Chapter 2 : The Voyage To Kilika

"I've never been on many boats," Selphie said as she traversed up the small mountain. Yuna giggled as she walked by the perky young girl. "I can pilot a lot of things though."

"Like what?" Yuna asked.

"Oh, like the Ragnarok. It's a huge airship shaped like a Ruby Dragon." At Yuna's wide eyed expression, Selphie grinned. "It's my baby. I love flying. It's so sleek and streamlined, it's just wonderful."

"I'm sure it would be incredible, soaring through the skies in an airship," Yuna said quietly.

"Don't believe me?" Selphie asked, turning to face her. "Well, just wait. Soon, I'll find my baby and we'll go flying together, okay?"

Yuna smiled at that. "I'd like that a lot."

Selphie laughed as she spun around and ran up to the top of the hill. "I'm sure we can see everything from here," she said, looking out.

Wakka walked up and knelt by the stone set beside the road. He began to make some motions of his hands, seemingly locked in prayer. Selphie blinked and turned to Lulu. "What's he doing?"

"Wakka is praying for a safe voyage," Lulu replied curtly. "It is a tradition that travelers from Besaid come here to pray before leaving the island. Chappu didn't pray, saying he'd miss his boat."

Selphie nodded. "Well, I'm gonna look around. Haven't been here."

Selphie wandered towards the archway. As she passed under it, a finely homed danger sense kicked in as she backflipped away, a blue furry Ronso dropping before her on all fours. Selphie stumbled backwards in alarm as Kimahri roared loudly, brandishing a spear. Selphie unsheathed her own weapon as the Ronso attacked.

Spear and nunchuck clashing as she parried each blow with expert skill, his thrusts became more fierce and wider. Suddenly, he growled and leapt, bringing the spear point down at her. Selphie eeped and rolled out of the way, concentrating. "Draw Fira!" Four beams of light flashed out from Kimahri who faltered in his attacks for a brief moment as she grinned and snapped out her hand. "Fira!"

Fire leapt from her hands, scorching the earth with the magical blaze. Yuna, watching the exchange from afar, tried to leap in to stop them but Lulu held her back. Kimahri looked positively shocked as fire danced on Selphie's hands. "Come and get me," she taunted.

"Stop!" Kimahri halted in mid rush as he turned to see Wakka, Lulu and Yuna walking towards them. "That's enough," Wakka said sternly. Then, he turned to Selphie, eyes wide. "You never told us you were a black mage."

"And learned the Fiends way of fighting, apparently," Lulu said, folding her arms. She seemed impressed at Selphie's control of fire. "High level spells no less for someone such a young age."

Selphie just absorbed this dumbly. Then, she noticed a red stain on Kimahri's arm. "Geez, I'm sorry," she said, gesturing to the cut. Kimahri said nothing as green light danced on her hands. "Cure." The air around his wound sparkled and Kimahri grunted as the wound closed with the rapid burning sensation of sped up healing. Wakka's jaw literally dropped as Lulu's eyebrows went up. Yuna was astounded.

"White magic too?" Yuna exclaimed.

"This is nuts!" Wakka exclaimed. "Lets get to that boat before Selphie tells us she's a Summoner too." With that, he walked off, shaking his head.

"That was amazing," Yuna exclaimed as the pair walked side by side towards the port. "Could you teach me the stuff you did?"

"Sure, it's not hard," Selphie said. "But what's all this about black and white mages?"

"Normally, when someone utilizes magic, they specialize in one specific class, either destructive or healing," Yuna explained as they reached the coast, Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri taking care of the fiends around them quickly as they traveled. "I specialize in White magic, but that's mostly because I'm a summoner. There are some people called Red Mages who can use both white and black magic."

"What about Kimahri?" Selphie asked.

"Kimahri has this ability, not sure how it works. But it's called Lancet. He can draw energy to replenish his strength from monsters, and sometimes learn a technique to add to his special abilities." Yuna shrugged. "Kimahri doesn't talk much so even I have trouble understanding what he wants at times."

"Ah, kind of like Quistis," Selphie said, earning a puzzled look from her friend. "Quistis learned a whole lot of enemy skills as we call them during our journey together."

"You'll have to tell me about your friends sometime," Yuna remarked as the boarded the ship.

"What's Kilika like?"

Lulu looked over at Selphie who stood, leaning on the nearby harpoon gun. "Well," she said slowly. "It's a fishing village for starters with a temple devoted to the fayth in the nearby jungle. From your tone, I'd think that you don't know the area around here."

"Well, getting washed up by a giant ball of water will do that to you," Selphie remarked dryly as she leaned over the side of the boat to scoop up some of the water in her hands.

After a short pause, Lulu turned to Selphie and sighed. "How can you cast both white and black magic? It's not unheard of but the few practitioners do not even try to use the Lancet ability, an ability of the Ronso tribe."

"First of all, it's called Drawing, not Lancet," Selphie said. "I draw and stock magic from living beings and use it to augment my magical skills."

"Drawing?" Lulu paused in thought. "I remember an old text about something like that. Can you show me?"

"Sure, just stand right there." Selphie concentrated as she scanned Lulu's magical stock and nodded to herself. "Draw Blizzard!" Four beams of light accompanied by energy balls of random sizes shot out from Lulu's body and into Selphie's.

Lulu shivered. "It was like my body went numb for a split second."

Selphie nodded. "Most people complain of that occurring when someone draws from a human. The worst that could happen is someone like Zell who hates being drawn from and he's in pain for a couple of minutes."

"And you.. stock, this magic inside your body?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah," said Selphie. "Right now I have a heavy stock of magic. I usually go out and draw a ton of magic when I'm bored so I have a lot to refine into more powerful magic. The human body can only contain 100 of one type of magic, otherwise their body can have very... negative effects." Selphie's expression scrunched up in memory of a younger student being violently ill as his body underwent some painful spasms for a good ten or so days. The teachers had to draw from his body for five and it was a good five more before he could stop shaking.

"Can you teach me this?" Lulu asked.

"Sure. Yunie wanted me to teach her how to cast black magic and then Wakka asked me to teach him how to augment his blitzball with elemental energy, but I can squeeze you in," Selphie said with a smile. "Okay, first, we need a living target. It won't do for you to draw from me since I have only so much magic on me. We need a volunteer."

"Gatta!" Lulu called out. The young Crusader looked up as Lulu waved him over.

"Yes, Lulu?" Gatta asked.

"Can you be our guinea pig?" Selphie asked hopefully. "We need someone to help with my lesson for today."

"Sure, I'll do what I can," Gatta said, uncertain of being experimented on.

"Great! Just stand right there and tell us if you feel any discomfort." Gatta stood at the bow as Selphie joined Lulu at the side. "Okay, the first thing to do is to concentrate. Focus on nothing but Gatta. Now, what you have to do is extend your senses outward and into his soul."

Gatta became nervous as Selphie explained how to Draw and Lulu began to hum in concentration. "Good, good," Selphie said. "Okay, now, take a deep breath, and try to pull the first magic you can feel from his body. Not too much, just a sharp tug is all it takes mentally."

Lulu flexed her hand in a grasping motion as she pulled... and a single beam of light emitted from Gatta with a single jaded ball of energy as it disappeared into her body. Lulu stumbled, panting and sweating.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone draw on their first try!" Selphie cheered. "It's a bit tiring at first, but you'll get the hang of it. What did you draw?"

"A sleep spell," Lulu replied, drawing a hankerchief from her dress and dabbing her forehead free of sweat. "four of them."

"That's good for starters," Selphie said. "Thanks Gatta."

Gatta nodded, wide eyed and amazed. "Not a problem." He then stumbled off, feeling a sharp pain in his stomach from the effects of drawing. He was then suddenly ill over the railing.

"Casting is about the same," Selphie instructed. "First of all, you specify a target. The ocean looks good for this sort of thing. What you do is concentrate and pull the magic from your body."

Lulu nodded and concentrated, making an arm motion. Pale green light flared briefly around her as she called out, "Sleep!"

The spell dissipated harmlessly over the ocean as Selphie grinned. "You really do pick this stuff up really fast! Cool!"

"Thank you for teaching me," Lulu said formerly.

"Aw, it's nothing," Selphie replied, blushing.

Suddenly, the boat heaved to the side as a huge fin erupted from the water. A cry of "SIN!" echoed in the air as it started to move away from the boat.

People rushed around as two men grabbed the harpoon guns. "What are you doing!" Wakka cried. "Put a harpoon in it and you'll drag us all under!"

"Our families are in Kilika!" One man cried. "Please forgive us, Lady Summoner!"

Yuna nodded. "Go for it."

The harpoons lanced out as one of them dug its way into the scales of Sin. Suddenly, things came flying down at them as they resolved into winged creatures. "Sinspawn!" Wakka shouted.

"Yuna, get rid of Sin with a Summon!" Lulu said, casting lightning on the nearest Sinspawn. "We'll cover you!"

Yuna nodded as she concentrated and performed a dance that a glyph formed on the ground as the mighty Valefor flew down and landed before her. Giving the Aeon a pat on the cheek, it took off and bombarded Sin with a flurry of lightning bolts. Sin's whale song seemed tortured for a moment as the boat lurched to the side.

Selphie smacked a Sinspawn away as she cast Fira on the last two. But two more joined the fight from Sin's fin as she groaned. "This is endless!"

Kimahri stabbed one and roared as spikes were shot into his side by a Sinspawn. The boat lurched again.

"We can't keep this up forever," Wakka shouted.

"I have an idea," Selphie said, dodging one. "Keep them off my back!"

Yuna nodded as she directed Valefor towards the Sinspawn.

"What's she doing?" Lulu asked as she blasted another with fire.

Selphie seemed locked in concentration as she thrust a hand outwards. "Quetzcoatl!"

A bolt of lightning lanced down from the heavens as people jumped back. Lulu turned to reprimand Selphie for the attack but a gasp echoed in the air. A screech echoed in the air as a green bird appeared in the skies above them, cracking with thunder.

"An Aeon!" Wakka exclaimed, shocked. "By Yevon, Selphie's a Summoner!"

Selphie managed a grin as she mentally commanded Quetzcoatl to attack Sin. The bird loosed a tremendous lightning blast that scorched Sin's main fin with Valefor dodging out of the way. Sin's screech was heard as it dived under the water, wounded by the tremendous attack that had miraculously had not turned the sea into one big lightning rod. Quetzcoatl vanished from view as Selphie stumbled a bit, holding her head. "Wow, I feel light headed," she remarked, fainting into Kimahri's arms.

Irvine bit into an apple. "Man, this is the life. Warm tropical breeze, fishing, good food... makes someone want to retire here."

Waking up in the middle of a jungle was bad enough. Having a giant plant with TEETH trying to nibble on your head was even worse. Three shots later, it was running deep into the jungle screeching angrily.

Feeling tired and hungry, Irvine stumbled his way into town. When in doubt, follow the worn path.

Grabbing a fruit from a nearby vendor, he paid the man who looked at the money funny before giving him his change.

It had been quiet for the last few days when he had arrived. Sleeping in the middle of town, listening to the waves. The towns name was Kilika and was a fishing port.

Suddenly, a cry went up. "SIN!"

Irvine blinked curiously as people started screaming and running in the opposite direction. "What the hell's going on?" he demanded of a man he grabbed by the shirt front from his leaning position.

"Are you daft, man?" exclaimed the other man. "Sin is coming to wipe the village out!" Wrenching himself free, he ran away.

Irvine had a moment to gape at the huge form that was looming close to the village. And then a loud whale-like sound could be heard. "Oh crap," said Irvine, his gun emerging from inside his jacket.

The creature swung a giant flipper and demolished a good portion of the left area of town. Irvine brought up his gun and fired.

"That was incredibly foolhardy," Lulu remarked as they sat around the cabin room. "Selphie could have killed us all with that electrical attack."

"But she didn't," Yuna replied. "I would have done the same thing to keep Sin away from Kilika. At the worst, Sin couldn't have been driven off so easily."

"Who knows," Wakka put in. "He could be following us to Kilika right now."

"That isn't very comforting," Lulu said crossly. "But you have a point. She should not be without Guardians. At the very least, we can find a Guardian for Selphie in Kilika... if it's still standing by the time we get there."

Selphie then stirred as she looked up at them and smiled weakly. "Hi there. Have I been out long?"

"Not really girl," Wakka answered. "But man, you ready shocked us with your summoning. How come you never told us you were a Summoner?"

Selphie blinked. "Well... um... it's hard to explain really," she managed to say.

"I'll say," Lulu remarked. "You can cast all types of magic, draw it from other beings, and even summon an Aeon. What are you?"

Selphie sighed as she sat up, swinging her feet over the bunk edge. "First, I'm purely human for a start. I come from a place called Garden, a school for Mercenaries. I've been taught a magic style known as Para-magic or Drawing, to draw and stock magic. And the summon you just saw was my Guardian Force."

"Wait a minute... that's the same thing you told me when I first found you and the shore," Wakka interrupted. "You serious on what you say girl, because I thought that was Sin's toxin playing with your mind."

"As much for the fact that I have to believe that I may have traveled at least a thousand years into the future... but that's the only thing that make sense... and is feasible," Selphie replied.

"That sounds really strange," Yuna said softly. "But I believe you."

"You do?" Selphie asked, hopeful.

"Yes. Even though your story doesn't make sense yet, I believe it has a ring of truth. One of my father's guardians, I believe, mentioned the same."

Selphie beamed up at her as she enfolded a surprised Yuna in a hug. "Thanks for believing me," she whispered, releasing her.

Yuna smiled down at the smaller girl. "Okay."

"Now hold down there, Yuna," Wakka interjected. "What did you mean by that?"

"What I mean that one of my father's guardians claimed to be from the past," Yuna answered.

There was a collective blink as Lulu folded her arms. "You mean Sir Squall?"

Selphie looked up at the name of the guardian. "Squall? Was his last name Leonhart?" she asked hopefully.

Lulu shook her head. "We never learned his last name."

Selphie stood for a moment, then threw up her arms in frustration. "Oh great, my friends and I were scattered across time!" she blurted. "Just as bad as being sent to a period of compressed time."

A soft knock drew Wakka's attention as he threw it open. "Ya?"

Gatta stood there, pack around his shoulder. "We're reaching Kilika. And..." He hung his head. "Sin got there before we did."

"Oh no..." replied Yuna.

"Well Selphie, looks like we have to cut our conversation short," Lulu remarked.

Wakka steeled himself for the situation at hand as he turned to Selphie, handing her Strange Vision. "Here. We'll be docking a few minutes."

"Please miss... let me help you."

"I don't need your help. Your machina only enraged Sin and brought destruction to Kilika. I'm lucky to be alive, no thanks to you."

Irvine hung his head as he shouldered his gun and walked away despondently. Ever since that huge monster attacked Kilika, he had let loose with five bursts of Armor Piercing Ammo. It had punched holes into the scaly hide but it merely went ahead and destroyed the town.

He just arrived here a day or two ago, trying to find out where did that ball of water sent him. But from the talk and answers, he was seriously considering he should be asking when, not where.

People tended to avoid the gunman since he first appeared. His money was still good, but horribly outdated.

All he received was mostly stares, and the once in a while talk on how "machina" like his rifle was nothing but bringing ills to the world.

Of course, Irvine merely blinked, shrugged and sat down to clean his rifle with what he had left. Currently, he scowled to himself as he picked through his remaining bullets. His stock was starting to dwindle.

"Praise to Yevon." He looked up as a man called out to an arriving boat. "The Summoner has come."

Irvine blinked as he wandered over to where the people were gathering, getting a few angry glares from the assembled survivors. A few people stepped off the boat but Irvine didn't see anyone who he thought could govern this kind of response.

Then, an attractive young girl stepped off the boat and the men and women let her pass, along with a tall burly man in yellow and blue, a very attractive, if dark woman in black and a blue creature of some sort. Irvine cast a glance up the walkway and his heart almost stopped. "Selphie?" he whispered, eyes big as saucers.

Selphie looked at how everyone was eyeing the Summoner Yuna as they walked off the boat. But then she noticed that one of them looked out of place, especially with that hat and...

Wait a minute...

"IRVINE!" Selphie made a running leap, glomping onto Irvine who almost tumbled backwards onto the dock. Some people gave the pair a dirty look as Irvine leveled himself upright.

"Damn Selphie, I thought we lost you!" he exclaimed, straightening his hat

"I thought I lost all of you," Selphie replied, not letting go of Irvine. But she came to realize that many eyes became fixed on her and Irvine, especially the others from the boat. Wakka's look didn't seem all encouraging of all of them.

Wakka's eyes, were fixed on the gleaming silver rifle that hung on his belt. A vein was noticeable as Lulu laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Where the hell have you been?" Irvine asked. "Have you seen the others?"

"No, I haven't," Selphie replied, loosing her hold on Irvine. "Oh, I forgot, I came with them. Irvine, this is Yuna, Kimahri, Lulu and Wakka... who looks upset," she finished lamely as Wakka stepped towards Irvine.

"You..." Wakka stated. "you are the reason this happened..."

"Waaa... I don't know what your problem is... I did my best to fight that thing off..." Irvine stuttered wondering if this was another of those folks so upset with his gun.

"He's using forbidden Machina!" Wakka shouted angrily. Lulu looked like she wanted to calm the hurricane that was Wakka but Wakka was beyond angry. "You must have been found by Sin and as punishment, he attacked Kilika!"

"Geez, hold your horses Wakka!" interrupted Selphie. "I just reunited with one of my friends from Garden and you want to blame him for the what happened here?"

Wakka turned a shade of purple as he stormed off. Yuna came up to Irvine and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Forgive Wakka," she said softly. "he will calm down soon. Just... try to keep the Machina hidden, all right?"

Irvine nodded as he slipped the weapon under his long coat.

"Good. Now if there are no more interruptions, Yuna needs to prepare for the sending." Lulu looked at Yuna, and Yuna nodded in response.

Selphie blinked as Yuna headed down the walkway towards a place where a bunch of caskets floated. "A sending?"

"It is a ritual, to send departed souls to the Farplane," Lulu explained. "Summoners are taught this ritual to guide them so the souls do not become Fiends later."

Irvine shivered. "Creepy."

Selphie nodded in agreement, as they watched Yuna perform her ceremonial dance, accompanied by the waving of her wand. As she did balls of light floated from the caskets, drifting into the air.

Wakka stood to the side. His expression showed sadness for the situation at hand but he had a hard time looking over at Irvine who flinched under his gaze.

As the ritual neared the end, Selphie wiped tears away from her face. "Man... Yunie must have it tough."

"Yuna chose her own path," Lulu replied. "She knew from the beginning what it meant. All we can do is protect her along the way. Until the end."

"Well, far be it from me to leave a girl like her unprotected," Irvine said, drawing stares from everyone. "I'll accompany ya all."

"And why would we accept help from you?" Wakka asked coldly.

"Wakka... at least give Irvine a chance to make his case," Selphie pleaded. "Is it really his fault that the village was destroyed? Besides, I fought with him. You can trust him."

Wakka softened a bit. "All right. But the first sign of trouble, and he's gone."

"Ok... now that we are all gathered here, it's time that we hear your stories. It obvious now that your are not just around here, but far from the ordinary."

The summoner, her guardians, and the two lost SeeDs were in a room that wasn't destroyed in the attack, and all eyes were on the two SeeDs.

Irvine did his best not to fidget under the stares of the group as he sat down, doffing his hat to the side. "So... where to begin?"

"At the beginning would be nice," Lulu said, smoothing out her leather belt skirt.

"Well... ok. My name's Irvine Kinneas, and you people already met Selphie. We are both SeeDs, a highly trained mercenary force formed by Garden," Irvine began. "But I'm sure Selphie told you that already."

"Go on," Yuna prompted.

"Well, we're sent out on missions and stuff for money and things like that," Irvine continued, "and along the way, we use various mecha to get across the continents..."

"Irvine," Lulu interrupted. "We don't need to know how you traveled around. We need to know about your abilities. Were you trained in them in Garden?"

"Oh right. Well, yeah, everyone is trained in weapons and abilities and stuff like that. Everyone is taught how to draw, stock, cast and junction para-magic, and those with Guardian Forces can refine those abilities into true combative forces. Speaking of which, Seffie, can I have my GF's back now?"

"Sure." With that she pulled out the GFs that belonged to Irvine, and returned them to him. Brothers, Leviathan and Siren flashed into existence in her hands.

What the others saw in the exchange was a pair of crystals that appeared in Selphie's hands, which then she handed over to Irvine. Upon grasping them, the crystals disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" Wakka asked, peering at their hands, trying to figure out if they hid them somehow.

Irvine tapped his temple. "In here. The silver orbs you see are merely physical representations of the Guardian Force itself in the most basic state. These things now are literally in our minds."

Wakka looked the most uncomfortable with the idea of living beings sharing one's mind while Lulu nodded, Yuna watched Selphie and Kimahri sat, silent and watchful.

"These Guardian Forces... they are very much like the Aeons, aren't they?" Yuna asked. "You can summon them."

"Yes, but they don't stick around too long," Selphie said, feeling a peculiar itch in the back of her head, a sensation she reminded herself, that she had been junctioned with too many GF's for a long time. "They appear and blow the heck out of whatever we direct them to. Of course, it could take a while, depending on your compatibility with the Guardian Force. That's why you saw my GF disappeared just shortly after it attacked Sin."

Irvine suddenly doubled over, his face screwed up in laughter. "Oh man," he managed after a moment as everyone looked at him weird. "Remember when Zell tried to summon Shiva after using Ifrit for too long, and she was SO jealous that she took a half an hour to get there, and when she did, she appeared and blew the heck out of Headmaster Cid's office during our briefing?"

"Irvine..." Selphie hushed. "Now's not the time."

Irvine shook off the chuckles as he straightened up. "Sorry. You just HAD to be there."

"What's this Compatibility?" Wakka asked, for once, genuinely interested in the conversation.

"Compatibility is how well a GF likes you," Irvine explained. "I'm best with Brothers, an Earth type GF. The better the computability, the quicker the GF's will come to your aid. Of course summon one GF too many times and a compatibility for another GF drops. Except for some reason when we use Eden, our Compatibility rises with other GF's."

"Well... that's not going to be a problem with the Aeons here," Wakka remarked. "She summon, they come."

Yuna blushed. "It's a little more complicated than that. You have to reach and call for them, but it does come instinctively. Then, you have to make sure they are willing to help."

"Speaking of which, where do they come from?" Selphie asked. "At least I know that mine are in my head."

"They're the Fayth," Yuna answered. "Spirits who willingly gave up their lives to become guardians. I have to pray for their guidance and help for them to come to me for aid."

"Geez... you make it sound so... religious..." Irvine quipped, earning another glare from Wakka.

"It IS religious," Wakka ground out as Irvine backed up a bit. "The summons are the blessings of Yevon."

"And who's this Yevon guy?" Irvine asked.

"Yevon is our religion center. Yevon is the one who told us that the use of machina a thousand years ago resulted in the birth of Sin, and that for a thousand years we still suffer from it." Wakka's expression was stormy and he folded his arms in what seemed to be an intimidating pose.

Irvine swallowed hard and made a note not to let Wakka see the inside of his coat. After all, it was made so that he could carry parts, ammo and a hell of a lot of stuff for his Rifle.

"And as far I can tell Sin destroyed the Gardens a thousand years ago for that reason, which brings me to my next question. If what you're staying is the truth, how did you get here, and are there more of you we should know about?"

"Well, there's a few others who were sucked up into that weird water ball," Selphie said.

"And I guess that thing must have sent us to different times." Selphie then turned to Yuna. "Yuna, when did your father meet this Sir Squall?"

"Ten years ago, before my father went on his Pilgrimage." Yuna answered.

"Ten years?" The pair looked at each other. "Looks like he might not be around anymore," Selphie said, worried.

"If it IS Squall, he'll be harder to kill than a cockroach," Irvine assured her.

"So... what you're saying now that you might be from a different time?" Lulu prompted. "Do you really believe that?"

"There's two of us, and we both claim it, Lulu," Selphie said with a sigh. "We couldn't be BOTH crazy."

"And to us, the idea isn't farfetched and all, considering what be been through with Ultimecia and all," added Irvine.

"Ulti who?" Wakka asked. "Who's that, ya?"

"Four words. Evil, crazy, powerful, sorceress." Selphie answered. "She had this crazy plan to compress time."

"Wait a second," Yuna said. "She wanted to compress time?"

"Yeah, pulled it off too somewhat," Irvine said, rubbing his neck in memory. "It was quite a challenge, fighting her off."

"We had to do it anyhow. It was the real job of the SeeDs."

"Real job? What, it wasn't mercenary work?" inquired Lulu.

Selphie shook her head. "Garden was founded to fight the Sorceresses. Headmaster Cid and Sorceress Edea founded it and several other Gardens in case a malevolent Sorceress arose to do the whole world conquering bit. Mercenary work serves as a way to finance ourselves and as more training for the eventual battle."

"That makes sense... kind of," Yuna said, looking uncertain of the outcome of the whole situation.

"It's getting late," Lulu interjected. "Yuna, Selphie, let us turn in. We will head to the Kilika Temple tomorrow morning. You three can stay in the other room."

"What, with him!" Wakka exclaimed hotly, shooting a look at Irvine.

"Wakka... please..." Yuna added. "I'm sure he doesn't intend to cause trouble."

"Fine," Wakka growled. "But at the first sign of trouble, and I take no responsibility for my actions." With that, Wakka stomped into the bedroom, followed by Kimahri who shot a look that was a cross between pity and understanding at Irvine who entered last.

"Oh... damn that hurts." Zell shook his head as he began to regain consciousness. "Man... Selphie's going to owe me a weeks worth of hot dogs after this."

"Hey," a voice said as a strong hand grasped his own, pulling him to a sitting position. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Zell replied, his eyes focusing on the one before him. He was dressed oddly in yellow and blue with a heart shaped necklace, earring of the same style and his hair was blonde and wild with an oriental styling to his features.

"Well that's good to know. So," the other man stated, sizing Zell up. "you're not from around here? I sure don't recognize you on campus."

Zell stood up, massaging a crick in his neck. "I'm from Balamb Garden," he said, wincing as his bones popped into place.

"Balamb Garden? I never heard of that one," the other man responded. "Except in the history books maybe."

Zell paused at that. "History Books?" He then noticed the place around him. A small sandbar with a towering city reminiscent of Esthar before him. "Where the hell am I!"

"You must either had hit your head very hard, or come from a very remote place of the world," answered the other man, "because that's Zanarkand, the city everyone knows."

"Zanarkand?" Zell shook his head as a dizzy spell erupted, clouding his senses as he wobbled.

"Looks like the former. Here, I'll lead you in." The other man gave his hand, which Zell then quickly took.

Zell quickly found himself laying on a table as a woman who reminded him of the Doc back in Balamb Garden ran some sort of flashing rod over his body. "You're lucky to be alive, after washing up on the shore," she said, clucking her tongue.

"I guess so doc," Zell said, still a bit out of it. "Didn't seem that Selphie would conjure up something so dangerous."

"A friend of yours?" she asked, putting the rod away and pulling out what looked like a large staple gun. She pressed it to his shoulder and a quick hiss later, Zell felt the pain recede from his head.

"I had this weird dream..." Zell continued, not paying attention to the doctor's question. "Thought I wash up on some place called Zanark...whatever."

"Zanarkand, and you're lying in Zanarkand Garden's Infirmary," she corrected lightly. "Not every day someone receives a head knock that scrambles their minds."

"Waaaaaa?" Zell quickly got up, turning to the doctor.

The doctor looked at him curiously as she put down a scanner. "You're in perfect health. Beyond that. Are you a Blitzball player or a SeeD?"

Zell didn't answer, his mind still processing what was said to him.

'What the hell is going on here? Am I still dreaming?' Zell thought to himself. 'That has to be it. It's the only logical explanation.'

The door swished open at that moment, revealing the young man who had helped him off the beach. "Hey, you feeling better now?" he asked cheerfully.

Zell sat up, blinking and rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"That's good." The young man walked up to him. "Well I better get you to the Headmaster's office. Apparently someone up there wants to see you."

Zell nodded absently. 'Cid'll help out. He always does.' "Lead the way... er..."

"Tidus," Tidus said, helping Zell to his feet. "And you are?"

"Zell," Zell replied.

'Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.' he repeated in his head, as Tidus led him to the elevator. Zell was confused. Very confused. Sure it had the designs of his Garden, but it wasn't his Garden.

It was... bigger for a lack of a word with unfamiliar people running around. The place was made out of polished marble, steel and some other materials he couldn't identify. There was definitely a training center but with a little more security, and when he looked out at where the Quad was supposed to be, he found there was a open air gym of some kind.

'Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.' he repeated in his head, as Tidus led him to the elevator.

The elevator opened and closed with them in it, as Tidus hummed along to the elevator music which was Julia's Eyes on Me.

The elevator went up and up, and Zell swore there was more than three levels as it stopped. A woman who reminded him of Xu stood at the doors. "The headmaster will see you now."

"So we're headed to Kilika Temple today?" Selphie asked through a mouthful of eggs.

Kimahri grunted an affirmative as Lulu picked at her food. "We have to head through the jungle first, up the flights of stairs at the other side and then Yuna will have to go through the cloister of trials to reach the chamber of the fayth."

"Ahhh..." Selphie nodded in affirmative. "So what will Irvy and I do then when we're there?"

"You two can wait outside for us, look around. Kilika Temple is a really gorgeous place," Wakka replied.

"Just remember this time, only Guardians can accompany the Summoner, ok?"

Selphie sighed. "I learned my lesson, okay?"

Wakka just nodded in response, and returned to eating.

"You know," Irvine said slowly, "I could just stay here, help with the reconstruction."

"I doubt that would be a good idea," Wakka put in crossly. "People still blame you for attracting Sin. You come with us, so that way, we can keep an eye on you." It was also apparent that Wakka wasn't going to let the gun toting cowboy out of his sight as well. At least until he reached the temple.

Yuna pushed her plate away. "I'm done," she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Lets be off as soon as everyone's done."

"Besaid Aurochs! Huddle! On to the temple, where we pray for victory!"

"Huzzah!"

Selphie looked in wonder as Wakka gathered his team together before the journey to the temple began. "Hold on," she said. "You pray for victory?"

"Ya," Wakka replied, picking up his blitzball. "It's tradition for Blitzball teams. Besides, the temple we're going to? High Summoner Ohalland used to live there, and he was also a renowned Blitzball player."

"Blitzball really is a part of everyday life," Irvine said, shouldering a small pack of food for the trip. "I'm amazed so many people love to play this game."

"Not only that, it's what keeps everyone strong, you know?" Wakka ranted. "The players fight with all their strength: the fans cheer for their favorite team. They forget pain, suffering... Only the game matters! That's why Blitz has been around for so long. Least that's what I think."

Selphie shrugged. All she wanted to know how he could think of Blitzball at the time like this.

The jungle was hot and dense, but fortunately, people had made paths through the jungle with the constant travels between Kilika and the Kilika Temple. Irvine noticed that there was a distinct lack of bugs on the trail, but a lot of creatures.

Soon enough they reached the stairway leading to the temple entrance. Despite Irving slowing them down by getting his long coat caught on every single branch, vine and bush, they made it. Wakka's temper had not eased in the time previous and was ready to rip the jacket off the cowboy and toss it into the river.

"Up these stairs is the Kilika Temple," Lulu said, looking upwards. "We should reach there in record time, as long there are no..."

"SINSPAWN!"

"...disruptions." Lulu finished.

"Quickly... up the stairs everyone!" Wakka called out.

Sitting imbedded in the walkway about halfway up was a creature with an enormous head and two large tentacles on either side. It opened up it's mouth and foul gas escaped from it. Lulu covered her mouth, wrinkling her nose at the smell. "Take it down." She raised her hand and pointed with a cry of "Thunder!"

While the electrical spell cracked on the main body, Kimahri thrust his spear into one of the tentacles, ripping a good chunk out of the meaty flesh.

Wakka slammed his Blitzball into a Tentacle, the tentacles snapping with a crack, but it quickly regrew. "This isn't good. It regrows it's appendages!"

"Let me help!" Before anyone could shout a 'no', Irvine had pulled out his gun, and glowed with energy as he loaded his weapon. "Chew on this!" An incredible Armor Piercing Bullet lanced out, and drove right through the Sinspawn's brain, killing it with a shower of dark green blood. The Sinspawn groaned as it vanished into a flood of spirits.

"What are you doing!" Wakka exclaimed, finally regaining his voice. "You could attract more spawn with that kinda display!"

"I did what I had to do," Irvine snapped back, holstering his rifle. "People could die. I just took it out as fast as possible, without any preamble. If you're so down on me helping people not get killed, then I won't draw this gun again."

The electricity crackled in the air as Wakka and Irvine stared each other down. Surprisingly, Wakka was the first one to avert his eyes as he turned away in a huff. "C'mon, lets get to the temple."

"Thank you," Yuna said to him quietly as the group proceeded up the remaining stairs to where a few people that were there greeted Yuna and her entourage.

As they were being congratulated for their success against the Sinspawn that had been blocking and threatening people, a trio of people came out of the temple doors. They were well muscled, but lean like swimmers. And they were wearing colors in similar patterns. The leader, had an arrogant smirk on his face. Wakka tensed, and Selphie immediately determined that she didn't like the newcomers for some reason.

"Well well, if it isn't the Besaid Aurochs," the leader said snidely. "Gonna pray for victory? Or are you going to 'do your best' again?"

Wakka barely restrained a furious snarl as Selphie stepped in front of the young man, glaring into his face. "What do you know? We're praying to WIN."

"To win? Now THAT'S something your team will never do," the second of the three sneered.

"So? What were you praying for?" Wakka baited. "Not praying for victory as well, are you?"

The third one made a snorting sound. "Hardly. We were praying for some decent competition."

"C'mon," the leader said, brushing past them. "We've got places to go."

Wakka growled angrily at the way they were being treated, but couldn't think of a better retort than "See you in the finals!"

"Boy, who shoved the sticks up their asses and twisted?" Irvine snorted.

Wakka chuckled. "Now that, I can agree on." He then sighed as the small group headed into the temple where Wakka started to pray to one of the summoners, Yuna and Lulu stood to the side while Kimahri just folded his arms and waited.

"What are we waiting around for?" Irvine asked Lulu who looked at him.

"Yuna must prepare herself mentally for the Trials," Lulu replied coolly. "Or the strain of praying to the fayth could break her mind."

"So... Yunie could be driven insane?" Selphie asked, not liking the idea of the young girl being locked away in an asylum for deranged summoners.

"That is the worst case scenario," Lulu said, her tone not changing. "But, it is her choice. All we can do, is protect her on the way to the end."

"The... end?" Irvine asked, not liking the finality of the words.

"When I defeat Sin," Yuna said. The words were so final. Selphie shivered at them. The thought of beating something like Sin was incredible, but it carried such a sadness within it.

Irvine sat down on a nearby platform and said, "The way you say it... it's not final, is it?"

"Sadly, it is not," Lulu said, shaking her head.

Wakka walked over, done praying with his team. His face was grim, but it carried a spark of courage and faith in it. "Summoners defeat Sin. We do not know how, but the secret lies in Zanarkand. Defeating Sin brings upon a ten year Calm."

"The Calm?" Selphie asked.

"It's a time of peace when Sin is defeated, and will not return until ten years after it's defeat." Yuna clutched a strange ring around her neck. "I will defeat Sin. But... I will make it last. No more ten years of nervous peace."

The gesture was so Rinoa like that Selphie wanted to hug Yuna. But she figured it would be better to hug her later, away from everyone. Just then, the doors to the Cloister of Trials cracked open as a tall, bronzed woman stepped out. She was lovely, with sharp angles to her face, and had black hair. Behind her was a heavily muscled man who looked intelligent enough, not like some of the brainless bodyguards that Irvine and Selphie had seen around some high profile leaders in their time.

The woman walked right up to Yuna, looked her in the eye and said, "A Summoner are you? My, they certainly get younger as the years past by."

"My name is Yuna," Yuna said, sounding as polite as she could against the woman's brash and measured exterior and demeanor. "I come from the Island of Besaid."

"Well well... High Summoner Braska's Daughter, now is it?" The woman had a half sneer on her face. Irvine, though he rarely hit women, he was seriously considering adding her to his "Must Punch Later" list. "I am Dona. And are all of these your Guardians?"

"Yes," Yuna replied. "They are all my friends from Besaid."

"Except him," Wakka muttered, low enough for everyone to hear. Irvine's eyes flashed angrily but Selphie rammed an elbow into Wakka's gut.

Wakka doubled over, coughing as Selphie put on a sweet smile. "Don't mind him, he just gets some pains and coughing fits. RIGHT, Wakka?" She ground her boot into his sandaled feet as he muttered, "Yeah, that's right."

Dona merely chuckled. "Some friends you have here. Quantity over Quality I suppose. Well, I will take my leave." She passed them by, only to pause at Irvine who met her gaze. "You are the machina wielder, are you not?"

Irvine made an uncomfortable sound as Dona made a short haughty laugh and stalked away.

As Wakka recovered from his coughing fit, Irvine snorted and remarked, "Man, there is one woman I'd like to floor someday."

"Floor a Summoner?" Lulu asked, raising an eyebrow. "I did not realize that you had been so quickly taken by the 'charming' woman." Selphie stifled a snicker as Yuna blinked. Kimahri did not betray any emotion, and Wakka was making no pretense to hide his howls of laughter.

"WHAT?" Irvine exclaimed, waving his hands. "I didn't mean floor like that, I meant... aw forget it!" The gunman sat down to sulk as Wakka collapsed in helpless laughter.

"We should go, the Cloister is waiting." Yuna picked up her staff as Wakka recovered. Selphie hung back from the group as they went into the doors.

The pair watched them go into the room. Irvine turned to Selphie after a minute. "Aren't we following them?"

"Can't," Selphie said. "They kinda frown on that, being not a Summoner or a Guardian and entering the trials. It's kinda taboo."

"Weird customs," Irvine remarked, fiddling with his gun. He then stopped as people started to give him nasty looks. "Man, I'll be glad when we get to a place that doesn't mind guns."

"You two are not going in?" The pair turned to see Dona standing there, Barthello standing behind her like an stone titan.

"We're just friends," Selphie said, feeling self conscious under the womans' hard gaze.

"Interesting. A Summoner friends with a strange young girl, and a man carrying forbidden machina. Almost if she was deliberately bringing Sin, daunting him."

"Hey, that's not true!" Irvine insisted hotly. "This Sin thing comes and goes as it pleases! It's like a force of nature!" He dimly noticed people gathering around them, some of them looking upset that a Summoner had brought in a man carrying forbidden machina.

"Well then, I guess then it's not your fault that the village was almost destroyed and you just HAPPENED to be here." The more biting accusations started to stir up the people around them who were nodding and some were muttering.

"I'm sure the priests will toss you both out when they take a look at that machina you carry under your coat." Selphie scowled at her as Dona flipped open Irvine's jacket to reveal layers upon layers of parts, ammo and one big shiny gun.

The stirred up crowd went from upset to Angry Mob in a heartbeat as they started yelling. Selphie, making her best option, grabbed Irvine, shouting, "Tactical Retreat!" They leapt up the stairs and slammed the Cloister doors behind them.

Barthello wore a look on his face. Normally, the large man would not disagree with his Summoner, but he then said, "That was uncalled for, my lady."

"Nonsense," Dona said, smiling as she chuckled into her hand. "They will survive. Besides, I enjoyed it."