The Lost Gem

The next day they flew to Fila del Fia on Lombardia. Landing, they went inside the old ruin. What the team saw took their breaths away. It WAS an entire city, just as the stories said. Virginia noticed a few old ruins on the walls, just like the ones her mother had showed her when she was a child. That was all the proof she needed, one of her ancestors had founded this city, and it lost power and crashed somehow.

Shortly after getting in, they noticed something strange. It was an overhead fixture, and there was no way at all to go onwards after it. No one could climb to the top and Jet couldn't jump. Perhaps the team could go up on Virginia's wings, but they wondered how the ancients had done it. Clive was worried it would exhaust Virginia to continuously carry the whole team, especially if there were more areas like this. So he told her not to worry about it, and to see what they could find first. Virginia wanted to mutters something to the extent of, "Jet and I fly over long distances together all the time, and I never get tired," but she held her tongue. After all, it was Jet if anyone who'd mention that. He was the tactless one out of the two of them.

Luck was with them, though. For Clive located what appeared to be an old hookshot. He used it to grab onto one of the lights, and pull everyone up to the next level. His worries were also confirmed, many of those fixtures were scattered throughout the area. Probably everyone owned a hookshot, and used it to go from place to place. For no one could have had powers like Virginia's, it wasn't natural for even their tribe.

Some time later, they were ambushed by a Chameleon. He would turn invisible if ever hit with an ARM, making him only vulnerable to magic. So whenever he became visible, Jet or Clive would shoot and the others continued with magic. Then, they all used magic until he reappeared again. But he wasn't that easy to kill. For the monster knew an Instant Death attack, and used it often. Luckily, it was a physical hit and easy to dodge. Unlucky for them, though, they only had two with Fallen Guards, Clive and Virginia. So if Jet or Gallows was hurt, they would have to bring him back to life with a Revive Fruit. Or in Jet's case he could just Airget-Healing with Virginia, who always reached down the second he fell. Once, she even took him in her arms, and tenderly stroked his face with her left hand as her right one worked its magic. At the time, Clive was focusing with his Lock On skill, and Gallows was busy trying to cast Petrify, so they didn't notice what was going on. That was why, when he woke up, Virginia gave her beloved a kiss on his lips.

She smiled at him. "As long as you're ok, nothing else in this world matters to me." With all that said, the girl got up and began to concentrate on calling on Raftina's Power. Using the magic of Sacred Blood, she healed the entire party up to full. Just then, Gallows cast Dark Matter and killed the Chameleon.

"Well, now that all of that is over, let's move on," suggested Clive, "I'm sure the secrets of those who lived here will be farther back in this dungeon. We might even find a clue as to how to rejuvenate Filgaia, or how we can kill Siegfried. After all, Florina had no idea what his weakness was, and only said to fight with all we have. But we have no idea of knowing what he has, since he's never fought against us before." With all that said, they went further into the city. More hookshot puzzles were there, and the team began to groan.

* * *

At last they made it to the back of the room. A computer was off to one side, its monitor all lit up like it had just been accessed. On the screen was nothing but static, so Clive began to fiddle around with it. Suddenly, the screen showed them something new. It was a gem, a beautiful blue gem shaped like a tear. Virginia felt weird just looking at it, somehow the shape and shine made her feel comfortable even though it was no more than a picture. Could this be an ancient Shaman weapon? One they could use in combat?

"It says here that this gem is called the Teardrop. Apparently, it was this power that sustained the city. But one day, after his mother passed away, the son of the city's founder took over. He seemed to not be able to control the gem's power, and the whole city was ruined. Now, it is as we see it. The gem is no longer here, however. He took it with him when he left. Virginia, can you explain it to me?" asked Clive.

Virginia admitted, "I never heard of the Teardrop, but there is a lost family heirloom that we hid away in an old ruin somewhere, one that was a gift from the Guardians. It may be the Teardrop, the name and use of this item was lost long ago. If the Teardrop is indeed the heirloom, there is and explanation as to why the city crashed. Only females can control the true power of this gem, I guess because girls have an innocence or something like that. My ancestor, Cecilia Adlehyde, was even called the Innocent One by the Guardians. His mother could use it to control the city, but once he was in charge of it, the power would not respond to him. The only way a male of our blood can control the full power of the gem is if there's a really bad emergency, and no female heirs are present. Girls always get the first crack when inheriting things."

* * *

On the way out, they decided to get some information on the Teardrop, and look for it. Virginia had a flashback to the Ruins of Memory, when she felt the two presences, but she decided to take a look for a lead or two first. And in Claiborne, they found some information. Someone spoke of a rumor about a gem called the Teardrop being found in the Caging Tower to the northwest. The girl decided to check it out, for what she'd felt back then could be any old Guardian related thing. Heck, maybe there was a Guardian of Memories, and he or she lived inside of that ruin. Or it could even be an energy spell to protect Drifters.

That night, she was laying on her bed, as Jet sat on his own. "Hey, Jet. Do you think we'll be able to find this Teardrop? I could tell right away it was an important part of my racial past, the gem's light shone through, even though it was a computer terminal. That gem just might be the key to victory if it's the one my mother spoke of, the lost family heirloom. I only hope I can discover it before something bad happens."

"Don't worry," he replied, "You always come out on top. I just can't wait for this all to be over, we can finally get back to our own lives. Then we won't have to worry about Gallows spying on us, I know he watches me like a hawk to see if I'm going to do anything, or Clive acting like we're little children. You had the energy to do all that flying today. He didn't have to worry about you falling down and fainting on us."

"He just cares about us after all. It reminds me of my father, always watching out for me even when he knew I could do it myself. I was his little girl after all, and he loved me with all his heart. I know he still does, despite the fact that he leaves us all the time. We both have our jobs, and by working together we can win. And I know he cares about you too, else he wouldn't have saved your life as well as mine. For it was probably really hard to carry two youths on his back all the way to the specimen chambers in Leyline Observatory. When this is all over, the three of us can make our own little family," Virginia told her beloved.

Jet thought, 'A family, that actually sounds nice. I knew she though of us as a family all along, she did lose her own, and Virginia does have a big heart. She's the reason I'm not just a machine, because she lets me be a human being. Because she sees me as a human being. And because she loves me like a human being. Thanks to her, I've never felt like I was all alone.' He lay down on his bed, and went to sleep.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Word…

Sky's been telling me lately that I'm obsessive. I take that as a compliment. It's so much fun when I can write Jet being kind to Virginia. He eventually softens to her in the game, and in AUs, people can act differently. Usually in RPG parody stories characters tend to change personas due to the fact that they're acting out another person. Or the character they are pretending to be changes personas to be more like the person doing the acting. Take my Slayers parody ideas (not written out b/c I haven't met all the characters but know about them). Lina's playing people who aren't going to throw a Fireball around in anger or beat up on other characters. But she still gets to do it. Gourry isn't playing stupid people, but he's still acting like an idiot. Zel's characters aren't moody and antisocial, but I kept him in character. And only one of Amelia's roles is an over energetic girl, and neither has Justice speeches, but I still made her running gags hold true. Besides, he's only really different around Virginia, still a punk when the others are looking at him.