Cruise Control

--------------

The woodlands around the White Water area was turned into an eerie, lightless and secretive canopy as darkness loomed when nightfall. There was a popular saying among the woodland people, "Never make a pact with the dark in the land of the ancients." But this was not so as two people ventured into the unknown for a clandestine meeting.

"Owls," Quistis murmured sardonically as a pair of glowing eyes was staring coldly at the two trespassers. "They're as noisy as Rinoa."

"What did you say?" Squall asked as he walked on and arrived at a small clearing with a dead tree stump glowing in warm blue under the bright cresent moon. Squall first slouched on the stump. As Quistis followed to sit beside him he bent down in deep thought until his head was below his arms.

"It's wonderful being here under the moonlight," Quistis commented, trying to break the ice. "I'm glad that Rinoa doesn't mind with her fiance with his instructor together in privacy."

"This is way too private," Squall thought. He then rose up and started muttering without looking at Quistis in the eye. "So what do you want to talk about instructor?"

"You're straightforward as ever!" Quistis giggled. She began leaning towards Squall. "I see that you're troubled this evening. Can I share a little of your predicament?"

"None of your business," Squall muttered tartly while he pushed Quistis away crudely from touching his shoulder. Quistis rubbed her arm to ease the pain, feeling offended.

"I'm sorry," Squall apologised after regaining his senses. "It's just that I didn't like to be touched by another person."

"Oh is that because your body only belongs to Rinoa?" Quistis replied solidly.

"That's not what I meant, it's just a natural..."

"Don't you have any feelings for other people, like your teacher for instance?" Quistis cried behind her two hands covering her face in aggravation.

"Oh what the heck," Quistis laid down her hands on her lap and looked into Squall's soft brown eyes, which were still beautiful despite the vengeful demeanor behind it. "I was overreacting."

"It's just that I'm wondering a lot about Seifer," Squall confessed. "He seemed too nice since day two. Is there a possibility that people can change in a short period of time?"

"Seifer did have been manipulated by Sorceress Adel and Ultimecia. I suppose it hid Seifer's good side moreover," Quistis theorised. "Second possibility is probably because of his feelings towards Selphie."

"I don't think Seifer would enjoy hanging around with a super-innocent and sexually-inexperienced girl like Selphie," Squall explained.

"But I know Seifer acted like a good guy to Rinoa since she was a sophisticated and seductive bitch. Too bad their relationship did not work out," he snickered.

"I know. Do you think that he's up to something only to win?" Quistis asked.

"Question is, why does he want to win so badly?" He added.

"It's late," Quistis said checking the time on her fake Rolex wristwatch. "The movie is going to end in thirty-minutes and I'm surprised that Rinoa likes super-secret agents in tuxedoes."

"Told you she's a sophisticatedly seductive bitch," Squall told himself. And to mark the end of their secret meeting Quistis gave Squall a peck on the cheek.

"Wait!" Squall stood up to stop Quistis from leaving first. He approached Quistis with small strides and then wrapped his arms around Quistis' waist.

***

"Wha? Morning already?" Raijin stretched his arms with a loud yawn to greet the morning sun behind the curtains. He then turned to find Fujin's head sunk into the pillow and tapped her back a few times.

"RAGE..." Fujin then rose up to smile at Raijin and knocked him with a bolster until he tumbled down to the hard wooden floor. Raijin's head popped up from his side of the mattress and rubbed the bump on his head gently.

"Aw... what's the matter honey?" Raijin said sheepishly. "I didn't know you're sleeping on the bad side of the bed, ya know."

"FOOL!" Fujin hissed giving a knock on the head with her firm knuckles. "I couldn't get even one minute of sleep because of you snoring!"

Fujin folded her arms and looked out the window to see a golden lining above the mountains. "WHAT TIME NOW?"

"Err... Six thirty?"

***

Fujin dragged Raijin down the stairs as they emerged from their cabin, fully clothed with their normal apparel.

"Ow... I promise that I'll never forget to set the alarm," Raijin yowled as he dipped his hand into the clue box. Pinned on the blue and yellow stand of the clue box was a printed note.

"Fujin and Raijin: Despite checking out later than your existing checkout time, you won't be awarded any time credit for this leg."

"Alright, let's see what the clue of the day has to say," Raijin cheered as he gingerly opened the red envelope. "Holy Cow! We're going to Fishermans Horizon!"

***

"It's time," Xu announced after she gulped down her stomach ulcer pills. Quistis and Xu were the final team to check out, who clocked in at 7.13 p.m. yesterday and will have to depart twelve hours later.

"I can sense something exciting in this," Quistis said with a smile while ripping the envelope open. "Get to Fishermans Horizon and bring yourselves to the blue and yellow marker at the top of the Sun Panel."

After reading the clue the two colleagues began hugging each other while walking to a blue taxi parked in front of the lodge. Xu opened the trunk and filled it with their backpacks and equipment while Quistis shoved into the rear passenger seats and started asking questions.

"Do you know how to get to FH from here?" she asked straightforwardly.

"Get a ferry from Fort Halen," the cabdriver replied. Presently, Xu bumped in beside Quistis and forcefully slammed the door. While Quistis applied lipstick, she asked, "How long will we reach Fort Halen?"

"About two hours," he replied while steering into the expressway.

"May we borrow your cell phone and direct us to the travel agency?" The taxi driver pulled out his cell phone from his shirt pocket and dialed.

"Here, speak to the operator. I'll add to the fare."

Xu carefully took the cell phone from the driver's rough hand and neared it to her ear, while she looked out the window to view a train running on its track beside the highway.

"Hello travel agency?" Xu said softly. "I would like to inquire. When's the next ferry from Fort Halen to Fishermans Horizon? Uh huh... Mm hmm... 9.30 a.m.? Okay thanks."

"Oh what a morning," Quistis sighed as she placed her head comfortably on the headrest and closed her eyes for a brief moment of sleep.

***

"Quistis' here!" Selphie cheered as she rose from lying on the bench to waive at the two instructors who came walking towards the group at the departure platform.

"Finally Quistis, you've made it in time," Rinoa said grinning from ear to ear while leaning on a pillar under the white-on-blue platform 3 sign. Squall sat on the floor beside Rinoa with a brochure in hand, smiling at Quistis waiving back at them. Rinoa reacted by pushing Squall's head until his nose poked on the paper.

"Quit fooling around buster!" she screamed.

"Whatever..." Squall muttered. "Whore."

"What did you say Squall?" Rinoa clenched her teeth in anger and pulled Squall to his feet by the ear.

"That hurts," Squall whined in excruciation as he shoved Rinoa's hand off from squeezing his ear.

"As the waves woke up to the morning breeze,

Rinoa strangles Squall due to a tease;"

Daniel chanted spreading his arms to the back while his jacket and hair fluttered to the strong sea breeze.

"Wow Danny, I didn't know you can rhyme," Rachel said sarcastically, leaning against the railing with her elbow. "But it's not up to my standards unfortunately."

"Don't you see I'm having a piece of mind by reciting a haiku?" Daniel insisted and continued on his declamation.

"Lo! and behold, the child of the sea crawling right to our knees."

Subsequently, the passenger-filled ferry arrived at the port to dock at the platform, where about thirty people awaiting their transcontinental journey to the deserted and monster-populated continent of Centra. The ferry, also known as a sea-bus, looked like a bulky version of a yacht and a miniature version of a cruise ship, with a bright orange and white decal printed on the body of the ship, stating the transport's popular motto, "From FH to FH." As soon as all the Galbadia-bound passengers alighted from the ferry, the Centra-bound batch stepped aboard, with some fighting to be first in line to grab the best seats and the best view. Obviously, Selphie was small enough to crawl through the pack and reserved the front left bench nearest to the stern of the ship. Her hair fluttered freely to the breeze as she slanted half of her body outwards from the large sliding windows to waive at Seifer. After a few minutes, the ferry was ready to depart. Squall and Rinoa managed to find a bench beside the window, while Quistis, Xu, Fujin and Raijin sat together at the middle bench. Daniel and Rachel however decided to bunk at the bow of the ferry. Daniel let his body lie on the decayed wooden flooring with his hands behind his head like a pillow. The ship started to rock as sailors hoisted the anchor. The salty and steamy scent of the ocean and the warmness of the morning sun were like a memory he longed for, while the waves resonated like music in his ears, cradling him into a restful nap.

"Rachel, how long has it been since we left Balamb?" Daniel muttered in his sleep as he rotated to face Rachel, sitting against the guardrails between two backpacks looking out at the sight of Galbadia shrinking away into a small piece of land engulfed by a large body of crystal blue water.

"I guess it had been more than a week," Rachel said sentimentally as she crawled to kneel in front of Daniel. She had never seen her partner this relaxed and carefree. She would usually see him, from the top of the double-decker bed in the dorm at night, tossing and turning with his bolster, full of thoughts and worry about his studies and what to serve Instructor Trepe and Xu for breakfast. She felt a little envious at Daniel's nonchalance, but it was gone as she enabled herself to reveal a hidden smile. "I'm beginning to miss Balamb garden. Do you?"

Daniel slowly crept up to a sitting position and stretched his arms with a yawn. He exercised his arms a little before he turned his attention to Rachel with a grinning riposte.

"Rachel do you want to try to lie on the floor?" Daniel offered by patting on the wood with soft thuds.

Rachel removed her shoes and stretched out her legs into a sleeping position. She looked at the blue sky above her, which was a display of clouds drifting by idly. It was indifferent than the spectacle she envisioned at the Timber meadows - smaller clouds would join up into bigger apparitions while large gatherings would separate into clusters, and some would form from one shape into another gradually and ever-changing.

"Danny? Do you really know what I wanted to see all these while?" she asked.

"What?"

"It's funny that wherever you are the sky looks like same. I wonder if I graduated I could really return to my hometown in Timber."

"I thought we've been there. And I didn't know you're from Timber," he replied in astonishment. "Ah yeah this is the perfect time to share our childhood. Ya know this boat reminds me of my life on a fishing boat with my dad. This scent... it smelled like the sea I've been travelling when I was a kid. Now I finally know where my father fishes and I realised that I should be proud of his job. If I didn't opt to go to Garden I would be right here like this. Now it's your turn Rachel. Rachel?"

Rachel's head felt airy and unstable as she arose from her position. She crawled on all fours to the guardrail weakly and staggeringly. A sickly sensation grew stronger within her as her face started to turn as a little blue as the sky. In the end, she popped her head out of the opening while holding onto the steel beam and released the thing that caused her to feel uneasy orally. She wiped her lips with her long sleeves and feeling a little better, she stood up and approached Daniel in a fetal position.

"God how on earth can you stand sleeping on a boat like this?"

***

"Wow, cool!" Selphie cheered as she popped half of her body out of the window with one hand above her brows horizontally. In front of her was an endless steel structure right on the ocean, decaying from time to time due to erosion. "It's the Ocean Bridge! Too bad it's not in use right now. And I can see the Sun Panel! It's glowing!"

"Ow!!" Quistis yelled as she was sandwiched between Xu and Raijin as the ferry rocked. "Geez I think your germs landed on mine," she teased at Raijin brushing off some dust from her sleeve with a tissue.

"Oh sorry," Raijin said as he touched on Quistis' shoulder. "Here, let me help."

"God, get off me you big oaf!" Quistis cried, forcing Raijin's large, rough hand away and slapped him on the shoulder.

"RAGE!" Fujin flared as she was invoked from her dream. She dreamt about a dark room dimly lit with a few candles. And at the center of the room was Raijin wearing nothing, tied on a mattress with his back facing outwards. She then imagined herself, dressed in black, tight fitting lingerie, kissing and caressing a whip, waiting for the right time to crack it on Raijin's leathery back to produce the most excruciating scream ever.

"Oh no," Raijin shook his head as he started to translate. "She said that no one can hurt me except herself, I think. And she's pretty mad that you destroyed the most wonderful dream, ya know."

"Well," Xu yawned as she awoke to the commotion. "I'm also upset that we couldn't go along together since we're on a race."

Xu bent down to her backpack tucked between her legs to draw out a flask of hot water and the bag of pills she got from the doctor's prescription the day before. She cupped one hand and poured in a couple of pills and chucked them into her mouth, followed by a quick gulp of warm water which soothed her throat. The ferry rocked more as it was about to approached their awaited destination, which was a manmade island settlement erected from a rock at the middle of the ocean beside the Ocean Bridge by railway workers. The island had a bright complexion from afar, which came from large solar plant at the middle of the island. It was once the home of the mayor and a major source of power to the island-city, but now since the discovery of natural gas it was slowly turning to disrepair. The ferry now had to navigate carefully through the rusty steel towers and cranes soaring from the bottom of the sea to a height as high as the Gateway in Deling City.

The ship came to a sudden halt causing the passengers to jolt a little forward. The bag of pills, which Xu held tightly in her hand, was accidentally released and the colorful capsules were spilled and rolled to all directions as the ship cradled to the waves.

"Oh no, my pills!" Xu crawled on all fours aimlessly. She tried to get the capsule in front of her, reaching her arm out and tabbed it with her palm, while she inspected both sides to see some capsules disappeared into tiny air holes. She finally realised that she lost all the capsules but one. Could it be the wildcard for the race?

"Quistis, all my pills are gone," Xu gestured in agony as she walked back to her seat gloomily. She stuffed the capsule into a tiny pocket on her jeans.

"I'm sorry, I should've helped," Quistis said in a comforting way.

"It's not your fault," she sighed. "I hope there's a pharmacy..."

Everything turned dark when the ship entered a tunnel with ceramic tiling and fluorescent lights, carved beneath the isle. At the end of the tunnel were a complex of docks and platforms with a few ferries, small boats, yachts and a couple of luxury liners, and a life-size model of the old Dolletian armada displayed majestically near the entrance. The enormity of the port built inside a sea cavern beneath the isle was simply awe-inspiring.

"Wow, the Mayor sure built something wonderful this time," Selphie commented as the ferry was about to park at the platform. "SUPER-DUPER-MEGA-AWESOME!"

"Squall, don't you feel like being in an underground city at first glance?" Rinoa said thoughtfully, looking out the window.

"Balamb Harbor cum pirate cove," Squall thought shaking his head. "Nah, whatever. I didn't like the Mayor's idea anyway. Won't people feel scared and claustrophobic when they're inside a dark and musty place like this?"

For other people, the underground port is a quintessential landmark to visiting Fishermans Horizon. Selphie flashed her ticket on the reader and the boom gate swung open automatically to usher her into another dimension. This time she was in a gathering of people queuing for tickets to any port in the world. At the center of the complex was a large square used to exhibit models of ships in all shapes and sizes. Daniel had never seen a museum housing every kind of ships and boats. Easily, the island, slowly but surely, will rival the great ports of Balamb and Dollet to the north. Unfortunately, this was not the time for sightseeing, as they had to press on to the task at hand. A long escalator awaited them at the end of the museum, which would carry them to a faint ray of light coming from the outside of Fishermans Horizon. The teams now found themselves on a sidewalk. There were no roads like in Galbadian cities. Instead there were concrete and steel pavements and at the other side was a precarious cliff beside the ocean.

"Where are the taxis?" Raijin questioned, as he had not seen a car on the road. Instead, there were only bicycles, motorcycles and motor-driven trishaws. Fujin soon emerged from the underground, stopping for breath.

"SUN PANEL!" Fujin pointed to a fluttering blue and yellow flag on top of a deck-like structure. "RUN!"

Selphie and Seifer were the first to arrive at the top of the sun panel. The both of them carefully walked along the narrow rim of the bowl-like structure towards a flagged deck with a few people on it. Seifer used both of his hands to grab on the clue box in front of him while Selphie opened the flap to retrieve their clue.

"Slide down the solar panel and follow the arrows to your next set of instructions."

The couple strapped themselves on a flat sled. The millions of small rectangular photocells forming the enormous solar panel emanated a blinding and powerful glow as the sun was directly positioned at the middle of the sky. The couple closed their eyes to shield from the rays. They could feel their sled being pushed gently to a curved ledge and then suddenly they could feel a falling sensation with their faces being pulled away by the wind. They felt themselves jerking forward as the sled was halted by a bulwark at the end of the track.

"COOL!" Selphie waved her arms as she allowed Seifer to unstrap her from the sled. She dumped her crash helmet on the sled as she trailed Seifer to follow a series of flags, luring them into a gateway after circling around the Mayor's former abode at the middle of the bowl. The gateway led them into a building that resembled a crowded shopping mall. After a few more flags to be pursued they found themselves at the entrance of the mall. Down from the stairs were a row of marked trishaws parked against a wall painted with graffiti.

"It's a Roadblock!" Selphie hopped around excitedly after she unraveled the envelope found on the tight passenger seat of the trishaw. "The person to perform this task should have the following: 1. Has a strong back, 2. Likes to break down stuff, and 3. Does not hate water."

"I'll do it," Seifer raised his hand to volunteer. Selphie passed the clue to Seifer and therefore tore away the leaflet for his set of instructions.

"The person performing this task must:

1. Drive the trishaw to any of the marked boats found at the Fisherman Quarters;

2. Dismantle the trishaw but not the motorcycle to be transported on the boat;

3. Steer the boat to the marked buoy on the map and grab the clue.

The other person not performing the task can only do the following:

1. Sit back and enjoy the view on the trishaw;

2. Navigate;

3. Start the engine on the boat."

***

"Oh my god!" Quistis cried as looked down from Xu's back at the giant shiny bowl of the solar plant. Her heart leaped to her throat as she experienced a sudden dropping motion, causing her to scream her lungs out.



Squall felt something wrapping around his waist as he fitted his crash helmet. He turned behind to see a playful smile on Rinoa's face as she rested her head on Squall's stalwart shoulder.

"Heehee... can I hold you like this?" she giggled, which was followed by a scream as the sled accelerated greatly down the curved track. The feeling of having her heart throbbing madly to the thrilling motion caused her to tighten her grip around Squall more. She let out a sigh of relief after they stopped at the center of the bowl. The couple unstrapped themselves from the sled and followed the flags to their last trishaw.

"I hope you look good on a motorcycle Squall," Rinoa commented as Squall began to start the engine. Squall then drove to the streets, which was beginning to crowd with more vehicles. Not far from the couple in front of them were Quistis and Xu.

"Get as fast as you can, as long as you can lose the instructors," Rinoa ordered, sitting between both their backpacks casually on the passenger seat while examining a large map of the island. Squall pressed the pedals once more causing the motor to hum loudly. Eventually, their trishaw surpassed Quistis'. The instructor was willing to let her enigmatic lover overtake her, but as soon Rinoa came into view, a burning desire grew stronger and stronger in her.

"Think you can beat us?" Rinoa raised her voice, turning around to find Quistis gaining speed and almost touching their bumper. She pointed one finger to the front tyre of the opponent's trishaw. A faint spark which seemed invisible jolted from her finger and in an instant, the rim of the tyre exploded, causing Quistis to swerve into the quayside stalls. Civilians angered as they helplessly looked at their businesses crumbled by the rampaging vehicle. A blue horizon followed after they had broke through the stalls. Quistis and Xu once again shielded their eyes with their arms, this time in terror, as they were about to experience a spectacular splash into the sea.

Quistis and Xu waived their hands while trying to keep themselves afloat. A fishing boat spotted the distress and came to the rescue.

"Thank you so much," Xu sighed as the fisherman pulled her onboard, while Quistis reached out her arms from the boat to retrieve their backpacks and equipment floating on the water like flotsam.

"Oh now what should we do," Xu frowned wringing a wet map in her hand looking at the roof of the trishaw sinking into the depths of the ocean.

"We really blew it this time," Quistis whined while she squatted on the floor covering her face with both hands in devastation. She then rose up and asked the fisherman politely to drop them at Fisherman's Quarters.

***

"There are the boats!" Selphie cheered as she spotted a few sampans lining in front of the pier before them. Seifer stopped the trishaw in front of one of the marked boats and started dismantling the roof of the passenger seat with a wrench found on the boat. Selphie received the parts of the passenger seat from Seifer and stored them in a long wooden box on the boat. Then, Seifer hopped on the boat with the whole motorcycle part while Selphie pulled a chain a few times to fire the motor.

"It's not moving!" Seifer yelled in agony before he turned to the motor to discover green liquid flowing from the plastic casing of the motor.

"What have you done!" he said in disbelief at the gas leak, releasing his grip on the rudder to fling his arms in shock.

"It's all my fault!" Selphie sniffled with tears in her eyes. She then stood up with her arm on her face and climbed back to the pier. "I'm going to look for help."

Seifer lowered his head to his knees, feeling terrible after yelling at Selphie unintentionally. He then recoiled to his sitting position after hearing a shriek followed by a splash.

"Help me! I can't swim!" Selphie wailed. Seifer rushed to the scene to find Selphie flapping her arms trying to keep herself afloat on the water, while a silver-haired female trishaw driver snickered at her not having the initiative to rescue the victim from drowning. It dawned to Seifer that his trustful allies were really serious this time. And they wanted to do things the hard way.

"You horrors!" Seifer furiously lunged to Fujin and shot out his arm wanting to strangle her to death. "Why did you want to hurt my girlfriend?"

"SELPHIE GONE PROBLEMS LESS!" Fujin replied nonchalantly after a short silence and buzzed away from Seifer.

"Seifer!" Selphie waved her arms trying to grab Seifer's attention. "I can't hold..."

Seifer turned his attention to see Selphie disappear from sight and only to find a trace of bubbles. Without hesitation he took off his T-shirt and sneakers and dived into the water for his first ever-heroic attempt.

"Which boat should we choose?" Raijin said as he stepped down from the trishaw.

"THIS," Fujin pointed to Seifer and Selphie's boat. She then grabbed Raijin's arm and pushed him into the boat along with the backpacks. Raijin rose to his feet to find himself a little wet and crept carefully to the bow.

"Err... how do you turn the motor on?" Raijin scratched his head as he squatted down and examined the motor a few times. Fujin then jumped in and walked to the bow irately and gave Raijin a kick on the heel.

"OAF!" Fujin hissed as she pulled the chain causing the motor to vibrate into action.

"Fujin and Raijin!" Rachel pointed from her seat to the duo getting ready to disembark from the pier.

"Goodbye suckers!" Raijin pouted at Daniel and Rachel as he released the knot. The motor began to sputter and the duo was well on their way to the route marker in the middle of the sea.

"There's no time to lose!" Rachel said, jumping down to their sampan along with the backpack, while Daniel took out the wrench and started dismantling the hind wheels.

***

Quistis shivered a little with a thin blanket wrapped around her as she sat back in the fisherman's boat looking at the shimmering reflection of Fishermans Horizon on the water. She was totally inspired by the picturesque but futuristic look on the city. As her eyes followed the reflection of small buildings passing by, she noticed something, floating on the water like a shadow, which did not seem like part of the reflection at all.

"It looks like someone floating on the water," Xu said as the boat changed its course towards the floater. The fishermen then pulled two people onto the boat with the net. Quistis and Xu uncovered their vision from the blanket as they approached the two bodies in curiosity and found a man with a scarred face wearing only waterproof shorts clutching snugly around the shoulders of a petite teenage girl in bright yellow. The instructors gasped in surprise as began to worry as they were able to verify the two people.

"Ugh," water spewed from the man's mouth as he began to regain consciousness. The man rose to sitting position while shaking his aching head.

"Seifer, are you alright?" Quistis asked in concern as she wrapped her blanket around Seifer's damp body. "What happened to you and Selphie?"

"Selphie?" A thought struck Seifer and immediately he turned to his side to find Selphie lying on the floor motionless. "Oh shit, you can't just go like that!"

Without hesitation, Seifer conducted his own version of CPR on the body - pressing Selphie's chest a few times with both hands and then transferring his breath to her orally and then pressing her chest to repeat the process. At this point, Quistis remembered what Squall told her last night.

"If Selphie knew Seifer's true intentions, she might want to do something rash since she doesn't like to be lied."

"It seemed too good to be true," Quistis thought, feeling a little envious as she and the fishermen sat back and watched the drama. "I think Selphie hit the jackpot."

After transferring his breath the sixth time, he felt discouraged and depressed, only to find that there was yet a sign of movement by Selphie's body. He could not control his gentler emotions growing in him and in the end he shed a few tears filled with deep remorse.

"Seifer," Xu said with a little comfort as she patted on Seifer's shoulder. Seifer angrily shoved her hand away and remained speechless as he glanced at Selphie's radiant complexion before burrowing his head into his arms.

"Seifer!" Seifer ignored the voices around him and continued thinking about what he should have done beforehand to better the circumstances. "Seifer, she's waking up!"

Upon hearing, Seifer raised his brow and crept ecstatically to Selphie's body once more. Selphie choked out small amounts of water from her mouth and started to breathe heavily.

"Wha... where am I?" Selphie slowly opened her eyes and felt a warm body close to hers.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Seifer sighed in relief as he snuggled Selphie and wrapped half of his blanket around her shoulders. The couple slowly rose up to their feet and shuffled to the living quarters of the boat along with Quistis and Xu.

"You don't mind sharing your story with your instructors, do you?" Xu said crossing her arms, grinning from ear to ear.

***

"Huh?" Raijin clucked as he felt something really wrong happening around Fujin and himself. "Why is the boat slowing down?"

Fujin stopped controlling the rudder situated next to the motor and turned behind to inspect the motor. The sampan finally came to a complete halt and it was at this point that the duo apprehended the blunder they had made.

"RAGE!" Fujin angered by punching the boat on both sides with her fists. Eventually, the boat rocked and water was poured into the base of the boat.

Raijin raised his hand and positioned it horizontally above his brow. He spun around scanning the perimeter, only to find Fujin and himself together on the same boat surrounded by a large green body.

"We're at the middle of the ocean!" Raijin screamed his lungs out after realising that he was seaswept. He then fell to his hands and feet and crawled towards Fujin pathetically and humbly like a servant.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Raijin exclaimed desperately, pulling his hair from his scalp.

"PATHETIC FOOL!" Fujin fumed as she kicked Raijin on the stomach, causing him to fall on his belly in excruciation. "Boats have oars, don't they?"

She crept to the wooden box nearby slowly and opened it followed by a creaking sound. She frantically dug through the metal parts and two tyre rims, hoping to find a pair of oars, but to no avail. She then turned her attention to the base of the boat, which was drenched with seawater. Nothing was found but a baby snapper wiggling around the bottom of the boat.

"RAGE!" Fujin expressed her frustration by flinging the fish back into the ocean. The snapper was relieved to be back in the water and swam happily around the boat.

"Ha ha... those two humans sure are dumb."

***

Daniel and Rachel found themselves surrounded by rusty steel crucifixes erected on the water. These were the graves of the victims who lost their lives in the tragic S. S. Loire shipwreck. Rachel, who scouts at the stern of the sampan, spotted the remains of the shipwreck from afar. A small bright dot appeared in front of the wreckage and enlarged into the shape of a brightly coloured buoy, floating above the murky seawater.

"Yeah, we're first!" Rachel happily pulled out one of the five envelopes tied in a bunch on a small wooden basin tied to the buoy. Inside the envelope contained two separate sets of instructions and a new map.

"Detour: Orthodox or Unorthodox,

ORTHODOX: Get to the Centra Cruiser Fishing Vessel and perform a local fisherman practice.

UNORTHODOX: Get to the Lighthouse Tower construction site and climb to the top of Crane Tower No. 26.

Further instructions will you given when you arrive at either destinations."

"Let's go the fishing vessel!" Rachel suggested.

"Agreed," Daniel nodded his head in affirmation as the motor began to sputter.

***

Selphie sneezed and sniveled, gazing at the marina from the starboard of the ship. Beside her on the bench was Seifer, fiddling his silver chain necklace while looking down at the drenched hardwood floor. Both minds sank into deep thought, probably thinking about their relationship in the future. One thing was clear to Selphie that Seifer was actually a genuine and honest person, which was a far cry from the qualities people seen in Seifer back in Garden.

The fishing boat soon docked at the eastern part of Fisherman Quarters. Quistis and Xu first walked down the ramp and dumped their backpacks on the pier. Seifer followed, holding two backpacks while helping Selphie, who was still half-awake, to get on the ramp. Selphie struggled in her footing and needed Seifer's aid once more as she shuffled slowly to the pier with two vacant sampans.

"What about the trishaw?" Selphie cried as Seifer carried her to the boat.

"Forget about it," Seifer patted on Selphie's shoulder, giving her a little word of encouragement and paced to the bow carefully to start the motor.

Quistis and Xu were spotted floating on the water a few yards away. They waved both of their arms and shouted. "Let's go together!"

***

"Squall, are you sure were on the right track?" Rinoa quavered as she felt dwarfed by the eerie long shadows of the towering crucifixes growing towards her.

"Whatever Rinoa!" Squall hollered nonchalantly as he was in a relaxed position steering the rudder.

Rinoa donned her dark sunglasses, ready and on the lookout as the boat started to slow down. A red bell-shaped objet arose from the casting shadows, which stimulated Rinoa into brief delight.

"Wonderful job Squall," Rinoa praised as she reached out for the envelopes on the mini raft. She tore open the envelope to read the contents cynically.

"Ugh, a Detour. Squall, you want to go to the fishing vessel or the Lighthouse Tower?"

"Which is nearer?" he asked.

"Here, check it out yourself," Rinoa threw the enclosed parchment like a Frisbee to Squall. His jaw started to drop as the map hovered in front of him, being carried away by the light sea breeze and landed on the water.

"I'm sorry Squall," Rinoa said apologetically, covering her mouth as she could only afford to see the map sinking into the water with black runny ink floating at the surface. Squall slammed with both palms on the brittle wooden beam of the boat to show his tantrum. He shook his head and then looked up to Rinoa.

"Fine, we'll go to the lighthouse. I know where it is."

Rinoa felt a little relieved and touched as the boat started to motion.

"I'm glad Squall did something right this time!" she thought in her mind with a gentle smile.

***

"OW!" Fujin yelped reacting to the stinging on her wound as seawater splashed onto her forehead.

"Honey, are you okay?" Raijin stood up slowly to regain his balance. The boat rocked side to side as Raijin stomped with one leg across a beam towards the other end of the boat. Fujin raised her palm trying to halt Raijin. Immediately, Raijin lost balance and fell with his butt landed in between two beams.

A white fibreglass speedboat cut through the water as it traveled from an island to the marina. It was always an everyday sight on the ocean as the driver whistled to the humming of the propellers - dolphins swimming near the surface of the crystal clear water, the old unpainted railway bridge once erected proudly to the right and the glimmering complexion of the marina in front. This time, the driver spotted something alien to the native waters. It was a norm that fishing boats would fish at the other side of Fishermans Horizon, but this time it was undeniably a sampan and a motorcycle stranded in the middle of prohibited waters.

A figure of a silver-haired woman, with a bandage wounding her head, and an apparition of a dark-skinned athletic meathead, clad in a simple white T-shirt and dark spandex soon arose in the driver's point of view. The both of them were on two sides of the boat, quarreling and pointing their fingers at each other irately.

"What the heck their doing on Fascostilachion waters!?" the driver thought as he slowed down the boat to approach the duo.

"Are you guys insane?" the driver hollered, causing the duo to stop arguing and turn their attention to the driver in a white flat cap. "You guys should turn back right away!"

"We ran out of gas, ya know!" Raijin raised his voice to explain.

"Okay you guys can hop in while I help to fill up your tank." The driver bent down to pick up a bottle of gasoline and then secured a rope between the taxi and the sampan. The driver stepped onto the sampan and scrutinised the motor, while Fujin fiddled the water-taxi control and Raijin resting on the seats with his backpack as a pillow.

"This motor has a leak," the driver discovered. He raised his head to see his vehicle drifting away from him.

"What are you guys doing!" he yelled, waving his arms trying to catch the duo's attention. Instead, Raijin rolled up the rope and Fujin finally started the engine. The boat turned and picked up speed, squirting a splatter of water on the sampan to cool down the driver's anger.

"God I can't believe I got into this mess," the driver said to himself as he took out a black cell phone from his pocket. He looked down at the base of the boat to see bits of wood chewing away. His eyes widened filling with fear and terror as a bright yellow fish with a red dorsal fin squeezed itself from the hole it made, baring its sharp teeth gleaming greedily under the afternoon sun.

"No! The Fascostilachions!"

"It was dirty, but I buy it!" Raijin joked giving Fujin a high five and the both of them snickered diabolically.

***

"I see the ship!" Rachel hollered as she pointed with her hand to the large brown vessel with its name, the Centra Cruiser, printed in white on the body. As Daniel parked the sampan below the starboard of the ship, a sailor rolled down a ladder made of hemp towards the couple. The ladder looked insecure and fragile at first due to fibres sticking out from each rung, but it was sturdy and taut. Rachel first reached the top of the ladder and was assisted by the sailors tugging her up to the deck. Daniel was next to climb up to the deck of the ship and immediately returned to Rachel's side to receive his much-awaited greeting by the captain.

"G'day mateys," the aging captain gave a lopsided smile with a cigar between his lips as he affably started his introduction. "My name's Captain Morgan and welcome aboard the S.S. Centra.

Today I want you two to help my men pull that big net over there. There'll be plenty o' fish in it and I want you two to transfer thirty-five fishies into the barrel with your bare hands, the old fashioned way," Captain Morgan laughed as he puffed out a small ring of smoke. "Don't just stand there, you may begin now!"

Rachel paced a little and started jostling to the other side of the deck. Daniel on the other hand leaped and skipped like an overjoyed and impatient bespectacled child. A large net was cast to the ocean below. The Trepies blended into the group of fishermen around the gigantic net and gripped onto the rough strands of netting. A signal was sounded and the men started heaving the net. Rachel followed to pull the net, which felt weighing at least a ton and there were sporadic and random movements at the bottom of the net. Rigorously, the net was raised completely from the water along with a bountiful catch of Tropical Snakefish.

The fish were finally brought to the deck and the fishermen started to transfer them into chilled barrels with their bare hands. It was an icky experience for Daniel as the snakefish felt warm and slimy, wiggling and slipping easily from his grip. A few trials and errors were made and the Trepies finally got the rhythm to transfer all thirty-five snakefish into the container.

"Well done mateys," Captain Morgan congratulated as he wrapped his shoulders around the Trepies. In one hand, he held their prize, the clue to their next destination, and handed it to Rachel.

"Great!" Rachel snatched the clue delightedly and did not mind spreading slime all over the paper. "Congratulations you have completed the detour. Now get to the pier at Island Settlement 3, reassemble the trishaw and drive yourselves to Karakola Beach."

***

Squall and Rinoa arrived at the site of the Lighthouse Tower project. The couple tilted their heads to look up at the lofty 'Skyscraper of the Sea'. Surrounding the unfinished tower were massive steel crane towers, which were erected from the seabed to supply antirust iron bars to the daredevils riveting the materials to form a sturdy and reinforced structure. Squall cruised around the base to search for their destination. They finally found a rusty and unused crane tower, which was marked 26 in chalky white at the bottom. Squall tied the boat to the floating base of the tower while Rinoa climbed the uncountable steps spiraling to the top of the tower. The uppermost level of the tower was shaped like a cage as large as a studio apartment with the crane mounting in front. Once the couple reached the top, an engineer stopped fiddling the controls and rose from behind the seat.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he greeted and bowed shyly, while eyeing at Rinoa's winning smile, which was by far the most beautiful he had ever seen. "On to the task in hand."

The middle-aged engineer cleared his throat and flung a pole-like object at Squall. Squall picked up the pole from the steel floor. It was a fishing pole. The engineer grinned from ear to ear as his tone started to perk up, pointing his finger to Squall.

"I want you to fish me lunch, the FH engineers' way."

Squall's heart palpitated as he tiptoed cautiously along the narrow steel beam to the edge of the crane head. Trying to calm down, he squatted and sat on the beam between his legs. He then cast the fishing line as it plunged a hundred feet to the calm sea below. The breeze was not that as strong as he expected but the feeling of being elevated by a flimsy steel bar was nauseous and scary.

"What a good day of fishing," Squall said to himself trying to retain his composure while perspiration beaded on his forehead as his eyes focused on the fishing line in front of him.

"How many should I catch?" he shouted as he turned around to the engineer sitting behind the control panel.

"Just one!" the engineer replied. He turned around to see Rinoa sitting alone, worrying about Squall's safety. "Err... make that two!"

The engineer rose up from his seat and crawled to Rinoa foxily. He then squatted down beside Rinoa baring his teeth as he grinned playfully.

"Don't worry. Your boyfriend's going to be just fine," he reassured.

"Nah it's nothing," Rinoa stood up to take a glimpse at what her boyfriend was doing.

"How does it feel out there?" Rinoa bellowed with her hands cupped around her mouth. Squall did not give a slight reaction at all like as if he was meditating.

"My it must be scary out there," Rinoa thought biting her nails. Her mind trailed off as she felt a warm movement creeping on her back.

"What are you doing!" Rinoa angered sharply as she shoved of the man's hand off from touching her body. The engineer reacted by laughing a little and began to sound diabolical.

"It's been a long time a woman has been here!" the man laughed sinisterly as he loomed over the helpless looking Rinoa like a vampire, wanting to wound his arms around her. "Don't worry your boyfriend won't be able to hear us."

"You're in no luck this time mister," Rinoa muttered with a cunning smile.

"Aaahh... Owwww!!!" the engineer yelled in excruciation as he was pinned to the floor with his arms yanked to the back. "Stop it. STOP IT!!!!"

"That's for trying to lay a finger on the president's daughter," Rinoa warned, tightening her grasp around the dirty-minded man causing more torturous pain. She then relinquished her grip as Squall returned with two tiny snappers.

"What the heck is going around here?" Squall's jaw dropped as he looked at the engineer wriggling like a dying worm on the floor.

"Here..." the man choked as he lifted a red envelope weakly to Rinoa. Squall dropped the fish and the pole, which clanged on the steel floor, following Rinoa down the stairs in rapture.

"Karakola Beach... Island Settlement 3..." Rinoa gasped, flinging her arms to the air with the clue delightfully. "To the pit stop we go!"

***

Daniel and Rachel steered their boat until it passed under the Ocean Bridge to a string of five islets. Each of these islets had identical white roofed buildings, beaches and terrain. It was not easy to discern between the different neighborhoods. The Trepies tried their luck by careening to the island third from the left. A few fishermen were found sitting together on the pier chewing tobacco while mending their net.

"Excuse me," Daniel asked trying to sound as curt as he could. The dark skinned and thin fishermen turned their heads and with their bright eyes wide open stared deeply into the Trepies as if they were looking at their souls. "Is this Island Settlement three?"

"Forget it Danny," Rachel said, feeling a little intimidated. Immediately, they left the island and hopped to the next islet in front of them.

"Do you know where Island Settlement Three is?" Rachel asked, shouting to a man working on his yacht.

"It's the island just behind you," the man pointed. Without further ado, Daniel turned the boat around preparing to return to the island.

"I knew we were right," Rachel uttered. "Those aborigines are scary."

Daniel cursed the aborigine fishermen as he reassembled the trishaw on the island pier. Daniel dumped the wrench after tightening the last bolt and immediately hopped on the motorcycle to start the engine. Rachel bumped on the passenger seat with the backpacks stocked below her as the trishaw traveled through the hilly terrain of the island.

"There it is!" Rachel exclaimed as she saw two figures standing on the beach in front of them. Daniel's motorcycle roared, turning into a row of sheds by the beach and parked the whole trishaw into a designated spot. The Trepies started leaping to the sand-covered quintessential mat more ecstatic than the previous legs.

"Welcome to the Friendly Isles," a stout bearded white-skinned man clad in a bright red flower-printed shirt and shorts greeted. Daniel and Rachel bowed their heads as the man placed a jasmine garland around their shoulders.

"Jeez, and I thought aborigines are supposed to be friendly," Rachel thought while sniffing the fragrance of her garland.

"Daniel and Rachel," Cid said in his husky voice as he turned his eyes scrolled from Daniel to Rachel while curving his lips into a smirk. Rachel placed her hands firmly on behind the hips, feeling a little tense. "You're the first team to arrive!"

Daniel's mouth hung open in disbelief. Both Trepies turned to face each other, holding their hands and bouncing on the mat a few times in epiphanic intoxication.

"Whee!" Daniel cheered flinging his arms into the air and rolled into the soft warm sand. He then rolled his body to a lying position and moved his arms and legs back and forth making fan patterns on the sand, while he looked back smiling like a moron at Rachel who was about to pounce on him.

"This is wonderful!" Rachel burst out with silly laughter, rubbing the sand with her arms while gazing at the bright blue sky which seemed to look the same anywhere.

The well-known couple of the Garden community was soon seen jostling along the beach. Rinoa turned to her side, checking out the people soaking the warmth of the hot sun on their deckchairs. She spotted a familiar couple in dark sunglasses and bathing suits, waving and smiling at them cheekily.

"The Trepies beat us here," Rinoa muttered sarcastically, jabbing on Squall's oblique lightly with her elbow.

Squall and Rinoa finally arrived at the checkpoint, where they were welcomed with a garland of fresh and sweet-smelling jasmine flowers around their neck. Both of them were in relief but unsatisfied with their current standings. Nevertheless, Rinoa rubbed her hands and could not wait to dig her toes into the golden sand while Squall just wanted to slump on one of the deckchairs for a long undisturbed nap. The Trepies had their share of fun so what was the harm taking the opportunity to unwind and relax from the chaos and jeopardy?

***

Selphie wheezed, gasping for breath as she climbed wearily up the spiral steps of the crane tower. Rust sprinkled on Seifer's hair after every step was taken heavily. Seifer fumed in anger having to brush off the dirt off his short rugged hair all the time but he was able to control his composure just to hide his demeanor from the three women.

"Oh good three women this time," the engineer thought looking down at Quistis from above drooling a little. "I hope they're not as ferocious as Miss Caraway."

Selphie arrived at the cage of the crane tower first followed by Seifer and the instructors. The lust within the man greatened as his eyes scrolled between Xu and Quistis. "Now's the opportunity to reel in the mermaids! Try to be docile."

"Uh, mister?" Selphie asked and the man immediately switched his attention to Selphie. "What are we going to do now to get our clue?"

"Oh err... well you just catch a fish!" the man explained, then shaking his head.

"But it's not normal fishin'," he added, pointing to the beam jutting outward of the crane head. "You'll have to catch one fish at the beam right there like the engineer folk here do. Only one person may do this."

"Cool!" Selphie cheered leaping to the air. She bumped her head on the roof and immediately Seifer rubbed her head to soothe the ache, which caused the engineer to spark a little jealously as his eyes turned a little green.

"I have to redeem myself," the man told to himself closing his eyes and loosening his fist.

"I wanna try!" Selphie raised her hand exclaiming like a pure adrenaline junkie. She asked Seifer to wait for her at the base and then the engineer laid his hand on her back to guide her to the beam.

"I got tons of questions," Selphie squeaked as she arrived at the beginning of the beam. A strong wind picked up whipping her hair in different directions. "Do you live here by yourself?"

"Yeah," the man replied honestly scratching the back of his head.

"How long you've been living here?"

"About five to six years."

"What about your wife and children? Don't you leave this dump once in a while and visit them especially on Christmas Day?"

The engineered clenched his teeth feeling a little intimidated by Selphie's question. A strong feeling of anger urged him to let it all out like the fire of a cannon.

"Do you think I'm old?" he flared.

"Err..." Selphie grinned uneasily, showing her white pearly teeth. "I guess it's fun being an engineer, I guess?"

The engineer irate pushed Selphie to stand on the beam just as the wind died down. Selphie walked across the beam shakily at first but soon regained her balance and paced all the way to the edge of the beam in tiny steps. The engineer slapped his forehead in aggravation although Selphie safely made the journey. Seifer could see Selphie from the stairway, sitting cross-legged on the lofty beam casting the line and hook which plunged and dipped lightly into the ocean.

Selphie felt an unbearable dizziness gazing down at the water. She started focusing at the line, which really helped her to ease the sickness. It was like being in a trance. She could not hear the waves, the sound of heavy construction nor Seifer's voice from below. She just wanted to hear a slight plucking sound on the string. It was like a few seconds and the line started to stretch a little. She gleefully reacted to the pulling sensation of the line and started reeling in the catch.

"So err... are you single?" the engineer asked bashful to Quistis who turned to him in surprise in an instant.

"Yes I am. Why do you ask that?" Quistis replied crossing her arms and giving the engineer a firm look while Xu giggled hysterically to herself as softly as she could.

The engineer grabbed Quistis' hands as his face reddened a little replying Quistis with an erotic expression. "Will you marry me?"

A painful and hot sensation hit the man on the face as Quistis delivered a powerful slap. She retracted her hand and began to sound apologetic. "I'm sorry."

"No no, it's nothing!" the man chuckled while soothing the pain with a bag of ice cubes he took from his equipment box, trying as hard as could to hide the agony to the excruciation.

Presently, Selphie returned to the inside of the crane head with the fishing pole in one hand and a string hooking onto a wiggling fish in the other.

"Can I have my clue now?"

The man stuffed the red envelope tightly into Selphie's fist and pushed her into the stairway. The petite teenage girl sobbed a little as she descended the stairs, which caused the man to slap on the forehead and rubbing his hand down the face.

"So do you like fishing?" the engineer grinned shyly turning his attention back to Quistis. Xu looked down to the base of the tower to see Seifer and Selphie starting the boat.

"Quistis, I thought they're supposed to wait for us!" she exclaimed. Quistis followed to look down to the two figures sitting on the sampan about the leave the area.

"The bastard," Quistis bravely picked up the fishing pole from the ground. "No time to lose!"

The engineer now switched his target to Xu, who was now alone and positioned herself into a self-defense pose.

"Careful," she warned. "I'm a black belt in jujitsu."

***

"Aye, aye. Welcome aboard the S.S. Centra," Captain Morgan welcomed to the arrival of Fujin and Raijin who were about to climb up to the deck of the ship. Fujin was first to reach the deck of the fishing vessel. Tidying her hair, she lifted her head up until her eye met the captain's. "Aye, what a pretty lass."

The snakefish slipped through Raijin's hand like soap. After not getting a single fish in the next three attempts he was totally demoralised and sat on the wet surface on his butt. Fujin fumed and kicked his butt springing Raijin back into action in an instant.

"Har, har," the wizened old captain chuckled puffing out a few rings of smoke. He walked with the red envelope in one hand to the duo, wiping the slime from the fish on their trousers.

"You shall be the new queen of the pirates!" the captain grabbed Fujin's hand and began to kiss it gently. Fujin's face immediately turned black and started swinging her arm to deliver a smack on the captain's wrinkled and loose cheek.

"RAGE!" she hissed as she snatched the clue from the old man, lying on the ground on his back squirming in pain.

"She says that she doesn't like to be harassed by a dirty hundred-year-old geezer," Raijin translated.

"RUN!" Fujin yelled, slapping on Raijin's butt to make him dash from the furious and irate crewmembers who were approaching them bloodthirstily with their sharp knives and daggers. The duo ran to the other side of the ship, but halted when more angry sailors and crewmembers blocked the exit.

"Halt!" a firm husky voice rang in the air. The crowd stirred up and diverged into two equal parts allowing Captain Morgan to pass through and meet with the duo in person.

"Follow me to the study," he said grinning from ear to ear.

The duo followed the captain to the gallows of the ship holding a candlelit lantern in each of their hands, which barely illuminated the bone-chilling darkness around them. An eerie creak sounded as the captain carefully pushed open a door to reveal a dimly lit study. Fujin and Raijin hanged their lanterns on the antique coat hanger next to the door and scanned the room. Although they were completely surrounded by tall racks of dusty books, portraits of ancient pirates and people lingered on the walls, including an old framed giant-sized world map displayed shabbily with cobwebs stringing all over. Fujin turned to her side and looked up at a handsome looking one-eyed pirate with silver hair like hers.

"Is that..." Fujin muttered.

"Yes that's your great-great grandfather, Privateer Kazejin Yakuza," the captain said pointing at the portrait.

"Wha!?!?" Raijin yelped widening his eyes in disbelief and rubbed his eyes to look at the yellowed portrait again. "That means... that means Fujin is really a pirate?"

Fujin slapped the captain on the cheek when something struck her in the mind. Raijin came to calm her down as her arm began to vibrate unsteadily.

"MURDERER!" Fujin exclaimed as she lunged towards him but was halted by Raijin. The captain rubbed his cheek and started to look a little mortified.

"I know I'm a sick bastard but that's all in the past," the captain said sorrowfully. "I hope you can forgive me for what I did Miss Yakuza."

Fujin eased herself and bowed her head down a little in remorse. Tears ran through her hands as she covered her face and sobbed.

"What the heck's going on here, ya know?" Raijin wondered with his hands on his waist. Fujin stopped crying and turned around to face Raijin.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you and Seifer about my past," Fujin said in her soft and warm tone and began striding around the room with her hands on her back. "The aboriginal fishermen around the FH area are the descendents of pirates. My parents are one of those kin and the captain here is my half-uncle. My father was poisoned by a stonefish when I was only six. My half-uncle was supposed to go to FH to get the antidote but when he got back an hour later, my father passed away. After that, my mother can't stand the hardship of living in a vessel and the both of us moved to Galbadia. We were caught in a storm along the way and washed up on a beach near Winhill. I survived but my mom didn't."

Fujin finished morbidly and leaned with her forehead on one of the bookshelves. The look of anguish returned on Fujin's face remembering her painful past. She bit her lower lip and began to shed a few tears.

"Now, now, I know how you feel," Raijin tried as best as he could to sound comforting as he approached Fujin. "At least you got Seifer and me as your new family. And yeah don't forget Squall and the others, Instructor Xu and Instructor Trepe, Dr. Kadowaki, Headmaster Cid and all of Balamb Garden!"

Fujin spun around slowly with melancholy. She reached out her arms and immediately hugged Raijin after listening to such encouraging words by a meathead.

The sun was now at the middle of the horizon and Fujin gave her last kiss and hug to her uncle.

"I'm sorry I can't stay a little longer," Fujin said as she broke off from her uncle and boarded the stolen water taxi.

Fujin pushed Raijin away from the controls and the engine of the boat began to hum. Raijin untied the rope attached to the floating platform beneath the body of the ship and the boat began to drift a few inches away. Captain Morgan waved back at the departing two with a warm fatherly smile. Fujin turned her head to face the group waving back at her in a tearful goodbye. She shed a few tears but was more determined to continue the race and return to her kin in full glory.

"Say Raijin," Fujin said clutching tightly on the steering wheel. "What's your past like?"

"Wha!?" Raijin yipped sounding a little startled, slouching on the bow of the taxi with his hands behind the back of his head.

"Who cares about the past?" he said nonchalantly.

***

Shrouded by a thick steamy mist, the picture of the five mountainous islands strung together to form a chain of islets sharpened as Seifer and Selphie steered pass the Ocean Bridge. They headed to one of the islands to find a white sandy bay glimmering under the bright sunlight. They approached the beach to find the familiar figure of Cid Kramer standing on the beach calmly with his short brown hair fluttering to the breeze. The couple docked the boat on a nearby pier and they were soon seen treading along the beach holding their hands. Selphie later turned into a dash with seawater splashing into different directions under her feet.

"Headmaster Cid!!" she yelled out loud and eventually landed with both feet on the mat.

"Seifer and Selphie," Cid spoke in a moderate tone, which stirred a little concern on each of their faces. "You're the third team to arrive. Unfortunately you failed to complete the Roadblock and did not follow the final set of instructions. You have been given a time penalty of three hours plus an additional one hour and twenty-two minutes."

A van carrying a blonde bespectacled woman and an oriental young lady arrived at pavement by Karakola Beach. Quistis and Xu alighted from the van with their backpacks and ran as fast as they could vehemently towards the pit stop.

"We made it!" Quistis said as she bent down exhaustedly. She then gave Xu a high five and the both of them turned to the serene looking headmaster.

"Quistis and Xu," he began. "You're the fourth team to arrive. Unfortunately you have been given a three hour and fifty-four minute time penalty. So we'll see the outcome when the last team arrives."

***

It was now exactly 4 p.m. as Fujin and Raijin arrived at the Island Settlement pier looking for a ride. The sun began to dip itself into the blue ocean, casting an orange glimmer on the water at the edge of the horizon.

"TAXI!" Fujin yelled waving her hand in the air as she walked along the pavements beside the dirt road. A trishaw soon arrived heeding Fujin's call and braked in front of the duo.

"Where do you want to go?" the driver asked, turning the engine of the motorcycle off. As he stepped down the motorcycle, his conscious blacked out after receiving a hard blow on the head by Raijin. Fujin scouted the perimeter and gave the signal to Raijin to hide the body inside the bushes beneath the palm trees.

"LET'S GO," Fujin hopped onto the motorcycle and turned it on giving the motor a vroom pressing on the accelerator.

Fujin and Raijin dumped their backpacks on the wet sand and halted in front of Cid Kramer with a sign of intense on their faces. Fujin closed her eyes for a moment and held onto Raijin's hand snugly as the both of them awaited their coordinator's verdict.

"Fujin and Raijin," Cid started with a sigh, which added to the duo's anxiety.

"You're the last team to arrive, and you have been given a five hour time penalty for stealing public property and for not completing the Roadblock added to another 35 minutes."

Raijin tried to stop the tears beading in his eyes but the verdict was too devastating. He could not help it but to cry in defeat in Fujin's arms. Fujin patted on Raijin's back. She too could not bear the current circumstances as tears freely ran down her smooth cheek.

"However," Cid interrupted and gave them a warm wrinkly smile. "There's always a red letter day in the world. The good news is this is not an elimination leg and you're not eliminated. Congratulations!"

Raijin howled and cried more than ever, tightening his grip lovingly around Fujin. Fujin began to perk up and kicked Raijin in the shin.

"STOP IT," she said with her cheeks turning a little rosy. "EMBARRASSED..."

The final team trod back to their chalet dragging their backpacks along, while Cid Kramer jumped onboard an oncoming yacht and exhibited himself in front of the cameraman.

"Well that was the end of this leg of the race. Daniel and Rachel will be the first team to depart while the last team, Fujin and Raijin will depart twelve hours from now and lagging behind the first team by about ten hours. Will Daniel and Rachel hold their lead or others will overtake the moderately favorable team? Stay tuned for the next episode."

***

A group of engineers and builders gathered around at the center of the unfinished Lighthouse Tower. The shadow of the surrounding pillars crept to the electric heater at the middle of the floor when the sun set into a scarlet hue.

"Today was really wild," the middle-aged engineer from Crane Tower 8 mumbled chewing the crust of a hard piece of bread, while some others reached out their hands to enjoy the warmth of the heater. "I had four women visiting my shack but they're too wild.

I wished I was in the good old days, drinking and dating with the women in the bar after work," he sighed nostalgically, and then rose up to his feet as if he was struck by lightning. "But now we're stuck in this dump and Mayor Dobe doesn't give a damn about us but the damn lighthouse!"

The engineer squatted to the floor and punched his palm with his other hand balled into a fist, while giving everyone an energetic look as he scrolled from one construction worker to the other.

"Besides the Mayor doesn't come from these parts and I don't understand how on earth a mad scientist from Esthar can order us to turn our home into a solar plant, and now we were forced to build the port and this with our bare hands!" He spoke with his eyes glowing with full of vision and rose back up. "Someday we'll overthrow the mayor and make this place our own once again!"

It was a short but beautiful and inspiring speech and tears of aspiration appeared in everyone's faces. The group immediately celebrated their influential speaker and rose up together clamoring into a single patriotic vociferation; a vociferation that can be heard from miles away, which would surely shake the very revolutionary grounds of Fishermans Horizon.