Chapter 2: We're not in Kansas Anymore
The next morning, Miranda was busily cleaning her room, though there really much to clean. Satisfied that everything was in order, she went downstairs and hooked the PlayStation to the big screen TV. Her parents had left for work already, so she was the only one home at the moment. One of those two should be here soon, she thought. As if on cue, she heard the door bell and quickly went to the door. Being that doors were mostly of glass, she saw Chris waving to his dad. She opened the door and smiled.
He smiled back. "Hey! Hope I'm not too early."
Miranda shook her head smiling. "You're not. I was just hooking the PlayStation up to another TV."
"Aaaah," he said nodding.
"You want a quick tour of the house?"
He shrugged. "Sure."
She did a quick tour around the house. He gawked a the big screen TV in the living room. "That's the TV you hooked up the PlayStation?"
Miranda nodded, trying to keep a straight face. "Yea, but we're going to get a bigger one sometime soon."
He looked at her incredulously. "You've got to be kidding!"
She smiled. "You got that right. There's no way mom would want another big TV."
They walked into the kitchen and they sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Chris grabbed an apple and began munching away."
"Did your mother ever tell you to ask first?" Miranda said.
"Oops…uh…can I please have this apple?"
Miranda chuckled. "Well I doubt my family would want it back after you've eaten half of it already! You're always hungry."
Chris shrugged. "I'm a growing boy."
She smiled wryly at him. "Uh huh…" She then heard the door bell ring. "I wonder who that could be…most likely Kristin," she said pretending she didn't know.
"Kristin was that junior with you yesterday right?" Chris asked thoughtfully.
"Yep. She's also my best friend. Strange isn't it?"
"Nope. Don't see anything wrong with that."
The door bell rang again, this time with a chain of rings after it.
Miranda sighed. "Better get it before she breaks it, again."
Chris looked at her puzzled. "Again?"
Miranda laughed. "Yep. One time she came and I was home alone. I was listening to some CDs and didn't hear her ring the door bell. It was 10 minutes before I heard it and by that time the door bell was making a weird sound. She pushed it way too much."
Chris laughed. "Well better get it then. Don't want that to happen again."
Miranda walked out of the kitchen with Chris behind her. She opened the door to see an apprehensive looking Kristin.
"I didn't break it did I?" Kristin asked worriedly.
They laughed. "Naw, it's fine," Miranda said letting Kristin in. Kristin finally noticed Chris leaning against the staircase and smiled.
"Hey. Chris right?"
"Last time I checked."
Kristin laughed. "A funny one, eh? Hm…I think I know someone your type…" She glanced slyly at Miranda.
Miranda shoved them to the living room, glad Chris didn't see the glance. "Come on, we're not here to sit and chat. Besides, I'm not good at that."
They walked into the living room and Kristin plopped onto the couch. Miranda put the disc in and sat on the floor.
"Alright lets see what we got here," Chris said as he sat beside her.
They played for a few hours, with Chris yelling out where she should go and scolding her for not doing this sooner. Kristin laughed, enjoying watching them.
"Be glad there aren't any chairs to tie you to with, Miranda," Kristin said.
Miranda smiled wryly at her. "Like I needed to forced?"
After a while, they went into the kitchen to get a snack.
"So what do you got, Miranda?" Kristin asked.
Miranda looked around the pantry and the refrigerator to see what she could come up with. "Nothing really. Mom's going to do the grocery shopping after work. You can have anything you want, I guess. I'm not that hungry."
Chris shrugged. "Fine with me."
They picked out what they wanted to much on (munch…I like that word ^^) and surrounded the island.
"Do you think we can work on my game?" Kristin asked after a few minutes.
"Sure. Chris could help too. He's played it a bunch of times," Miranda replied.
"Alright!" Kristin bolted to the living room and got the game ready.
Miranda shook her head smiling. "She just wants to see Kuja."
Chris laughed. "I can't see why."
"Me neither, but we'd better get there."
They quickly went to the living room and helped Kristin through the game. After an hour or so, Miranda began to feel uncomfortable. What am I feeling? she asked herself. I feel this strange energy of some kind coming from the console…
She snapped back to reality when she noticed the room swirling again. Kristin was in total shock. "It's happening again!" she yelled.
This time the ground started shaking. Miranda tried to get to the game and turn it off but she was flung back by some burst of energy. Chris caught her and Kristin hurried to them, trying to keep her balance.
"Is this what happened last time?!" Chris yelled so he could be heard.
"It wasn't this bad last time!" Kristin yelled back. "The ground wasn't shaking and Miranda was able to turn it off last time!"
By now Miranda had regained consciousness and was trying to figure out what to do. "There's gotta be something to stop this! If it keeps going the whole house will fall apart!"
Kristin suddenly noticed the ground disappear. "Speaking of falling, looks like we're going to soooooooooon!"
No sooner had she finished, they felt themselves plummeting down a dark swirling abyss screaming. What seemed like forever, they finally saw where they were falling to. Miranda could not believe her eyes. Though small, she could make out a castle with a large crystal on it. No way, this couldn't be…she thought not believing what she had seen.
"We're gonna die!!" Kristin cried.
They fell closer to the ground, preparing for the inevitable impact. At the speed they were falling, crashing into the hard ground and surviving was impossible. But, instead of crashing into the ground, they found themselves floating a fraction of an inch from the ground. They slowly opened their eyes realizing they weren't dead but very well alive.
"Wha-what happened?" Miranda said still floating.
"I don't know," Chris said equally dumbstruck.
"I'll tell you what happened. I saved your life!" a young voice told them.
The trio looked toward their rescuer and stared at her with open mouths.
"Well don't just float there gawking at me! Don't you know how to treat a lady?" the six-year old told them.
"Y-y-y-you're," Kristin stammered.
"E-e-e-eiko," Miranda finally said.
"T-t-t-that's impossible!" Chris exclaimed.
Eiko looked at them strangely. "How did you know my name? And how could it impossible?" She shrugged. "You guys look weird. Oh, and you're probably tired of floating." She gently dropped them to the ground standing. "Lucky I was out exploring some. All of the sudden, I see three screaming objects come hurtling down."
Miranda, finally regaining from the shock bowed politely to Eiko. "Thank you for saving us. We're very grateful you did."
Eiko smiled. "No biggie. I can tell I'm going to like you. Well, you know my name, but I don't know yours. So, what are they?"
Miranda introduced herself and Chris and Kristin. They each smiled and said hi. Eiko smiled at them in return and turned back to Miranda. "So where are you from?"
"Earth," Miranda replied.
"Earth?" Eiko repeated. "I thought that was what you called the ground…well, you guys could get some rest. It's getting late anyway. Monsters come out then. Come on!" she yelled back as she ran ahead toward Alexandria Castle.
"So I was right," Miranda said softly as she followed Eiko. "I did see Alexandria Castle when we were falling."
Chris walked beside her. "I thought so too. The sunlight reflected from the crystal was what caught my attention."
Kristin quickly joined them and walked on the other side of Miranda. "I never dreamed this would happen! What will our parents say when they find out we're not on Earth anymore? And what will your parents think when they see the house trashed, Miranda?"
Miranda thought for a moment before replying. "Well I've read and seen enough mangas and anime to know that when the characters go to a different dimension, the time on Earth never really changed. They would return the moment after they left." She shrugged. "Maybe it will be the same here."
Chris looked around the forest and the mountains surrounding Alexandria. "It's nothing like I imagined. It's different the game in size and stuff. It's bigger and more real…"
"Well duh it would be more real. This is the real dimension of Final Fantasy IX," Kristin said.
Miranda looked around happily. "It's a dream come true! I've always wanted to see what it would be like to live like them." She sighed. "Maybe we can learn magic and stuff."
Kristin looked at her warily. "Are you alright? You sure you didn't knock her head on the ground?
Chris grinned slyly at Kristin. "Who knows? Maybe Kuja is around here…"
Kristin eyes lit up and looked around quickly. "Kuja?! Where?!'
Miranda and Chris laughed at Kristin as they approached the gates of Alexandria. "How are you sure that Kuja lived though?" Chris asked.
Kristin wailed. "No!! He has to be alive! It didn't really say he died!"
Miranda shook her head smiling. "You're right, though. Who knows? Only one way to find out."
Eiko had told the guards of their arrival and ran back to the group. "Come on! I'm sure you'd like to see everyone!" she said pulling Miranda into the gates.
Miranda laughed as she let herself be pulled along.
Chris looked after her and said aloud, "I've never seen her so happy."
"Neither have I," Kristin said following them. "There's still a lot I don't know about her. Even after all these years."
"Every time you see her you see something different," he said.
"Hurry up you two!" Miranda called behind her laughing. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can see everyone!"
They ran after them to catch up, not wanted to be lost among the crowd of Alexandrians bustling in the streets. Chris and Kristin caught up with them and walked beside them trying to catch their breath. Eiko was telling Miranda all the upcoming events.
"Zidane and Garnet are going to get married soon!" Eiko said excitedly.
"Awesome!" Miranda exclaimed. "I hope we get to see it!"
They climbed into the gondola that took people to the castle and the city. Miranda listened to Eiko with rapt attention as she continued to tell them everything that was going on. They arrived to the castle in a few minutes and they exited the gondola, Eiko still talking.
The trio gasped at the grandeur of the castle that stood a few feet before them. They craned their necks back to see how far they could see. Eiko waited patiently in the doorway as they looked at the castle. "If you think the outside is cool, check out the inside!"
Indeed, the inside of the castle gave every hint of royalty. Paintings, tapestries, busts, statues, you name it. Eiko bounded up the stairs motioning them to follow. "You'll get to see the whole castle soon. I think you'd like to meet everyone first. Luckily for you, everyone came here to celebrate Zidane's and Garnet's upcoming wedding."
Kristin gasped in delight when she saw a little black mage coming toward them. "Vivi!" she cried and ran up and hugged him, lifting up the startled little mage from the ground.
Miranda almost fell down from laughing so hard. Chris was having a hard time himself trying not to fall down the floor. Vivi was struggling to get free of Kristin, thinking she was trying to squeeze him to death.
"H-help me!" he cried.
"Ahaha, Kristin, whooahahahha, let him go, hahahaha!" Miranda cried laughing.
Kristin realized what she was doing and put the little mage down gently, straightening his hat. "Sorry Vivi, but you look so huggable!"
Vivi looked at Kristin and, if he had a mouth, smiled. "It's alright. I hear that all the time. Though, how did you know my name?" he asked curiously.
Kristin looked at him mysteriously. "I know a lot of things about you, Vivi. I know a lot about your friends, too."
Vivi looked at her amazed. "Wow! Can you tell fortunes, too?"
Kristin laughed. "No, I'm not that great." She stopped when she saw someone standing at the top of the steps watching them. She couldn't believe who she saw.
Miranda, finally having stopped herself from laughing, went to Kristin wondering what her friend was staring at. Chris followed her and stood beside them looking at Miranda questioningly. Miranda smiled and patted Kristin on the back. "Well, Kristin, looks your wish as been granted."
Kristin continued to stare dumbly at the handsome, silver haired man coming down the stairs (gaah! That took me some concentration there!). Eiko ran up to him and hugged him. "Hey Uncle Kuja! Looked who I found!"
Kuja took Kristin's hand and kissed it. "Welcome to Alexandria! You don't seem to be from around here."
"Nope! They're from a planet called Earth," Eiko told him.
"Well you have traveled far then, my friends. You must be tired and hungry. I'll tell Zidane that you have arrived." He quickly went up the steps and disappeared down a corridor as Kristin kept staring dumbly at her hand.
"Kristin? Kriiiisten?" Miranda said waving her hand in front of her friend's face.
"Are you alright Ms. Kristin?" Vivi asked worriedly.
Kristin finally snapped back to reality and blushed deep red. "What? Oh…I'm fine really."
Miranda snickered. "Yea, and red as a lobster."
Kristin turned and glared at Miranda for a moment before turning to Eiko. "So where should we wait?"
Eiko looked around. "Hm…well you can sit on those chairs right there and we'll stay with you to keep you company," she said and sat on a chair.
Chris shrugged. "Sounds good."
Miranda sat in one and blushed a little when Chris sat next to her. Kristin sat on the other side with Vivi sitting on her lap.
Eiko continued talking until Miranda fell asleep on Chris's shoulder, tired from the long trip. Chris looked startled when he realized Miranda was sound asleep on his shoulder, but smiled. He took great care not to disturb her knowing she need her rest. They continued waiting patiently, excited to meet their favorite characters at last.
Author's Note: Well, I told you some FF9 characters would show up. Doing this in novel form makes me imagine the characters as real than in script form. Well, I hope you're liking it. It was hard for me to figure out when to end this chapter, so I just ended it before it got too long. I'm having fun humiliating my friend, hehehe…. . don't tell her that! Wait, she's going to read that when she proofs this since she is in the story…. Anywho…keep reviewing and stay tune for Chapter 3.