do to use advanced spells so soon, least he attracted some unwanted attention.
"See? I know what I'm doing, trust me." he told him with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and it seemed to work. Tomaj put his hands in front of himself, laughing.
"Alright, alright, I trust you, let me help you." he said, probably to introduce him to the mark hunting job like last time. "Oh boy, this is going to be boring." he inwardly sighed.
After listening to Tomaj about things he already knew, he got his 'first' contract. When Tomaj gave him the contract, Vaan grinned. "Ahh, my dear Rogue Tomato, this time it will be a piece of cake" he thought, delighted to see an easy target.
"Oh, and Vaan," he looked away from the poster to see Tomaj holding up a very familiar book. "take this, it will be useful if you want to know what monsters you are going to meet out there," his friend said with a smile.
Taking the diary of Clan Centurio, Vaan thanked him before taking off.
"Now, time to go to Migelo, maybe Penelo and Kytes are there." he hoped they didn't nag him too much about the hunt, gods knew they worried about him, "And rightly so, with the last stunt you pulled…" an annoying voice in the back of his head reminded him. Vaan grimaced, he couldn't think about that, now he had to brace himself for a conversation with his friends, who would be much, so much younger than before.
Vaan entered in the crowded shop and immediately went for the counter, where he found the old Bangaa that helped him for years looking at the shelves. Vaan smiled at Migelo.
"Hey Migelo, good morning." he greeted him.
The Bangaa turned around with a smile on his face, recognizing the voice: "Ah Vaan, good morning, are you here to help? Penelo is already delivering some antidotes for me and Kytes is in the back cleaning" Migelo informed the young teen.
Vaan let out a little sigh of relief knowing he had to persuade only Migelo, since Penelo would have made matters ten times worse. He tried to find the words to say to the Bangaa.
"Ehm, well… you see, I didn't come here to help, I just wanted to tell you something," seeing that he had Migelo's attention he continued. "I'm going in the Eastersand for a few days. Don't worry, I have prepared myself for months and now I am taking on the hunt of this mark" he explained quickly to his slightly alarmed interlocutor, doing the same trick he showed Tomaj. "See?"
He held his right hand and switched between black and white magic, noticing that Migelo was a little bit calmer upon seeing that. He held the handle of his mithril sword, looking at his friend seriously.
"Look Migelo, I'm going to be careful, I just want to explore a bit, see the villages in the desert and maybe Nalbina." he explained. Vaan didn't really need anyone's approval for doing things, but Migelo was the one that watched him and Penelo grow and he was the closest thing to a parental figure that both teens had. Thankfully, Vaan could see it in the other's eyes that the Bangaa knew he would go regardless.
Migelo slowly nodded. "Very well Vaan, if that is your wish, then at least take these" he told him while taking three vials that Vaan recognized as potions. Migelo handed them to him. "Be careful boy, for your sake and for Penelo as well." he could hear the concern in the voice of the shop owner.
Vaan sent a smile to Migelo "Thank you" he said before running off, aware of the Bangaa's worried gaze on him. "Now let's go to the desert."
Eastersand.
Vaan ducked under a wolf's attack and quickly slashed at his exposed stomach, dealing a fatal blow, before turning around and going with a strong Fira on the other three wolves. "This is too easy" he thought, watching as two of the wolves dissolved in the Mist, leaving pelts. Vaan folded them and put them in his bottomless pouch with the other things he found in the desert.
He had been looking for Rogue Tomato for nearly thirty minutes, killing any wolf and cactus he saw. Mainly because it was good training for the body. Vaan grimaced. If he wanted to get all of his strength back to where it was before the trip to the past, he would need to battle every creature he met, and maybe he could convince the others to do the same with him.
Thinking about it, the best way to get stronger was to train in the Ozmone Plains, since in those parts there was a much larger amount of monsters. And that meant that they would not only train there, but they would get richer too from the body parts the monsters would leave behind upon death. Vaan almost salivated at the thought of the money they could make by selling everything that could fit in his pouch to the merchants.
"How I love this pouch…." he thought happily. He found the bottomless pouch when he was sixteen after he pick-pocketed an Archadian ambassador, best day ever. There were merchants that sold the item in Rabanastre, but it costed as much as an exotic chocobo, and that meant a lot, so he kept the one he stole.
"Alright, time to find this Tomato," he told himself, looking around. He was on the cliff where he found it the first time, but it seemed the little rascal got himself another spot in the area.
Vaan went for the edge, searching for a spot of red in the sands below, but after a few minutes of seeing absolutely nothing he sighed and decided to go towards the nearest village or outpost and ask for the mark.
"I probably should sell the fruits I got from the Cacti there, and if I manage to get this bastard before dusk, I can get other wolfs and monsters on the way to Nalbina."
Making up his mind, Vaan nodded to himself and made his way towards the outpost.
After reaching the village and selling the fruits to a cheap merchant (he only got 200 gils!), Vaan went around asking informations about Rogue Tomato. However, to his disappointment, no one heard about the little monster.
Looking around, Vaan spotted the leader of the outpost talking to a Seeq. Upon getting closer, Vaan could make out the frantic tone of the latter, obviously pleading the hume for something. Curious, Vaan approached the pair and this time he heard what they were saying.
"Please, he's out there, he told me to go on since I am weak to fire, but he was wounded. He'll get killed!" he pleaded, basically on his knees.
"Wait, weak to fire, could it be?!"Vaan widened his eyes and decided to step in.
The man frowned "I'm sorry, but there are no fighters among us, there's nothing we ca-" and that was when the man got interrupted by Vaan. "I can help with your problem"
Hume and Seeq both turned towards him with different reactions. The former was skeptical, the latter enthusiastic. "R-Really, y-y-you will?" asked the Seeq between hiccups, too relived that someone was willing to help to care about their age.
The hume, on the other hand, did, and he clearly wasn't as trilled as the other "Wait a minute, boy. You are t-" Vaan interrupted him again "Too young, yeah, yeah, I know," before the irritated man could say something more, he took the Seeq's arm and dragged him to the exit of the outpost.
"Lead the way, you'll tell me about the monster on the road," he reassured him.
While running between the high rocks surrounding them, Vaan listened to the other's tale: "My friend and I were going to Rabanastre after concluding some businesses in Nalbina, but just as we got near the outpost, a pack of wolves attacked us. We managed to kill them but-" he paused for a moment taking a few breaths, and upon looking closer Vaan noticed some bite marks and scratches on the Seeq's right side.
"So he and his friend are both weakened, that's bad, he could already be dead…" he thought.
"Can you describe the monster that attacked you?" If he heard right before, the monster could use fire, which was the weakness of every Seeq. "And there is just one monster in this area who can use a fire spell"
Still running and out of breath, the Seeq answered quickly: "It was a little creature on two little legs with a big tomato as his head." Vaan grinned.
"Perfect, is your friend close?" he asked as the Seeq slowed down and watched the surroundings.
As they listened to the unnatural silence in the area, they heard faint screaming to the right, behind a stone. Vaan unsheathed his sword and put an arm on the other's shoulder. "Stay behind me and don't engage the monster, don't worry, this will be over soon enough," he reassured before taking off on the screamer's direction with his companion not far behind.
Upon rounding the corner Vaan saw a bad sight.
Rogue Tomato was there, at least. But what alarmed Vaan was the guy's condition. He was slumped against a rock, weakly holding a sword in front of him. He was covered in burns and scratches, but what worried Vaan the most was the man's deep wound on the stomach. Worse, the Tomato was slowly advancing on him, probably to play with his prey before killing him.
Deciding that enough was enough, Vaan threw a spear of ice at the creature, already preparing to sprint and pierce with his sword…
Only to stop and watch dumbly as his spear pierced the tomato on the head and passed through it, leaving a gaping hole on it's side. "Well, that was anticlimactic," he thought, almost disappointed.
Vaan shook his head and ran towards the wounded man. Looking at the Seeq behind him he quickly told him what to do. "Take this Potion and as soon as I use magick on him, get him to swallow it" he handed him the small vial. He wasn't Penelo, but he picked up many things from her on how to heal someone in bad condition.
The Seeq listened without hesitation, holding the man's head from behind and whispering in his ear to calm him. Vaan knelt in front of the wounded man and pressed his palms on the wound, ignoring the cry of pain from the hume.
"Take a deep breath and hold still," he said in a calming tone. Seeing that the man was listening to him he nodded and made his palms glow green while casting Reiz on him. As soon as the Seeq saw the glow beginning to spread on his companion's body, he put the Potion on his lips and tilted the vial, forcing the man to swallow the liquid that would save his life.
And save his life it did. Vaan watched with a smile as the man's wounds mended and his breath got calmer and more controlled.
A few minutes later Vaan was getting thanked profusely by the now tired but very much alive man he just saved.
"Thank you lad, I-I don't know what I can do to repay you," the man said between heavy breaths, looking ready to pass out. The Seeq seemed to notice this and told his friend to rest.
After that, Vaan helped them back to the outpost. They were welcomed from the guy that was talking to Vaan's new friend before. With his help, they put the recovering man to sleep indide one of the small houses.
With that done the Seeq turned to Vaan, "You just saved my friend's life, lad. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he said with what Vaan deduced was a smile, it was hard to say with the strange shape of his mouth.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that you would have done the same, were you in my position. By the way, the name's Vaan" he said offering his hand.
"I'm Balag, and the one you saved is Mercer" Balag said shaking his hand.
"Very well Balag, when your friend feels better, say hi for me. Oh, and since we are here, take these, you'll need them more than me," he smiled holding his two last potions in his hand and giving them to his new friend.
Balag looked ready to shed some tears. With a nod of appreciation, he accepted the vials.
"I hope we'll meet again in Rabanastre." he said to Vaan.
"So do I."
And that was that. With a last shake of hand, Vaan turned around and headed to Nalbina, where he'll have to touch the gate crystal, and from then he'll continue his training for the next two days.
"And hopefully, I'll get some gil in the process." Vaan thought with a greedy smile.
Two days later.
Vaan stumbled exhausted inside Rabanastre. His training wasn't as easy as he thought. In fact, when he was fighting against the monsters near the Nebra, he found out that, without using magicks, he was really out of shape. If it wasn't for the experience that he gained in all his previous battles, he would have been seriously injured by that Nekhbet (he really enjoyed cooking it in the nearest village for the children).
However, even if he was out of shape, he managed to kill every monster that he found, he got used to move in his younger body and he managed to get a bit stronger in the process. But the best thing that happened was getting to sell everything he looted from the monsters to the merchants of Nalbina. Between the wolf pelts, the cockatrice feathers and the fruits he got from the cacti in the desert in two days of hunting, Vaan managed to get almost 20.000 gil.
"The things I can buy with all this money. I may even get Penelo to forgive me for this adventure…" Vaan winced. He could almost hear Penelo screaming at him for going in the Eastersand and making her worry for two days.
As he continued towards the eastern gate of the city, Vaan looked around until he spotted the moogle he was looking for. After talking to him, Vaan used the Moogling to appear in front of the Sandsea.
From there, he got the reward for his hunt from a delighted Tomaj along with his vague directions for the Clan Centurio.
After a warm meal and a drink, a very happy Vaan came out of the tavern only to almost shit his pants in fright when he came face to face with a smiling Penelo. In other circumstances, Vaan would have gone and hugged her in happiness after not seeing her for days, maybe he would have even kissed her (and considering that he and his Penelo were together, he was pretty close to do exactly that). However Vaan knew upon seeing her that the smile Penelo was giving him was pissed, and if he didn't play his cards well, then the situation was going to get ugly.
"So," Penelo started with a sweet smile that would have reassured him if it reached her eyes "Migelo told me that you went to explore the desert…" the way she used the word explore was like she just said a very bad word. Vaan felt cold sweat on his back.
"Penelo, I-"
"Care to explain Vaan?" and if he thought that she couldn't say a word with so much spiteas explain, then he was mistaken when she pronounced his name like it was the greatest insult in Ivalice.
Vaan smiled and explained.