Chapter Five

Once again, thank you to those who have reviewed.  This *IS* the crossover chapter.  Also, I'm sorry, but this Chapter isn't very funny.  It's more on the serious side.  But hopefully, you'll like it anyway…

Squall, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine all wake up together on the ground. They blink and survey their surroundings, and find themselves in the middle of a street in a dark and grungy city.

Zell: (surprised) Hey, this ain't Winhill. Figured that Ellone woulda sent us someplace like Winhill or Esthar. What the heck does this place have to do with anything?

Quistis: (looks herself over) Hey guys, we're in our own bodies. We aren't anyone else. Isn't that what usually happens?

Squall: Something's wrong…(he looks around and notices many passer-bys walking past them and giving them strange glances. They look odd, their bodies are slightly out of proportion, they have small mouths, pointy noses, and large round eyes)

Irvine: (noticing the natives too) I don't think we're in the right place. This has gotta be a new region or something.

Selphie: Yeah! These people all look weird!!!

Several people walking by give them nasty looks. Quistis clamps a hand over Selphie's mouth and cracks an embarrassed smile. Squall continues to look around, and notes all of the small shops and the paved streets.

Squall: Looks kinda like Deling City.

Irvine: Maybe it's the Deling City of the past.

Quistis: No, there's way too much smog for that. (she points up towards the gray sky) Deling City was never an industrial zone. This place looks really polluted.

Selphie: (so scared she actually hugs Irvine) This is weird. Why would Sir Laguna want us to see this? Is this the past?

Irvine: (so overwhelmed he actually hugs her back) Dunno…

Zell: I just hope they have hot dogs…

Squall: (finally realizes what's wrong) Where's Rinoa?

They all look around. There's no sign of her.

Selphie: Maybe she got sent to the right place…

Quistis: Are you saying that this is the wrong place?

Selphie: (scared) I don't know!!! Usually when we're sent back to the past we become other people, but we're ourselves here. I think Ellone did something wrong.

Irvine: (looks down at her): She did seem kinda drunk..

Squall: I don't care about that! We have to find Rinoa!

Zell: Whoa, man! We don't even know where we are, or even if Rinoa's in the same place.

Quistis: He's got a point, Squall. For all we know, Rinoa could be awake in the library with Laguna and Ellone.

Squall: (desperate) But…

Selphie: (gently holds his arm) C'mon Squall. I'm worried about her too. But we gotta find out where we are first.

Squall: (looks from one face to another, Selphie mouths "Please".) ……ah…okay. In the event that a mission goes wrong…

Irvine: We head for the nearest Garden.

Squall: Right. Now, do you see anyplace that looks like a Garden?

They all survey their surroundings one more time. Selphie spots something, grabs Squall's arm, and points at it.

Selphie: (excited) There! That building's pretty big. It might be a Garden!

She points at a large architectural wonder jutting out from the center of the city. It looks to be over sixty stories tall, and is rather run down. Numerous windows in it are broken, and it is coated in a thick layer of black dust. There are scorch marks along the side. It seems to be a miracle that the building is standing up at all. A giant red sign hangs from it, but it is unreadable at that distance.

Zell: (unsure) Are you sure Sef, it doesn't look much like a Garden.

Irvine: Yeah, Gardens are usually a bit more round and…

Quistis: Colorful.

Squall: Still, whether it's a Garden or not we should head for it. It looks like a pretty important building. It is in the center of the city. Maybe we can get some information there.

Selphie: Booyaka! Let's go! (she starts to skip away)

Zell: Wait Sef! (she stops) We have to wait for Squall to give the order to move out.

They all turn to Squall expectantly. He sighs, rolls his eyes, and puts his hands on his hips.

Squall: (mumbles) Move out.

Zell: More feeling man!

Squall: (agitated) Move your @$$, Zell.

Zell: Whoa! (jumps back) No problem!

They all head straight for the building, except for Squall, who lingers behind and takes one last glance at the street behind him.

Squall: (quietly) Rinoa…

He turns stiffly away and follows his teammates up the crowded street.

In the meantime, three mysterious figures watch him from the shadows of an alleyway.

Mysterious Man #1: They're moving out….

Mysterious Man #2: ………..mmmm.

Mysterious Woman: Should we arrest them?

Mysterious Man #1: ….No, they haven't caused any problems, yet.

Mysterious Woman: That's it?! They just appeared in the middle of the street for God's sake! And they look weird. Their noses are too round and their eyes are too small…

Mysterious Man #2: And their hairstyles are normal.

Mysterious Woman: Except for that one girl with the bouncy hair…

Mysterious Man #1: Shut up! That doesn't matter! Until the boss says to take care of 'em, we don't take care of 'em.

Mysterious Man #2: So what do we do?

Mysterious Man #1: We'll report to headquarters, then see what happens. I have a feeling we're going to get to know these people very well….

They disappear down the alleyway.

In a completely different dark alleyway in the same city, Rinoa wakes up. She looks about her nervously.

Rinoa: Squall….where are you? What is this place? (she looks about herself, then looks herself over) Something isn't right…(louder) Squall? Quistis? Irvine? Zell? Selphie? (she gets up and moves cautiously out of the alleyway and on to the open street. She is soon surrounded by people she doesn't know) This isn't funny!!!

Several people stop and stare at her. She hugs herself and stares in horror at the unknown city surrounding her. She starts to shout desperately.

Rinoa: Squall!! Don't leave me by myself!! This isn't funny guys!! (tears run down her face, and she starts to run in panic) Ellone! Get me out of here! Don't leave me alone! Bring me back! Ellone! I know you can hear me! ELLONE!!!!!!

She darts clumsily about the crowded street shouting for Ellone, until she accidentally runs into a young woman, knocking them both over. Rinoa quickly notices the woman rubbing her leg.

Rinoa: Oh!! I'm so sorry!

Girl: No, don't worry, I'm fine.

The girl tries to get up but falters a little. Rinoa quickly takes her arm and helps her up.

Rinoa: (mortified) I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you.

Girl: (brushes herself off) I said it's okay. (smiles) I'm kinda used to that actually. What's the problem, you looked frightened.

Rinoa: (still holding her arm) I can't find my friends….

She looks the girl over to see if she's really alright. She appears to be at least five years older than Rinoa, has long golden brown hair in a ponytail, and large green eyes. Rinoa notices she's holding a basket, and looks to see if it's damaged, and realizes that's she's carrying flowers.

Rinoa: (pleasantly surprised) Oh! Flowers!

Girl: You like flowers?

Rinoa: (smiles) I love flowers! My boyfriend and I have this special place, it's filled with flowers. It's a whole field filled with them. (spreads her arms wide) He used to say that whenever I was lost, I could go there and I would find him. (a sad look crosses her face)

Girl: It sounds beautiful. Where is this special place? You can't find many flowers around here.

Rinoa: It's on a southern island, in the back yard of an orphanage by the sea. (the girl nods) It's just south of the Centra continent.

Girl: (confused) What?!

Rinoa: The Centra continent, way down south. You must've heard of it… (the girl shakes her head) Haven't you?

Girl: (looks at Rinoa like she's insane) There's no such thing as a Centra continent.

Rinoa stares at the girl, then darts panicked glances around her. She hugs herself and backs away.

Rinoa: (softly) Ellone, where did you send me?

Girl: (worried) Are you all right? Do you need help?

Rinoa: (disoriented) I…I….I need to find my friends. (grabs the girl's arm) Can you help me?

Girl: (soothing) Of course I can. Are they in the city somewhere?

Rinoa: I don't know…

Girl: (takes her hand) Well, come with me. I'll take you someplace where you can calm down. I have some really good friends there, I'm sure that they'd be glad to help you find your friends.

Rinoa: Thank you….thanks a lot.

Girl: (leads her down the street) No problem. They're really nice people. Well, some of them cuss a bit…excessively, but they're all really good at heart.

Rinoa: Oh, I'm used to working with oddballs.

Girl: (smiles to herself) Good, cause that's what they all are, a bunch of oddballs! (they both laugh) Well, considering that I'm helping you out, now would be the time to properly introduce ourselves.

Rinoa: Oh! Of course! I'm Rinoa Heartilly.

Girl: (turns back to her and smiles warmly) My name is Aeris. Aeris Gainsborough.

To be continued…