Misplaced

by Rikkoshaye

What would you do if your Playstation blew up and you suddenly found yourself face to face with seven strangers? More importantly, what would they do? And you can't forget all that Forbidden Machina... [All Chapters Updated]

2. Forbidden Machina

Misplaced

By: Rikkoshaye

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own any of the characters in Final Fantasy X, or anything Final Fantasy related. Do not sue me, unless you want a moldy cookie and a few pennies.

Updated August 8th, 2007

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- Forbidden Machina -

"Oooh..." Waking up I swallowed thickly, moaning as my body began bombarding me with aching sensations. I began moving my hand, which I realized was tingling from being pinned under my body. For how long, I wasn't exactly sure. But if it was tingling… well, it had to have been a while. Opening my eyes I found myself in my kitchen, laying on the wood floor. A rather dirty wood floor, I might add. Wondering lazily who was the last person to sweep I yawned, blinking until my eyes eased back into focus.

"Hey, how'd I get down here..." I mumbled, shaking my hand forcefully to get rid of the pins and needles feeling that was currently crawling up my arm. Rolling over I lifted my head a little, shaking off the loose crumbs that had accumulated in my hair while I was 'sleeping.' Squinting I tried to remember how, exactly, I had gotten on the floor in the first place.

"Guys, she's up, ya?"

Oh, yeah.

Blinking I looked upwards, just to find a large, hairy tuft of blue fur hanging in my face.

"Oh, ew..." I mumbled, pushing it away. My mind was still foggy, and I wasn't sure exactly where this tuft of fur was coming from. Unfortunately, when it was replaced by a big, furry, blue cat-like head, my mind decided it was time for me to remember. I gasped, drowsiness immediately gone.

"Sorry. Kimahri wasn't watching tail."

Letting out a loud squeaking noise I sat up quickly, heart in my throat.

THUNK

"Ow..." I rubbed my head absentmindedly, tears welling up in my eyes. Apparently I had been 'sleeping' under the kitchen table, which wasn't a good thing when I suddenly decided it was time to get up. Now I had a headache again, just as my other one had apparently begun to fade. My lucky day.

Giving my skull one last rub I set my hands down on the floor, crawling out from under the table. Giving the large blue cat a horrified stare I swallowed another scream, opting instead to get up on my feet and observe the current situation. I now knew this obviously wasn't a dream, and that my current view on reality was about to go right out the window.

Hoisting myself up I was met with Yuna, who was looking at me with obvious concern. Fighting a second urge to scream I swallowed again, harder this time. Better to be nice then to go into loud, hysterical fits of fear. Raking my brain for something to say I stuttered until my tongue decided to cooperate with me, spitting out the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey… uh… what's up?"

Yuna's eyes squinted at my odd question as she stared at me, confused. Swallowing yet again my jaw clamped shut, refusing to elaborate on the meaning of the statement. Thinking for a moment Yuna fidgeted, rubbing her hands together. Finally realization dawned in her eyes as she smiled at me, finally understanding.

"My name's Yuna."

Well, almost understanding.

Biting her lip Yuna fidgeted again, her feet shifting back and forth as she rubbed her hands together more forcefully. Opening her mouth and closing it a few times her face began to darken in embarrassment. Leaning in close to me she mumbled something near my cheek, face turning crimson as she said it. Unfortunately, I didn't catch what she said.

"What did you say?" I whispered, leaning closer myself. Apparently what she wanted to tell me wasn't something she wanted anyone else to hear.

Grimacing she looked around once more and then leaned in again, this time next to my ear.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Laughing a little I shook my head, oblivious to the others around me. From how she was acting I thought she was going to tell me that she was having more female-like problems, or something of that sort. But, being that I was talking to a game character, who knew what was embarrassing or not where she came from? If she came from anywhere at all, that is. My mind was still set on believing that none of this was real, even if the evidence was becoming more and more apparent by the minute.

Walking down the hall I herded her to the bathroom and she followed quickly, face still a burning, beet red. I wasted no time opening the door and ushering her in, checking the toilet before she reached it to make sure there wasn't anything still left in there from a time before.

"Here you go. Make sure to flush, okay?" I said, voice not even quivering. I was in shock over the whole situation, and so being anything but fairly normal was obviously out of the question. Walking out of the bathroom I grasped the door, smiling at her as I began to close it.

"Flush?" Yuna poked her head out of the door before it closed, looking at me in a puzzling way. My eyebrows furrowed at her odd question.

"Yeah. You know, the toilet?" Now it was Yuna's turn to mirror my confused look as she glanced left and right, looking around suspiciously.

"Where?"

I slapped myself mentally, eyes closing as I sighed. I couldn't believe this, she didn't know what a toilet was. Deciding to be polite I pursued her question, making sure my analysis was correct.
"What, don't you have toilets in Spira?"

Yuna's eyelids narrowed, mingling with her furrowed brows. This made her look even more confused then before. Which she probably was, I observed.

"No..."

Now I was afraid to ask anything more. But my curiosity had been aroused and now I had to know. So, I continued our conversation.

"Well, then, where do you... go?"

Yuna looked down the hall and to the right, eyes focusing out window that framed the front door. Inclining a head toward some of the trees and bushes her eyes locked with mine, willing me to process the information she was trying to convey to me.

"Some places, like Bevelle, have a designated areas, but usually..." She elaborated, trailed off and letting my brain fill in the rest.

Sighing I realized that I was going to have to teach her how to use the 'porcelain express.' Stalking over to the toilet I pulled her close, yanking her away from the door and jerking my head in the toilet's general direction. Pointing to the water I looked at her, making sure she was watching.

"Look. You sit on here..." I motioned to the seat with a few fingers, making sure she understood exactly where she was supposed to sit, "and then you... uh... relieve yourself."

After a moment of intense thinking Yuna nodded, face relaxing.

"Then you just flush the stuff down." I pushed down the handle, flushing the toilet to show her.

Looking over at Yuna's face I expected to see her nodding in approval, or maybe even her eyes filled with joy over this new (and better) way to flush your waste away. But instead I saw her backing up slowly, staring at the toilet like it was some sort of monster. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she hit the wall, her tongue finally cooperating with her after getting over the initial shock.

"What? But that's… that's FORBIDDEN MACHINA!" She screeched, setting herself flat against the wall. My mouth dropped open at this comment as the sounds of feet began padding their way into the bathroom. A few seconds later everyone (except Auron) had rushed into the little half room, eyes wide with fear.

"What? Where's the machina?" Wakka said, glancing back and forth suspiciously. His hands were up in fists and he was bouncing back and forth in a fighting stance, ready to fight whatever machine had sent Yuna screaming. Rolling my eyes I demonstrated the flushing process again, which in turn caused everyone to step back in surprise.

Well, everyone except Tidus. He looked positively delighted.

"A toilet! I haven't seen one of these since Zanarkand!" Tidus cried, scooting over to the toilet and stroking it like it was an old lover. Flushing the machine with delight he laughed, obviously having the time of his life. He then promptly shoved me out of the way so that he could get a good look at the white, shiny porcelain and drool all over it's smoothness.

Rolling my eyes at him and backing away slowly I then left the group, letting them all inspect the 'machina' as they saw fit. Why a toilet could be fascinating to anyone was beyond my understanding, but if they wanted to sit there and touch it that was their business.

Walking back into the kitchen I stretched, trying to block out Tidus's horribly suggestive laughing noises that were now emanating from the bathroom. Rearranging the salt and pepper shakers that somehow had knocked themselves over while I was 'sleeping,' I wondered vaguely where Auron had gone. But, I didn't have to look far. Lounging on the couch in the living room the man looked positively bored. Staring at him momentarily an idea suddenly blossomed in my subconscious, quickly making itself known to my brain.

The whole time I was playing FFX, I always had one question. One thing that I always wanted to know, yet could never find out. And now it dawned on me that this was my chance.

Walking up behind Auron I took a deep breath. I saw his head turn slightly at my intake of breath, his eyebrow raising at the sound. Seeing me in the corner of his eye his mouth opened slightly, getting ready to speak. But, before he could say anything, I grabbed his empty sleeve, pulled it up to me nose, and took a deep breath.

Needless to say, he wasn't very happy.

"What the hell!?"

Standing up quicker then anyone his age ever should, Auron backed up quickly, looking at me like I was crazy. His eyes narrowed as he looked me over, hand instinctively going to his side. Probably where his sword usually hung, I realized. Blushing I turned away, embarrassed at my actions. But at least now I had my answer.

He smelled kind of like sweat, but in a good way. And kind of like fresh earth too, plus something else. Maybe… pine? He smelled good, actually. It all worked together. But now I had to explain the whole situation to him, and he probably wouldn't like my explanation.

Blushing even more my mouth moved up and down, but nothing came out. Forcing my tongue to move I tried to explain while Auron stood there, looking extremely annoyed.

"Sorry… um… well… you see…"

Laughing a little I shuffled my feet, watching as Auron's face became positively pissy.

"Hey, Auron, you have got to try that! It's just like in Zanarkand!"

Auron's face reverted back to normal as he grunted, responding to Tidus's giddy remark. Looking at me warningly he sat back down on the couch, going back into his trance. Sighing I turned away, relieved. Saved by Tidus, you could say. Thank God the blonde was so obsessed with toilets…

Walking over to the kitchen table I sat down, deciding I had done enough damage for now. My brain was still trying to comprehend how these people could possibly be in my house, but I decided not to dwell on it much, at least not yet. All I knew was that they were here, and for the moment I would have to deal with it.

Sighing I continued to sit there, waiting for everyone to drift out of the bathroom. They all seemed amazed, to some degree anyway. Last of all was Yuna, the sound of a toilet flushing as she came out. She looked very relieved, and much less fidgety.

Watching as they all filed around me I looked up at them, wondering what exactly they were waiting for. Silence began to stretch between us and I looked away, deciding to speak.

"So, guys..." I said, as they all stood around me. Uh..."

"Kimahri hungry. Kimahri want food." Glancing upward again I looked into the big cat's eyes, his arms crossed, tail twitching. Staring at him my brain slowly processed his request, the shock of all these people seriously slowing down my thought process. Finally my mind snapped to the present and I sat up straighter, my own stomach giving a small rumble.

"Oh!" I said, looking toward the fridge. "I can do that."

Walking past the expectant faces and making my way toward the fridge I opened it, a wave of cold air rolling out. My legs were covered momentarily with gooseflesh while I stuck my head inside the door, looking around for a decent meal for my seven 'guests.'

"Huh..." I muttered, poking a container of mustard. "There isn't much here..."

"The food stays cold without ice, ya?" I jumped, looking behind me.

"Wakka! Don't DO that!" I said, giving him a look. I leaned back into the fridge, moving a rotten head of cabbage out of my way. He stood there, as if waiting for an answer.

"How does the food stay cold?" He asked, almost timidly. I sighed and rolled my eyes, straightening back up as I looked for food on the top shelf.

"A machine, I suppose."

But apparently that was the wrong thing to say. A sharp intake of breath sounded behind me as Wakka stepped backward, smacking into the counter and grabbing the wood with a death grip.

"MORE FORBIDDEN MACHINA?"

My shoulders drooped as he said this and I sighed, once again. 'Is he going to do this for every machine in the house?' I asked myself, rolling my eyes. Feeling enough embarrassment for the both of us I promptly ignored everyone else and focused my attention on Wakka. I had only known him for a few moments and he was already getting on my nerves.

"Look, Wakka. There is going to be a lot of 'forbidden machina' in this house. But I swear, none of it is going to hurt you! Okay?" He looked at me, eyes unconvinced.

And then, of course, the refrigerator light decided to go out. And it didn't just darken with a small click, like normal lights. Oh no. Instead had to blast apart, shards of thin glass ricocheting in every known direction. Wakka let out a muted yell, backing up and getting into a fighting position.

"Not going to hurt me, ya? That is just like you! YOUR AN AL-BHED, YA!" I looked at him, unbelieving. This guy is impossible…

Glaring at the cowering grown man I straightened, rubbing my forehead with twitching fingers. The others seemed to be watching with curiosity, but were doing nothing to stop his tantrum. This must happen often… I thought to myself. This was definitely not improving my mood. I growled a little in the back of my throat, and turned back to Wakka.

"Look, Wakka, I'm am not an 'Al-Bhed.' If you want to know the truth, there is no such thing! Alright!?" My voice rose at the end of the sentence, turning into a soft yell aided by some rigorous hand movements. Staring at me Wakka tried to come up with a response, his eyes narrowing slightly and his face becoming quite red. But luckily, someone else intervened.

"Hey!"

Turning my eyes from Wakka I looked toward the sound of the voice, a tinge of annoyance wallowing around in my gut. Walking up to us Rikku glared, hands on her hips and face fixed in an angry scowl. "There are too Al-Bhed!" she said, her voice full of anger and hurt.

"Well, okay, I know that… your…" Trailing off in mid-sentence I turned my gaze back to Wakka, and then around to Rikku once again. A sudden thought slithered across my brain and I stopped a moment, thinking on it.

'What if all these people were somehow… pulled right from my current FFX game?' Eye twitching my eyebrow furrowed at this thought, the back of my brain suddenly pitching into my mental conversation. 'That's impossible and you know it…. Or is it? They are all physically here, and that is also quite impossible.' Mumbling to myself I turned from Rikku and Wakka, who were now obviously wondering what exactly I was doing. Ignoring them I continued on my thread of thought

'Well, let's just say that they were somehow pulled from my current FFX game. That means that they would have currently been going through the Thunder Plains. Therefore, they would have no knowledge of what is to come. Which means, Wakka doesn't know that Rikku is Al-Bhed yet!'

I decided quite quickly that I didn't really need Wakka going absolutely berserk on Rikku as he did when he found out she was an Al-Bhed in the game. Sighing I left the sentence hanging, and turned back to the empty, and now dark, fridge.

'If this theory is true… that means that I'm going to have to be especially careful with everything I say. And, they can't know that they are in another world, that wouldn't help the situation at all.' Gasping suddenly I remembered my comment that I had said before passing out, that my seven guests 'weren't in Spira anymore.' Moaning at my stupidity I hung my head, hoping that they wouldn't remember that.

'Well, then, I'll just have to be extra careful.'

"What were you saying, ya?"

Snapping out of my trance I turned to Wakka, mind rushing to rearrange itself from my deep moment of thinking. After a moment I shook my head, letting everything I had said before drop.

"Nothing, nothing. I was wrong, you guys were right" Closing the fridge door I walked past Wakka and Rikku, making my way over to the group of people lounging around in my kitchen. I heard Rikku and Wakka follow me as I approached the other people in my house, Wakka still in a semi guard-like stance.

"So? Where's the food?" Tidus said, standing up and looking at my expectantly. I shrugged, looking behind me and the empty and now dark fridge.

"We're out, apparently." Mouth hanging open slightly Tidus's face arranged itself into a small, pout like expression as he stared at me. My stomach gave a loud rumble at this and I sighed. "And, it seems that I don't have any money, so I don't think we'll be getting any food anytime soon…" Trailing off my slow mind suddenly remembered something, something very important. Smiling suddenly I bounded over to a certain kitchen drawer and wrenched it open, eyes catching the flash of green I was looking for.

Knowing that their children were quite able to eat them out of house and home, my parents had left a small stash of money just in case the current amount of food got a little low. Thanking my parents silently I grabbed a 50 dollar bill from the drawer and stashed the rest of the money under a few extra knives.

"Hey guys, I take what I said back! We have money for food!" Waving the 50 dollar bill around I waited for a happy response from my guests, but instead they said nothing, seeming weary of my sudden outburst. Yuna leaned over to Tidus and whispered something to him, which seemed a lot like, 'What kind of gil is that?' but I ignored it, quite happy that I would actually be eating tonight.

"Uh... I'll need some help bringing it all back though." Looking over everyone in my presence I glanced at their current clothing, deciding on which person looked most normal. Nodding to myself I smiled and trained my eyes on the person that would be the most helpful for the job.

"Rikku?"

Rikku's face lit up as I said her name and she jumped slightly, quite happy.

"What about me?" Tidus asked, his face still slightly pout-like. I looked at him, pondering his appearance. Did I really want him coming along?

'Well, it would be nice for carrying the groceries…'

"Well, if you really want to go..." I said, nodding to myself as much as him

"Yeah! Lets go!" Tidus yelled before I could finish my sentence, face changing from a pout to a smile in two seconds flat. Jumping in the air he pumped a fist high, laughing giddily.

"Wow, he really does get annoying..." I muttered, rolling my eyes. My other guests murmured at this comment, some more forcefully then others. Sighing I turned to everyone, hands on my hips.

"Well, we'll be back in about an hour or so, I guess. So... make yourselves at home..." The remaining five people looked at me oddly, which gave me a small feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

'Aw, screw it…'

Laughing a little I picked up the TV remote from the kitchen table and handed it to Kimahri. Sniffing it Kimahri looked at me like I was crazy and I smiled at him, leading Tidus and Rikku out the door.

"Have fun..."

- - - - -

What will Kimahri do when he finds out how the TV remote works? Will I actually get up the nerve to have a conversation with everybody all at once? How will shopping go? Will these people ever get out of my house??? Stay tuned...

Rikkoshaye