**w00t! Another chap! Gomen about the shortness...-_-;; But, hey, as a friend of mine said, its a new chap! ^_^ Anyway. You know the basics, disclaimer, yadda yadda. Again, spoilers and such, so....beware. ^_^ Have fun reading, and if you feel so inclined, review. Whatever. Most of all....ENJOY!!!!**

Paula ran into the living room, which was (lucky for her) empty. She grabbed the remote and began channel surfing.

"Yueh! Katie needs a name now!" Arashi ran into the room after Yueh and saw her plopped in a recliner, remote control in hand. Arashi put her hands on her hips. "Yueh, this is no time to be watching TV!"

Yueh shook her head. "Sar--Arashi, I'm trying to show you Sin!" She flipped to CNN, where the screen was once again on the map of California's coast and the surrounding ocean. "See that little symbol?" She pointed to the hurricane sign, which was more towards the south end of California, but still the same distance away laterally.

"Arashi, I'll be Niet, like my manga!" Niet skidded to a halt next to Arashi, who was staring at the screen. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Arashi? Arashiiii?"

Arashi's face had turned serious once again. "Katie--"

"It's Niet now."

"Whatever, look." Arashi physically turned Niet's head to look at the screen, the map still on it.

Niet paused. "That's one freaky path for a hurricane."

"Hurricane Cindy still hasn't reached the coast, but it is expected to within the hour if it continues on its current path." The screen flashed back to the newscaster, who shook his head. "Cindy has been taking a less than normal path for a hurricane, and everyone within the affected area in Southern California has been asked to evacuate immediately an in an orderly fashion."

Arashi blinked. "They named it CINDY? How...ironic."

Yueh sighed, her eyes tearful. "I unleashed Sin...and its going to attack the coast." She shook her head. "We have to get rid of it."

The man's eyes widened. "This just in, we have a visual on hurricane Cindy, and, well...you have to look for yourself to believe it." The screen changed and showed a large creature spinning in the ocean, growling and making unearthly noises. It was, undoubtedly, the creature Sin from the world of Spira.

You could hear the man cough while the movie played. He was saying something to the camera crew in the studio, but couldn't be clearly understood. He finally spoke over the pictures.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we can safely say that this is not truly a hurricane. I--I think this creature poses more of a threat than we could ever have thought." The movie continued to play in silence.

"So that's Sin," Niet said quietly. She fingered the rapier's hilt nervously. "That's what we're supposed to defeat."

"Before it...before it does too much damage," Yueh finished.

The studio had stopped playing the video and now was showing the newscaster staring off into space before being prompted. "Oh, right." He cleared his throat. "In other news, strange, elaborate structures have popped up along the west coast, the most recent in Northern California." The screen switched to a picture that was unmistakably--

"Besaid temple!" all three girls shouted.

"Looks like you brought more than you thought, Yueh," Arashi remarked. She took the remote from Yueh's hand and switched off the TV. "I guess we should go."

Niet nodded. "Onward, I guess. North?"

Yueh stood and went for the front door. Niet followed, but both stopped when their summoner didn't come with.

"Arashi?"

She turned to the other two. "Which way is north?"

*-*-*-*-*

Mary was at her house, watching the same broadcast with a smile.

"So, she brought the 'hope' of Spira with it. Wonderful." She switched off the TV and tossed a small, diamond shaped stone in the air.

"Finding this was meant to be...in the parking lot of all places." Mary grinned, her canines seeming to gleam more than the others. "The girl must have had more than one stone with her."

She held the stone high above her head, where it began to float out of her outstretched hands. It began to glow a deep crimson and flooded the room with its light.

It enveloped her and seemed to cling to her body in places. Soon she was wearing a rather skimpy outfit, a low cut corset and a mini-skirt. The light gave her long tails, only on the front of her skirt, and finished with high heel stiletto shoes.

The glowing stopped and the gem floated to a spot right around her collarbone, where it embedded itself into her skin without any pain at all.

She smiled, her long bangs obscuring her face. She pushed them aside and began to hover above the ground herself.

Mary flung a random bolt of red energy at her ceiling, burning a large hole in her roof. The flew through it, into the sky and northwards, one thought in her mind.

Sin will follow me.>