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Chapter 1:

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"…And that's how I saved the day!" Faustis finished with great flourish, leaning back in his chair, grinning. His amethyst eyes were dancing and his cornucopia hat was draped rather jauntily on the side of his head. His flaxen hair was in disarray.

After a short pause, Bud, the violet-haired mage boy, snorted and said, "Right. Well, I think you just got lucky. Knowing you, how could it be possible for you to do that?"

Faustis looked offended. "You don't have to be so insulting," he complained in an injured tone.

Rolling her lilac eyes, Farryn sighed and shoved back a tendril of golden hair. "All right, Faus." She looked at him irritably. "Spill it. What really happened?"

Faustis echoed his twin sister's sigh. "Fine."

She, her twin brother, Faustis, and two young aspiring sorcerers named Bud and Lisa were at their home, a house in a tree. It was a lovely area where the twins had grown up. Their parents were both gone but they had made sure that their children would live comfortably. There was a structure to the west where several workshops were located and a monster corral to the east. There was a charming orchard just south of the house where they had their very own Mana Tree. The place was just a few miles past Domina, a rural town with pleasant people and an even pleasanter scenery.

Faustis had just come back from another one of his quests, and as usual, the narrative he told them of it was a lot more outrageous than how it really happened. Sometimes, he couldn't help embellishing the stories a little.

Or a lot.

In any case, his anecdotes were always amusing, so they never minded much.

They were all gathered around the dining table, finishing their dinner as Faustis gave in and told them the real story of what had really happened. It was a lot more prosaic than the yarn Faustis had spun for them.

"I've always suspected that this would eventually happen," Farryn mused, playing with her spoon. "It never seemed permanent enough."

Faustis shrugged and said philosophically, "That's the way the popo bug crumbles. Although I really don't like them."

Farryn laughed.

Suddenly, there was a soft rhythmic tapping on the leaves outside. Lisa, Bud's older sister, got up and looked out the window and announced that it was raining. She turned to look at Farryn. "D'you think that there's a Jumi out there crying?"

She laughed softly. "It's not very likely, Lisa. It's more possible that this is just a light drizzle from the north. The Jumi are probably sleeping at the moment. And it looks like you should, too."

"Farryn!" Bud and Lisa wailed in protest.

The Sprite gave them a stern look. Since the two of them were rather familiar with that look, they hurriedly excused themselves from the table and dashed to their rooms, although not without any complaints.

Farryn grinned at her brother, who suddenly looked pensive. She wondered briefly what he was worried about then decided to check on the monsters. She stood up and grabbed her cloak. When she invited Faustis to come along with her, he said, "They've been through your little rainstorm. A little shower can hardly hurt them."

Nevertheless, he followed her out the door, though he didn't bother to get his cloak to protect himself from the rain.

It was an annoying habit of his which he continued to express just to vex her. He never wore anything to protect himself from the elements, due to his complete disregard for the weather. What irked her more was that he never got sick from any sort of storm, except for her little typhoon when she was turned into stone. Luckily, he was in Geo at that time and busy trying to cope with his fever, so he wasn't around to meet Elazul and Pearl when they had gone to the house to tell Bud and Lisa of what had happened to Farryn.

Actually, to Faustis.

It's a little complicated, but nobody knew who Farryn was, although she went on as much quests as Faustis did. Maybe more. It all started when they had finally broken through the spell their parents had placed upon their house with the help of the Colorblocks the Sproutling on their doorsteps had given them. They soon found Domina and eagerly traveled there in hopes of finally meeting new people.

They HAD met new people, and Faustis had gone with the Jumi knight Elazul while Farryn helped the merchant Niccolo out. But Farryn was disconcerted when she met Niccolo (too overwhelmed with the sights and sounds), so when Niccolo asked her name, she said that she was Faustis.

That had started everything, because the rabbit stubbornly wouldn't admit that he believed her and therefore continued to call him Faustis. Niccolo wanted to make sure that no one ever knew that he had been made a fool of (even though that she hadn't done it intentionally), so he told everyone he met that she was a he named Faustis.

Farryn saw no particular need to care much about it and she didn't really like the idea of fame so she just surrendered all her reputation to her brother, who completely soaked all the praise up. His reputation grew more and more each time they set foot out of their house. Many ignored the fact that he was a liar and that he enjoyed gambling a little too much (and often cheated, too), since they were usually so grateful. And since he was quite striking, ladies continually fell over his feet.

Perhaps that was why he was always so clumsy.

Farryn was attractive as well, but she stayed away from places where there were many people unless she was required to go to help an unfortunate. She just enjoyed helping people and having more chances to hone her fighting skills, something which Faustis never really did. Yes, he was a good warrior, but he relied more on luck than on skill on his adventures, unlike Farryn, who was an excellent combatant, thanks to hours of training.

"Hey, do you know where those Sproutlings went?" Faustis broke into her thoughts. She snapped her head up and realized that she was just standing there and staring at her brother.

She turned to look for them but couldn't see any sign of the strange walking plants. She shrugged and said, "Maybe they're hiding from the rain."

"But plants like rain."

"Don't turn to me for all the answers."

"But aren't you the one who spends all her time holed up in the old graveyard?"

She sighed. "It's not a graveyard, Faus," she told him patiently. They had this argument quite frequently among several others. "Just because it's quiet there doesn't mean that it's a place where people store their rotting dead. It's a library."

Faustis stared back at her blankly. "And?"

"Never mind." For some reason, Farryn wasn't in the mood to spar with her brother today.

They continued up the path to the monster corral. She glanced at Faustis and saw that he was staring at the sky broodingly. He looked unusually serious, for a change. He didn't even take notice of his dripping hat.

"What's on your mind, Faus?" she asked curiously. Something had to be rather significant in order to shove his cheerful mood away. She hoped it was a philosophical question, because, for all his frivolous activities, he was extremely intelligent. His theories were often profound and mind-boggling and fun to counteract with some of her own.

He looked back at her, startled. "What? Oh, uh…I was just thinking about the time when you saved the entire Jumi race, that's all."

She could see that he was holding something back. "C'mon, Faus," she prodded. "There's more, isn't there?"

He sighed and nodded. "I forget how easily you see through me. Well…was it horrible to be locked in stone? If Florina and the others hadn't decided to make a Teardrop Crystal, that would've been the end for you. It should've been me back there. You don't deserve that."

Farryn was taken aback by his solemnity. He was usually the one full of smiles and laughter while she stayed silent and contemplative. It was strange. She decided to play his role.

"It was you, remember?" She grinned cheekily at him. "It was Faustis who defeated the Jewel Master. It was Faustis who cried for the Jumi and it was Faustis who got turned into stone, so don't you forget!"

He gave her an exasperated look. "Don't be pert. It seems wrong for things to be that way. It isn't fair to you."

"Morality, Faus?" She feigned an expression of astonishment. "From you?"

"It is a little out of place, isn't it?" he admitted. "But still. Call it guilt if you like. It just feels wrong for you to hand over all your hard-earned fame to me."

She shook her head. "I never wanted it, so it's nothing off my back. It just came to me."

"But it's still yours," he said stubbornly. "You deserve to have it. You're the better warrior, 'Rin. My luck just loves me, that's all."

Seeing Farryn about to protest, he held up a hand and stopped her. "I'm not stupid, 'Rin. I can see that the only reason I have such a reputation is because of you. I mean, really, who cares about Gilbert's love life or whether or not some penguins want treasure? I'm supposed to be some fantastic warrior with strange powers who seems to change from being masculine to feminine. But I really am just some Sprite warrior who gets lucky now and then."

She stopped and stared at her brother. Faustis was dripping wet but he hardly noticed it. What had happened to him? He was usually such an outrageous braggart with the largest ego that this was a huge confession from him.

"What's wrong?" she demanded. "Tell me what happened to you."

Faustis shook his head, spraying water, but he didn't take note of it. He looked miserable. "Nothing, Farryn." He reached out and took her hand. "It's just that I almost lost you back there. How can I live without my sister?" He smiled faintly. "How can I take credit for such a momentous experience for you? I could never do that. You nearly lost your life."

She shook her head vigorously, resuming her walk. Faustis followed silently. "No," Farryn glanced at him. "Don't you remember that we almost always are in the risk of losing our lives whenever we travel? Whether it be a fight against the dragon Akravator or, as ridiculous as it sounds, a chance battle with a Chocobo on Luon Highway, we don't run away from the battle. We fight and we win, but risk everything all the same. It's something that we can't resist doing.

"Anyway," she continued. "I knew that whatever would happen in that room, Elazul and the others would do anything to save me." She paused. "Or you, for that matter. That is, after you healed up at Geo. Besides, why is it that you never hesitated to take credit for everything else? I'm sure that if you found a probable reason, you would take credit for making the sun rise."

He smiled contemplatively. "Say now…wouldn't that be an amazing feat?" he murmured. He looked back at her. "I guess I'm just proud of you, 'Rin. You saved the entire Jumi race and defeated that evil Jewel Master. I feel brotherly pride for my twin and think that YOU deserve to be credited for it, not me. I wouldn't have probably bee able to save them if I had gone to Etansel instead of you."

"Being the lying cheating scoundrel you are," Farryn quipped, thinking the conversation had taken a turn for the worse and hoped to goad him into cheerfulness.

He feigned an injured expression. "You don't have to come down so hard on that," he whined. "And you just had to save the Jumi by crying. Imagine what that would do to my impeccable reputation! Faustis the Fantastic, crying like a baby!"

"It was just one tear!"

"So? They'll be talking about it all over Fa'Diel!"

"Well, what else do you think stains your spotless eminence?" she retorted, although she was glad that he was not so moody anymore. "You're a lying cheating rascal! And there's all that dallying you do with other women." She grinned, knowing where the conversation would turn next and eagerly anticipating the thought of mercilessly teasing her brother.

Faustis paused. "I've sort of stopped that, you know," he protested. "Well…the dallying, at least."

"I know."

"No, really, I have—WHAT?" His face grew pale.

Hers, though, took on a sneaky look. If one would compare that expression on her fairy-like face to that of Faustis' when he was busy swindling all the money away from a vendor, one would have found the similarity uncanny and more than a little frightening.

"Yes," Farryn said, trying to bottle in her laughter. "It seemed that your interest in other women's beds faded after that little episode in the Tower of Leires…"

Her grin widened when she saw his face regain its color. A lot of it, actually. In fact, he looked so red that she thought it was unhealthy.

"So…" she continued, enjoying herself, "Tell me, Faus. What exactly happened when you and Pearl went to the Tower of Leires…ALONE? Your story was matter-of-fact enough, but I can tell that you're hiding some important facts from me. Maybe you forgot these details…on purpose. Or perhaps you decided not to mention it to people who don't know you well, but remember that I'm Farryn, your twin sister who lived with you for seventeen years, and the only other Sprite in Fa'Diel. I should know you pretty well by now."

"I told you everything," he said tightly, veering ahead.

She easily caught up with him. "I'm sure you are." She snickered. "Not. But could it be that Faustis, the Untouchable yet Well-Loved by the Ladies, has finally fallen in love with a certain Jumi Guardian of the Pearl Order?"

"Oh," he exclaimed. "Hey, speaking of Pearl, when you went to the Tower, was Blackpearl really that evil?" He had genuine curiosity in his tone, but she knew he was just trying to change the subject. Faustis could be so transparent sometimes.

She shrugged. "Not exactly evil, but not the nicest person in the world, either."

He sighed. She patted his arm. "She's still Pearl, remember?" She grinned impertinently at him. "Don't worry, Faus. Your secret is safe with me." She added as an afterthought, "After all, I'm not you."

"Thank you," was his dry reply. "I'm glad that you think so highly of me. I CAN keep secrets, you know."

She laughed. "But usually, you let them out every now and then to dry. Now, about your little episode with Pearl…"

"We're here!" Faustis practically ran into the monster barn, desperate to escape her. She chuckled and trailed after her fleeing brother into the barn.

She shrugged out of her hooded cloak and hung it on the stand by the door. She turned around to face the barn and took a deep breath. Although it was raining outside, there was still that musty smell wafting through the air. There was a light scattering of hay on the floor where the monsters sometimes played. The lamps hanging from the wall were suspended over bins of water (in case they ever fell).

Farryn loved the monster corral almost as much as she loved the orchard. Both of them, in fact. There was a certain serenity hanging over their heads in the barn that could also be found in the Orchards. The monster smell wasn't really bad (unless you had a pet Zombie. Faustis once did and the Zombie, Rigor, had caused the air to go rancid from the moment he entered the barn. He had to talk fast in order to sell him to the dubious Jennifer because Rigor was agitating the rest of the monsters.).

She glanced over at Faustis. He was trying to pet his Kid Dragon but couldn't even get close enough to touch the tip of his tail due to his thoroughly soaked clothing and Ekard's aversion to water.

She laughed when he tripped and fell face-first into a pile of dragon waste. "Serves you right for not trying to protect yourself from the weather, even if you don't get sick."

He grumbled as he stood up and beamed at her after wiping most of the dirt off his elfin face. "I do that just to annoy you, 'Rin."

She shrugged and bent to fill her Rabite's box with good food. She then fondly stroked the Rabite's pure white fur. "Faus, d'you remember when we first hatched Winter?" she hugged the monster, who was just as happy to burrow her little body into her face.

Faustis nodded, straightening up from petting his Sea Dragon, Naian (who had no qualms against his wetness). "Little Winter's the first monster we ever hatched, so I doubt that I could forget such a momentous experience. Right after she hatched, she jumped out and bit me on the nose," he remarked, rubbing the pert-looking nose he and his sister both had. "She was pretty strong back then, but she's a lot stronger now, when she bother to fight. She's even more powerful than old Talon here."

In response, the said Sky Dragon snapped his jaws menacingly at his owner. Faustis laughed. "Winter's a lot nicer, too. Do you remember when I took her on that quest with me?"

She paused. "Oh, yeah. I was pretty mad at you for a while. Was that the quest where you met that dragoon? He's Sierra's brother, right?"

Faustis nodded and said wistfully, "I wish I could've met her. She sounds pretty cool."

"Don't go after her," she advised, shaking her head. "If you'd try to make any move on her, she'd flash those knives of hers and you'd have to carry your guts home in a bucket."

"I wasn't thinking about meeting her in that way," he protested.

"Oh, yeah," she replied slyly. "After all, there still is Pearl…"

"Stop that!"

Laughing, Farryn moved to the next feed box.

When they finished up ensuring the monsters were comfortable at the barn, the twins left and saw that the rain had abated a little. They began the short walk to the Tree House. To their pleasure, they found the rain was not a harassing push to their shoulders anymore. Rather, it became fairly pleasant to walk through.

Farryn remembered well the time when she was in the city of Lumina at these rainy moments. It had just rained over the glowing city when she had gone outside, there were rainbows everywhere. It was so beautiful that it completely took her breath away. The seeming gloominess which hung over Lumina was enhanced, but instead of looking like a dismal city, it looked like something out of a fairy tale.

At that time, she was with Elazul and they were still searching for Pearl. They had spent the night in the inn, worried about the female Jumi Guardian, but when they emerged and saw the surprising beauty of Lumina, their worry eased and their hearts lightened. Because of the enchanting spell of the city, they stayed in Lumina for several more days, seeing the unknown yet phenomenal sights of Lumina until all the rainbows vanished.

That was one of her most cherished memories. There, she got to see the Jumi of the Lapis Lazuli relaxed and having fun. It was quite different from the usual stoic and asinine Elazul she knew. She was fond of the Jumi and understood their ways, something which most people thought cruel and unconcerned with what went on in life. She understood why they chose to hide themselves from the world. She enjoyed going on quests whenever the shy Pearl and the rough Elazul needed her help.

Faustis' help, actually. She sometimes forgot that they didn't know who she was. There were times when she wanted to be herself, Farryn—Farryn, not Farryn—Faustis. And to think that their deception spread from a rabbit who couldn't bear to be fooled.

Yet she didn't quite mind. Faustis loved being in the center of attention. She preferred quietly taking her leave as long as the people she helped were fine. That was the way she was. No amount of fame could stamp that out of her nature. She supposed that Faustis had the more outrageous features and a much larger share of the charm and laughter.

But as much as she wanted to tell everyone who she was, she decided that it would complicate things unnecessarily. Besides, most of them probably already forgot who she and Faustis were. She could continue to have her adventures and be free of any worry under Faustis' name.

Yet something in her heart told her that she was destined for things greater than simply being half famous. She had dreams sometimes. Usually on nights when the stars were all out and clear. These dreams frightened her and intrigued her at the same time. They showed her such vast power beyond belief but also showed the use of it, a terrible scourge which would sweep its path through Life and leave nothing behind but chaos.

Along with the dreams came hazy pictures. Usually of stars and peaceful eternity but there were times when she dreamed that she was the cause of the major calamity which would destroy everything she had come to love. There were also nights when she dreamed of mysterious faces she did not recognize. There were many faces, but most often came an impossibly beautiful face of a timeless woman and the grave and handsome face of a shadowy man.

The pictures of destruction scared her but what frightened her more was the feeling she had when she dreamed that she was the one who destroyed all Life. Emanating from those dreams were emotions of triumph as the death of Life.

Her triumph.

She couldn't tell anyone about the dreams. Not even Faustis, who was closer to her than her own skin. He knew her better than most people thought possible. The dreams were too serious for him and she felt shame from the emotions, even though they were just dreams.

So she said nothing of the dreams, of the dark fate which awaited her. After all, they were only dreams…

Right?