"Dimensional Whiplash"
By Aleenia Rheese

Chapter Four - Who Are You?

In Cloud's World...

A man rushed into Neo-Seventh Heaven. His eyes were wide, and his face pale. "I need help! I found a young man on the side of the road, unconscious! He looks ill! Is there anyone here with Restore Materia?" Tifa nodded, and followed him out the door.

The man (or boy, actually) woke about an hour later. He put a hand to his head, symbolizing a headache. Tifa raised her hand, and said "Cure!" The boy shied back, and his eyes grew wide. Then he stared blankly, mouth slack. Cid walked forward, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Okay, how did you come to be passed out on the road, kid?" he asked, face stern. The boy just sat and stared at Cid blankly. Then suddenly, he jumped up, eyes wide, a very fearful expression on his face. Then he suddenly changed from fearful to angry. He grabbed Cid by his blue leather flying jacket.

"Where the hell am I, and what did you do to my sister?!" he shouted.

Cid shoved him back and he took up a fighting stance. Tifa noted his clothes: a red baseball cap covered sandy hair and shaded flashing brown eyes. His shirt was a regular black T-shirt with cute white printing that read "Lord, Give Me The Strength To Put Up With All The People Who Are Going To Piss Me Off Today" on the back. His shorts were blue denim, with fashionably tattered and thread-bare ends.

Tifa came front and center. She put on her best 'Don't screw with me' face. "Now, knock that off! You were found on the side of the west road to Shin-Midgar. Alone. There was nobody with you! And to answer you, you're in Neo-Seventh Heaven, in 'Midgar."

He stared at her, a blank expression back on his face. Then he spoke.

"Oh, shit, what have I done?"

*****

In Terra's world...

It had been an eventful night at Figaro Castle. Reminiscing, laughing, and playing reigned supreme. Here is the conversation that took place at dinner:

Edgar: Ah, how good it is to have my friends with me once more! The Returners are once again together!
Locke: Yeah!
Cyan: Indeed!
Sabin: Hear hear!
Celes and Terra and Relm: (Giggling)
Shadow: What's so funny?
Relm: None of your business!
Celes: Just some simple... ah... girl talk!
Mog: Pass the chocolate!
Setzer: Pass the wine!
Terra: You men and your alcohol!
Edgar: Well, without wine there can be no toast! To Terra, to Celes, and to Relm, three lovely and brave young women!
All the men: To the ladies!!
(Terra stands)
Terra: And to all you men who put up with us!
All: (Laughter)Edgar: Actually, you're very easy to put up with, Terra.
(No one hears him; Terra's on the other side of the long, rectangular table. They continue their meal, and talk about old times until three a.m.)

Sabin, being used to little sleep, woke at dawn. He creeped silently out of his room. He was going outside to practice his various Blitz moves. He was having trouble controlling his Aurabolt. He reached one of the outer side doors without seeing anyone else. He began to swing the door open, but there was something blocking its path. He shoved, and was able to push the door open enough to let him slip his great muscled bulk out.

What he found shocked him. A young woman with dark, brown-blond hair tightly braided lay unconscious in the sand by the small metal door. It was she that was blocking the door's path. Her long white coat, white shirt, and blue tight-fitting denim pants were dusted with sand.
Her light skin wasn't burned, so she hadn't been out too long, but the big man was still worried. He knew he had to get her inside, so he lifted the girl - although she was tall, she was remarkably light - and carried her into Figaro Castle.

He set her on a chair in the main hall, then ran to get Terra. Although he knew a healing spell (Cures One, Two, and Three), he wanted to leave it to a woman. After all, women were better with such things. He ran to Terra's room, waking up a few people and startling a few guards along the way.
Pounding on Terra's door, he called, "Terra! Terra! Wake up! Some girl was lying outside, half dead!"
By now, the half-Esper was awake, and following him down the hallways to the main hall. Sabin had also woken Locke, Celes, Shadow, and Mog. A servant ran to get King Edgar.

Terra knelt next to the girl. She had slumped forward, and was about to slide off the chair. Locke helped Sabin hold the girl upright as Terra chanted the spell. A simple Cure spell, so it didn't take long to begin the healing process. A green light blossomed above the 'sleeping' woman, and rained down in shimmering sparkles.

The Cure had no effect. So Terra tried Wake. That did work, and the young woman roused.
"Uhhhhn..." She groaned and lifted a hand to her forehead. She then leapt to her feet, green dark eyes wide. She looked around the hall, and then at the motley group of people. When her eyes flitted to Mog, she gasped and jumped back, nearly tripping over the chair.

Edgar had arrived when Terra was composing the Wake spell. "Um, please calm down, Miss. Mog didn't mean to frighten you!" Her chocolate-colored eyes went to the young king, whose handsome features had become hardened by stress of war. As were all of their faces, after stopping a second War of the Magi.

"Wh-where a-am I? Where is m-my brother?" she asked in a voice that was thick with fear. She spun around, taking in the sight of the marble walls of the castle. "Um, I was wondering," she started, her voice stronger, "who are you?"

"We should be asking you that!" Mog stated. He had obviously been offended by her reaction to him. The girl's mouth became drawn into a tight line. She glared at the moogle, then sighed.

"Okay, I see a bunch of people, and a... type of 'person' I definitely have never seen before, and an odd building which appears to be the inside of a fortress or castle or something." She began to rub her temples to help ease the building pressure of a tension headache. "But what I do not see is my brother, Samuel. I just want to know where I am..." The last of this was muffled by her hands as she rested her face in her palms.

Terra stepped towards the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, no one will hurt you, as Edgar," she nodded her head in the King's direction, "said. My name is Terra Branford. What is your name?" she asked pleasantly.

The girl looked at the strange, aqua-haired girl. Just looking at the kind expression Terra wore made her feel better. "My name is Aleenia Rheese. My friends call me Alie. I'd like to know how I got here, if you would be so kind as to tell me?"

The big man spoke up, saying, "I was heading out to the desert and found you knocked out in the sand, just outside the Castle. My name is Sabin Figaro, and that," he pointed at the other blond man, "is the King of Figaro Castle, my brother Edgar. You're in Figaro Castle now."

Alie's eyes landed again on the King of Figaro and caught him in a large yawn. "I appear to have woken a lot of people up," she said, glancing at all of the servants that had gathered about to see what was going on. She gasped as she realized where she was.

"Oh, dear, Sammy, what have you got us into?" she muttered. "Okay, I think I can explain what's going on..." she winced. "If my head wasn't pounding like a jackhammer!"

Edgar stepped up, yawning again. "We yawn don't have any available rooms for now, but I'm sure Terra can find you a place to rest. Terra, if you would cast Cure on her? Thank you. I need more sleep." The Great King of Figaro lumbered of to his room. All of the Returners stared after him.
"Um, my brother isn't a morning person," Sabin told a wide-eyed Alie appologetically. "He'll be more composed in the late morning," he said as Terra cast another Cure spell on a shocked Aleenia.

"Magic! Where I come from, magic isn't real!" she whispered.

*****

In Alie and Sam's world...

Professor West struggled to figure out how to get the Dimensional Teleporting Device back online so he could call the children back. Chun Li walked in, a worried expression on her lovely face.
"You should rest. I'm sure the kids'll be fine."

"Chun Li, I doubt I can pull them back without recall devices attached to them. When I get this damned machine running, I want you to go after them. Take Cammie and Berk if you must," the professor said. "I'll rest up, then begin building extra recall wrist communicators." I hope we can get them back...

*****

In Cloud's World...

Samuel sat heavily to the floor. "Ohhh, what have I done?" he moaned, rocking back and forth, his head in his hands.

Barret glared down at the boy, his thick brows drawn together on his dark earth-colored skin. "What the hell you awn, kid? Dope? Crack? Meth?"

The kid's head snapped up. "And who the hell are you, Mr. T? Just lay off, jerk! It just so happens I have no idea just where the fuck I am, so lemme alone! And I ain't on drugs, so fuck off!"
Tifa lifted him off the floor roughly. "Watch your mouth, kid, or I'll knock it off of yer face! Now calm down, punk! We brought you in here 'cause we thought you were hurt, but I guess you were just wasted! Now git out!"

He pushed Tifa back, hard enough that she rammed into Barret. "Hey! Keep yer mitts off me, lady!" he screamed. "I'm not wasted! I'm worried about my sister, Alie! Is that okay? Or do you have somethin' against people who care for their kin?" he sneered.

"Now, I ain't never heard of Midgar. I, in fact, doubt I'm anywhere near my house. Mebbe I'll tell ya why, if ya stop beatin' on me! I got a headache as it is!" The boy removed his hat. He began to rub his forehead, all the while keeping his light brown eyes on Tifa, Cid, and Barret.

"Look," Tifa sighed, "I just want to know who you are, and how you got here, okay? Why don't we all," - she gave the two men behind her a meaningful glare - "just calm down. And don't talk that way; there's a ten year old little girl running around."

The boy looked at Tifa, Barret, and Cid, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry. I was being a jerk out of worry for Alie. My name's Samuel H. Rheese. Call me Sam. And you are?"

"Tifa."

"Cid."

"Barret," the three said in unison.

Sam glanced at Tifa. "Say, you got any Advil or somethin'? My head's poundin'." The young woman raised her hand, and a green cloud engulfed Samuel. When it died, he felt - to his vast surprise - refreshed.

"Uh, hey! What was that?" he asked.

"That," Cid said, "was magic, of course! Tifa's wearing a Restore Materia on her gloves. Don't you own any Materia?"

"Uhhhh... what's Materia?"