Out of Time: Rydia's Tale

AN: This contains many spoilers. It's the events of FF2/FF4 out of the point of view of Rydia, from start to finish. I'll ignore most dungeons simply because retelling dungeon after dungeon gets boring. Please, please R&R!



Prologue



"Mama, what's wrong?" She peered over the table at her mother. Her mother gave her a sad little smile.

"Nothing I cannot handle dear one. Come with me. I must summon my Mist Dragon. Trouble is coming from Baron." Rydia followed her mother out to the pool. It was a beautiful day, the sun nearly reaching the centre of the brilliant blue sky. Rydia watched her mother as she knelt by the pool and called the magic to her. She felt wind rip through her as her mother summoned the great Mist Dragon. Her mother began to tremble, mists forming around her. The mists moved out of the village, going west to the Mist Cave.



Rydia sat silently by her mother, watching the clouds as they drifted along overhead. Her mother began to speak, her voice odd. She was saying something to the ones causing trouble, warning them to go away. That usually did the trick. The Mist Dragon's voice was scary, and most men ran away whenever the dragon spoke to them. . . .



But a few minutes later, her mother spoke again, repeating her warning. Rydia was beginning to get nervous. If they kept coming, then her mother would have to kill the people trying to get in. She had done it once before, and had stayed in bed a week, crying for the evil men she had killed. Rydia hated to see her mother cry. It made her sad too.



Suddenly, her mother jumped to her feet. Rydia fell back in surprise. Her mother's eyes were seeing something else, she knew, a battle. The men were attacking her! Rydia jumped to her feet and ran to her nearby house. She rang the alarm bell. The other Callers came running out of their homes, getting the people who could not Call, and the really little kids, to the safety shelters. Then they returned to their homes, prepared for an attack.

"Rydia, get inside," one called to her.

"I'm staying with my Mama," Rydia replied. "Everything will be okay. She'll stop those mean people from getting us." The other caller simply sighed, and retreated to his home.





Rydia watched her mother closely. She looked strange, her face going pale.

"Mama?" Rydia whispered. "Mama, what's wrong?" Her mother, of course, could not answer. She was still too deep in the magic. "Fight them, Mama." Suddenly her mother's eyes flew open, and she collapsed to the ground. Rydia began to shake. She knelt beside her mother.

"Rydia," her mother muttered. "I couldn't stop them. I-" Her body shook. Her eyes were filled with pain. "I love you Rydia."

"I love you too, Mama," Rydia replied. "Why are you talking so funny? What's wrong?"

"The Mist Dragon fell." Rydia's eyes went wide. If a Caller was inside a Monster when it died, then the Caller....

"Mama, no!" But her mother's eyes were closing. "Mama, please, stay here! Please, don't leave me!" She began to sob. "Mama!"



Everything was so hot around her. Rydia held her mother's hand, calling to her, but her mother would not open her eyes. Something else was wrong. She looked up. The village was on fire! Every home was burning. Rydia shut her eyes. "This is a bad dream," she told herself. "Mama's fine." She heard footsteps behind her.

"Mom's Dragon fell, so my mom did too," she said, assuming the other callers had come to help. She turned, and gave a scream. These were not the other callers. They were men in dark armour. She blinked at them in horror, frozen in place. One of them started advancing on her. Rydia just stared at them both as they argued over what to do. She couldn't get her mind to work. But then the admitted to killing her mother's Dragon. She felt anger building up around her, sweeping through her as the fire swept through her town.

"You should come with us," one of them said, coming toward her.

"No!" she screamed. "I hate you! I hate you all!!"



Something incredible happened to her then. She turned her anger into magic. Suddenly there was a huge Titan by her side, ready to help her.

"What do you want me to do?" the huge Monster asked her. She couldn't answer. Her voice seemed frozen. But it seemed to know what she wanted. The Titan's huge fist slammed into the ground, shaking everything. The two bad men were thrown aside. Rydia felt funny. The thick smoke was black. Everything started turning black. She went into the darkness, hoping to find her mother there.





AN: I promise that the rest of the story won't be quite so dark. . . . I hope.