Bring Me To Life

A shameless attempt to insert myself into a videogame. I know, an endless cliche, right? *sigh* I couldn't help it. I've always wanted to do it, and have never had the balls to. Oh well, this follows the story line of FFX-2, mostly, with some added goodness for me, because I can. Nyah. Title comes from an Evenescence song of the same. The meaning will become clear, sooner or later, knowing me, probably later.

I don't own any characters except me, or the Final Fantasy franchise. So don't sue.

Chapter 1: Even In Death

I woke up, disoriented, wondering what the hell had happened to me. I'd been sitting at my computer, working on my fanfic real Emotion (shameless plug ^^), when I'd gotten dizzy, and everything had faded to white. I sat up and put a hand to my aching head, and took a look at my surroundings. The ocean stretched before me, but it was of a clarity I'd never seen, the water that perfect mixture of blue and green found only in the most god-forsaken places on earth, and a far cry from my house. I was sitting on a crate, the support bars digging into my legs, the heat of the wood nearly scorching my skin. Where the hell was I?

"You run to fast!" My ears perked and I whirled around, spotting a familiar but all too real figure run past, her blond hair trailing behind her. Okay, so I was having some whacked out dream. That I could deal with. Well, if it was a dream, I could go along with it. I slid off the crate, groaning as my knees protested the sudden weight of my body being forced upon them. Shaking it off, I ran after the blonde, my knees still creaky from apparent misuse. I saw men in green suits take chase after the retreating young woman as well, and tried to pick up some speed. After all, it was probably the only chance I had to meet the Final Fantasy X-2 characters in person, even if it was only a dream.

Finally, she stopped, and I caught up to her, gasping and wheezing. "Ri....Ri.....Ri..." I panted. Both she and the woman with the silver hair turned to look at me, Rikku with interest, Paine with indifference. "Rikku!" It came out in a huff, and I sucked in a long painful breath. I really needed to stop smoking. "Nice to meet you."

"Hey! I think I know you!"

"Playtime's over, little girls." I knew that voice. I peeped over my shoulder, and sure enough, it was Logos. I groaned, and scooted away behind a box.

"No fight here, just keep moving, buddy!" I waved frantically, ducking down in a hurry when a shot ricocheted off of my covering. "Oh, shit."

"Hey, stick boy, you be nice to her." I heard Rikku's indignant yell and smiled to myself. Well, if nothing else, this dream would be interesting. Then, there was a volley of gunshots, and I peeked over the corner of the box once more to see no less than Yuna, guns held out at the ready. Her thumbs moved slightly, disengaging what looked like clips to me, and where quickly replaced before she took a short running leap into the air, her body twisting matrix-style. I must have looked like an idiot, with my mouth hanging open, watching all of this, but oh well. Yuna landed and brandished her guns, with Rikku and Paine coming together at her back. It was cheesy Charlie's Angels, and I had a front row seat.

I hid for most of the battle. The bullets were flying like mad and I was a complete chicken shit (a/n: which is 100% true), and I certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of any of it. Only when I heard the words "It can't be!!!" did I peep out again, seeing the three Gullwings congradulating themselves. I stepped out and gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of my head anime style, completely disheveling my short, dyed-black hair.

"Uh...sorry about hiding and everything, but I don't have any weapons, and I'm more of a lover than a fighter. He he he..."

"Yay! You're still here!" Rikku bounced up and gave me a total once over. "I know I know you, but I can't think from where." She scratched her chin a moment. "It's so frustrating!"

"Well, well, the Dullwings." A woman, who by all appearances, could have been Yuna's twin walked up, the cowering Ormi and Logos in tow.

"My grid." Yuna sounded angry, and held out her hand.

"You give us back Yunie's garment grid right now!" Rikku balled up her fists and thrust her jaw out in a failing effort to look intimidating.

"Didn't you girls ever learn to share?" Yuna 2 flipped her hair, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Give. It. Back." Yuna stepped forward, showing she meant business. I crept behind her, hoping not to be noticed.

"Very well, it's yours." Yuna 2 tossed it, and Yuna, wide eyed, caught it, exposing me in the process. "But not for long, loves." Leblanc (I knew it was her all along, it just seemed weird to think of her as that when she looked so much like Yuna) brought her fan before her face, the effects of the dressphere wearing off. When she moved her fan away, I realized that, in life, Leblanc was very beautiful, but it was a cold beauty. There was no warmth at all in her face.

I felt something being shoved into my hands, and, glancing down, realized it was a sword. In fact, it was a katana, the same kind Auron started with in FFX. I looked up to see Paine giving me an odd look.

"It was Sir Auron's." She said quickly. "It calls to you for some reason. Make sure you do its previous owner justice."

"But I don't know how to use a sword!" Paine didn't answer, because at that moment Ormi was upon her, pushing her back with his shield. Wide-eyed, I turned to find Leblanc coming at me full speed, the blades of her sharpened fan poised for an attack. Without thinking, I brought the sword up, and her fan slid harmlessly down its length. From then on I moved on instinct, bringing the heavy sword around even though the mere act of doing it made me feel like I was going to throw my back out.. I didn't strike at anyone, didn't know how, but I fended off the attacks made at me, which I supposed was a start. The battle seemed to go on for hours, but in reality lasted all but ten minutes. When Leblanc finally sank to her knees in defeat, I lowered the katana, breathing heavily.

"This isn't the end!" Leblanc exclaimed, as she, Ormi, and Logos ran off. I watched them, my eyes feeling like dinner plates, my hands shaking. The adrenaline rush was incredible. Too bad this was only a dream. I could definitely get used to this.

Rikku ran after them, intending to pound them some more, when Paine stopped her.

"Rikku," she said, and nodded in Yuna's direction. Rikku and I both turned to look. Yuna was dancing, but obviously against her will. She stopped trying to resist and laughed, turning in circles as she jumped around.

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When they invited me aboard their airship, I readily agreed. I even got a compliment from Paine. She said I wasn't half bad with a sword, if I'd attack once in a while. Well, I considered it to be a compliment. This was the most realistic dream I'd ever had. I wanted it to go on forever. After all, real life wasn't nearly this exciting.

On board the airship, I explored the cabin as Rikku explained to Brother how they'd picked me up. I was intently gazing at the screen displays when Rikku called me over.

"Um, this is really embarrassing, but what's your name? I'm Rikku!"

"I know who all of you are, no need for introductions. I'm Amanda, by the way."

"Ah-mahn-dah?" Brother gave me that creepy once over of his, and I fought the urge to kick him in the balls and scream "NO!" (Ten cookies to who can tell me what that's from. And an Auron striptease).

"Uh, yeah." I turned and made my way over to Shinra, who was in front of his computer like panel. "Hi. You're Shinra, right?"

"Correct. I'm the local genius. Pleased to meet you."

"Yeah. Same."

Yuna came over, and for a minute just stood there. I find that incredibly annoying. I turned and raised a brow, and she blushed, gesturing awkwardly.



"I was just wondering...Where are you from?"

"A place that's kinda hard to explain."

She gave me an intense look for a long moment, which made me more than a little uncomfortable. "Do you know a man named Tidus?"

"Uh...no," I lied. After all, I really didn't KNOW Tidus.

"Oh...." She sounded hurt, so I tried to make it up to her.

"Are you looking for him or something?"

"Yes." She sighed and looked away. "It's an impossible dream, I know, but still I have to. If that sphere is what I think it is, then he's out there somewhere, and he's looking for me, too."

"What sphere?"

Shinra typed in something on the keyboard. "This one."

I crossed my arms and watched the screen. I couldn't believe I was actually dreaming about the "Journey's Beginning" sphere. But something was off with it.

"Hey, can you pause it and rewind in slow motion?" Shinra nodded and punched a few keys and I watched the screen for the oddity I'd noticed just a few seconds ago. "There!" He stopped it again, and I pointed at a fuzzy figure in the background. "Okay, can you enhance it?"

"My, you certainly are picky about image quality." I could feel Shinra giving me a sardonic look, and ignored it. I felt the others behind me, and that made me just plain itchy. I hate people watching things over my shoulder.

"Can you do it?" Shinra nodded, and punched a few more keys. The image became clearer and clearer, and two gasps besides my own went up. There, still slightly fuzzy and out of focus, and in the background, was a very familiar figure, caught up in a cage much like the ones in the Via Purifico under Bevelle. "It's Auron," I whispered. "But....How?"

"How in a chocobo's tail feather did you notice that?" Buddy gave me a skeptical look, and I shrugged.

"I don't know. It just looked odd." I frowned at the image. "But...he's in the Farplane..." But, I thought to myself, this sphere was also taken one thousand years ago. But...this was the real Zanarkand, not the dream one Tidus was from...So how was Auron in that cage, under Bevelle, over one thousand years ago?

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End of Chapter One. Chapter Two coming soon.