Chapter 2! Answers Don't Come As Easy
Amanda's Ramble
Amanda: Howdy all! Once again, I bring you another chapter of Lovely Dreamer!
Auron: Am I getting any in this one?
Amanda: o.O No.
Auron: Damn!
Amanda: *-* Please Read And Review!
Morning came far too swiftly, and Ophelia scrunched her eyes tighter against the sunlight. It was so warm and cozy in her bed, and she had no desire to give up sleep just yet. She rolled over and her head hit something hard. Almost like another head. Perfect brows drew together and she cracked an eye, almost swallowing her tongue when she did so. Her eye slammed shut and she gingerly opened both, to be greeted by the same alarming site.
Ophelia shrieked and jumped out of the bed, yanking the covers from the half-naked man already reaching for his five-foot blade, his one eye scanning the room for danger. She continued shrieking, her back hitting the wall, one hand groping for loose objects to fling at the impossibly real figure before her. The man blinked and gave her a long look before lowering his sword, his other hand coming up to brush the salt and pepper locks that had come out of his ponytail from his face.
"By all that's holy, woman, stop that infernal shrieking!"
Ophelia's shriek trailed off, but her eyes felt as though they would pop out of her head if she didn't stop staring. Impossible or no, the man was impressive. Wait, what was she thinking? This couldn't really be happening. She whimpered, clutching the blanket tighter around herself, feeling as though the room were spinning. What on earth was happening?
"Auron!" The door burst open and five hastily dressed and armed figures fell in, the largest, a giant blue cat, landing on top. The pile beneath him groaned and a familiar, if muffled voice rang out.
"Kimahri! You gotta lose some weight, ya? Get off!"
"Kimahri will rise now. There is no danger." With that, the giant cat-man lifted himself off of the pile of less fortunate figures, and they all slowly began picking themselves up from the floor.
"What's going on! We heard a scream and came running." The thin blond male put a hand behind his head, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Are we interrupting anything?"
"Y-you're Tidus!" Ophelia felt her mouth hanging open, but was powerless to shut it. How the hell had she ended up in Spira?
"Um….yeah. That's me! Say, who're you?"
"Yes, who are you?" Auron had finally propped his blade against the wall and crossed his arms, his one good eye narrowed at her. "Why were you out in the middle of the night with no weapons or armor. Don't you know you could have been killed by fiends?"
Ophelia, terrified as she was, bristled at the man's words. "And I know you. The Legendary Sir Auron, defender of summoners, and all-around prick." His eye narrowed further, and a lump formed in her throat. Her mother always said she needed to learn when to keep her mouth shut.
"I didn't ask what you thought of me. I asked your name, girl."
"Ophelia. Not Opal, not Opie. If you call me anything else, I can guarantee you'll never have children. No, I don't know how in the world I got here, so don't bother asking. I shouldn't even be in Spira, because, quite frankly, this world doesn't exist."
"Doesn't exist? What do you mean, doesn't exist?" Lulu, sumptuous black mage, finally made her presence known, and Ophelia was awestruck. She was gorgeous.
"Um……" Ophelia trailed off, not knowing how to explain to these people that they were all just data on a disk. "I don't know how to explain."
"Hmph." Auron stepped forward and gave her a critical going-over, that one-eyed gaze seeming to bore into her very soul. "Did you get too close to Sin's toxin?"
"No, not in real life. At least, what I think is real life." Ophelia sighed and looked at her hands. "Look, you're all just going to play along with my story like you are with Tidus, because you think he got too close to Sin. Why bother trying. I didn't ask to be brought here, you know. It was finals week and I really needed to do well on them. I gotta maintain my GPA."
"What's a…..GPA." Wakka scratched his head in confusion.
"Something I have a feeling I'll never see again." She was aware of the mournful quality of her voice, but didn't care. It was all too confusing, too out of bounds to even comprehend. She would never see home again, would she? Or her friends and family. Final Fantasy X was much better when it was just a video game.
"What do you mean, playing along with me?" Tidus looked angry, and Ophelia bit her lip. Five minutes into meeting the greatest Squaresoft characters ever created and she was already causing trouble.
"Forget I said it. Look, I've gotta find a way home. I'm sorry I've put a kink in your plans. You have to make it to the Djose Highroad soon, right? I didn't mean to do any harm." Ophelia wrapped the blanket around her toga-style and started out of the door, her head low on her shoulders. She was out to face the world of Spira, and she was terrified.
"Wait!" Yuna came from behind Tidus and stopped before her, her hands coming to clasp Ophelia's. "You can't do this alone, you know. Maybe we can help. Travel with us, and maybe we can discover how to get you home." Yuna turned to Auron, her eyes pleading. "Sir Auron? I'd like to make this girl one of my guardians, if that's alright with you."
Auron's eye narrowed, his mouth turning down at the corners, but he nodded. "As you wish. However, I would like to make one request."
"Of course." Yuna bowed deeply, as was her custom, and looked up at the great guardian expectantly.
"Out, all of you. I'd like to get dressed."
"Oh!" A flush stained Yuna's cheeks and she put an arm around Ophelia's shoulders. "Of course, Sir Auron. Pardon us."
With that Ophelia found herself being led out of the room and down the hall to a door like all the rest that flanked her at both sides. She was ushered inside and Lulu and Yuna immediately began rifling their possessions, throwing clothes over their shoulders.
"Hmmm." Lulu held up a black leather ensamble that didn't look like more than a few strips of the animal hide sewed together. "This might be your size. I can't fit into it anymore, so I can't think why I brought it. I must've foreseen something like this." She held it up to the blanket-clad Ophelia and nodded. "It'll have to do until we can stop in a town." She handed Ophelia the garment and motioned to a changing screen against the far wall. Of course, she just had to borrow clothes from Lulu. She sighed and stepped behind the screen, finally loosing her death grip on the blanket. Next went the nightie and she gazed quizzically at the leather clothing. How in the world was she supposed to put it on? After a few failures, she finally figured out the perplexing top and slid it on. Whoa. There was no way she was EVER going to walk out of here in that. The top had a collar that buttoned behind the neck with two strips that ran down the middle of her back and chest, and two strips that barely covered her breasts. The pants were wide lattice work leather and didn't really conceal anything at all. With a thick swallow she stepped from behind the screen and gave Yuna and Lulu a weak smile.
"Hmmm." Lulu's eyes narrowed a moment and she turned back to her clothing pack. "Here, slip these on and I'll do your hair." Knee high boots. It figured. Ophelia slid them on, feeling like a streetwalker. Of course, she realized it really didn't look that bad when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
"Alright." Lulu ran a comb through Ophelia's thick brown locks before gathering it into a messy twist and securing it with hair sticks. "That should do it. If you see anything in there to wear that might make you feel more comfortable about wearing that, take it. We'll get you something better when we stop again." With that, Yuna and Lulu left the room, leaving Ophelia to her own devices. With more than a little curiosity, she began poking through Lulu's pack, almost immediately finding what she needed. A trench coat and a pair of wrap-around, black lensed sunglasses.
"If she's not here in five minutes, I'm going to leave her." Auron stood with his back against the inn wall, one foot propped against it.
"Sir Auron, she's a little shaken up, I imagine, and we should be more understanding of that." Yuna wiped her hands with a napkin, cleaning them after her hastily consumed meal. "After all-"
The door to Yuna and Lulu's room swung open, and Ophelia stepped out. Every male in the room, including Auron and Kimahri, felt their jaws hit the floor. That was the sad little girl that had fearlessly jumped on Auron?
"What are we waiting for? Djose Highroad awaits!" Ophelia grabbed what looked like an apple off of the table and moved over to a tall man with long blond locks and spiraled pupils. She knew instantly it was Rin, the Al Bhed owner of all of the travel agencies. "What do you have in the way of weapons?"
"Oh!" He started as if pulling himself from deep thought, motioning to the collection behind his head. "If you need anything, please, just let me know."
"The two curved swords. They look about right." Amazingly, when Amanda had reached into the pocket of the leather pants, she had found about four thousand gil. She handed Rin the money and slipped the swords into the two slots on the back of the jacket that seemed made for them. When she turned to face the others, she saw that Kimahri had narrowed his yellow eyes thoughtfully at her. He then nodded and headed out the door.
"That's our cue. Move 'em up and out!" She followed Kimahri out the door, drinking in the cool breeze and the sunshine. It was glorious, even if it was the wrong world. Then a dark thought hit her…….The Chocobo Eater. Damn.
Even as Ophelia thought it, a woman ran up, terror in her eyes.
"Help us! That monster that's been eating our chocobo's is back! You must help!" Ophelia nodded and began jogging towards the chocobo ranch, her place in Spira on shaky ground, but her will firm.
End of Chapter 2. What's going on? Why's Kimahri so interested in Ophelia? Why's Auron being such an ass? And just what is up with that outfit!