Flames of Tomorrow

As they were discussing the situation at Clive's house, they were given a job request. One of the men from town had talked with a boy named Albert from the Ark of Destiny, an organization dedicated to the finding of ancient artifacts, and he spoke of needing Drifters to search a ruin nearby. Since Clive was one of the most experienced Drifters the town knew of, and he had his allies, the man went to ask him to help out.

The four went to talk to Albert. They'd seen him before, he was repairing the local Memory Figure from a malfunction that was going on. Virginia stepped up to him and smiled. "I hear you've got a job for us to do. How can we be of service?" She curtsied, knowing that a polite response made your employer feel at ease. That was one of her main jobs over the last five years, the conversation. Jet wasn't good at that sort of thing, he got all tongue tied and embarrassed. Let Virginia take care of such matters, she liked it a lot.

"Well, there's a ruin near here," Albert said, "Inside, is rumored to be the Kism Fire, which was used as an energy source for the Immigration Ship. Are you aware of the story that our ancestors came here on a ship that soared in the heavens? Well, we found the ship a long time ago, and now we can find the power source. With both, we can blaze a new future for mankind." Clive nodded, the others had never heard that story and just stood there. Well, Gallows was busy drinking from a bottle, heck he was really bored now.

"And you want us to go to the ruins and get the Kism Fire for you. Well, I'm sure we can do that. Now, how about we talk about our payment if we do the job right," Virginia replied. She knew it was best to speak of the pay only after you heard of the job's details. For you don't want to feel underpaid for your work.

Albert told her, "Five thousand Gella. It's only a little bit away from this town, and I don't think it will be too dangerous for a seasoned Drifter, let alone four of them. Besides, what could go wrong? After all, I know you go on treasure hunts a lot, so this is right up your ally. And no one else knows about the flame."

* * *

Boy, could Albert have been any more wrong. For the second they entered, Virginia thought she had seen a figure retreating to the next room. But he didn't look to be one of the Prophets, or Janus. He had on a floppy hat and a large brown trench coat. Almost as if he wanted to hide what he looked like. That wasn't the odd thing about him, though, Virginia got the feeling like she'd met him before. Just who was he?

She didn't have any time to think about that, though. The team was moving on, trying to find the fire before something bad happened. Inside, they had to start the elevator up by getting the generator moving. It wasn't uncommon for these things to stop working after all those years of inactivity, so no one was getting annoyed with it. Besides, Clive felt really good right about now, he'd discovered a new Tool called the Might Gloves, which would allow him to move things he couldn't normally move on his own. The man used them to pick up blocks and place them on switches, or even just out of the way of one of the doors they had to go through. So it wasn't long before they finally arrived at the bottom level, where every important item is left.

Virginia stared at the fire inside the crystal. "It's beautiful you guys. Hard to believe this thing has so much energy, it could even bring a large ship to Filgaia from who knows how far away. I'll bet that we're going to be really lucky from now on, with contacts at the Ark of Destiny, we can get jobs very easily, which means we'll get some extra money too. Now we don't have to worry about losing supplies or going hungry."

She took the fire, and they began to head on back. But when they were on their way, they heard a laugh echoing throughout the room. In came Melody, with Asgard, and she looked to be spoiling for a fight with the four Drifters again. Jet eyed her, she was actually putting on eyeliner as she watched her enemies! How could one person be so stupid, and so vain, that they would risk their life to put on some cosmetics?

"Well, so we meet again," Melody stated, "This time, however, I will win. Your little playmates aren't here to bail you out once more, so I think Asgard will be able to get rid of you. Now! Asgard, attack these enemies right in front of you! Show them what happens to those who challenge the evolution of the world."

Asgard stepped forward, and attacked with his best skill. Everyone was knocked out instantly. In one split second, Virginia's whole life flashed before her eyes. She knew this was it, they had failed. The girl reached out towards Jet, trying to hold him one last time. With injuries like these, their own powers had seen a great reduction in power. It was more devastating than Janus's Negative Rainbow. So neither would have the energy required to heal one another. But all Virginia wanted was to hold him in their final moments.

Luck was on their side, the end didn't come. Asgard was stopped in his tracks by the stranger who Virginia had seen earlier. Now she was able to get a closer look at him, his brown hair and his blue eyes that the hat tried to hide from the world. But her vision was still blurred, so she didn't see him completely.

"Cease and desist in pestering these Drifters. Four warriors, get up once more. You can defeat the enemy now, I have faith in your abilities," he called. The man tossed the team each a Potion Berry, and one by one they got up. Virginia found her powers coming back to her, and she was sure Jet could feel it too.

She aimed her guns towards the Golem while he was still paralyzed. The two shots were enough to give him a surge of energy. But suddenly he spoke! He said, "Energy levels dropping dramatically, I can't go on with this battle Mistress. Request return to Yggdrasil for a tune up, or I will be destroyed right here."

Melody took the Golem away. But his words stuck in Virginia's mind more than the fact that in a few short days, he'd learned to speak. 'Yggdrasil is back on line. It failed last time, exploded and nearly killed me and Jet. Why would Leehalt want to bring it back? And who is this man who is above us? Could it be, Daddy? He does look like him. But what should I say? Should I run into his arms, happy that he's alive? Or should I hang back, walk up to him and just give him a hug? What about Jet, what should he do?'

Her question didn't need answering, for just then the man walked off. Virginia felt her heart was about to break in two. If he was her father, why was he leaving her again? He should come and tell her he had survived too, they could be a family once more. And if he was the one who saved her, she wanted to tell him how grateful she was. But that would all have to wait, until a day not so far in the girl's future.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I've been going a little crazy with my Pokemon Sapphire lately. I mean, egg hatching. Well, little Treecko needs a little more time. I can wait, it's for my friend whose at camp anyway. Oh, the fic. I love the gag of Melody putting on makeup instead of fighting. It's just, so her.