Notice: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or Final Fantasy X. I do own my character


Chapter 2: Getting In

Vivi and I continued our walk to the ticket booth. I was in awe at the sights around me, especially Alexandria Castle. 'Man that's one big, shiny sword' I thought looking at the giant metal sword in awe. It was Alexandria Castle's center piece.

I looked down at Vivi and noticed that he too was watching the area around him as well, with wide curious eyes. I smiled down at the little Black Mage, but then my thoughts turned back to where I was and I frowned in thought.

'How did I end up here? First I was at home, I think? Then, all of a sudden, I am right here, smack dab in the middle of Alexandria in a fictional video game world. I can't seem to recall any of the events that lead up to this. This is really starting to worry me' I thought. As I was walking, completely lost in thought, I didn't notice Vivi looking up at me.


I looked concerned at Michael's frown 'I wonder what's bothering him, he seems upset.' I turned away from Michael and continued to think 'come to think of it, where did he come from. He just appeared out of nowhere.' I looked back at him, 'he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. I guess I will just leave him be for now.'


Both Vivi and Michael continued to walk, each lost in his own thoughts, until they came to the central marketplace of Alexandria.


I continued to try and remember what happened to cause me to be sent here, but to no avail, I still couldn't remember a thing about what happened. My thoughts where interrupted by someone pulling on my sleeve. I looked down and noticed Vivi. He had a concerned look in his eyes

"Michael, where here." He said.

That's when I first noticed the ticket booth, and the dog like creature who was the ticket master. "Guess you better go up their and show him your ticket, Vivi."

Vivi now had a nervous look in his eyes as he stared at me "y-you'll wait for me, right."

I looked down at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Vivi. I'll be right here."

Vivi still looked nervous but seemed slightly relieved. "Th-thanks, Michael."


I watched as Vivi walked up to the ticket booth. He and the ticket master seemed to be talking about something. I already knew what he was asking about so I didn't really bother listening; instead I looked around at my environment. I then noticed three statues that made me stare in surprise 'the Magus Sisters!' I thought, bewildered.

I studied the statues a little more closely. Eventually, I found out that they weren't the Magus Sisters, but there was a short one on the left, a tall one in the middle, and a round one on the right. 'They aren't the Magus Sisters, but maybe that's were the idea of their creation came from' I thought, intrigued. I tried to think again but was interrupted before I could even begin by a loud "NOOOOOO!" Startled, I looked back at the ticket booth and saw Vivi looking down at the ground. I knew he was the one who had yelled, and I already knew what it was about.


I immediately walked over to Vivi, concern very evident on my face "Vivi, what happened?" I asked, still concerned.

Vivi looked up at me, and, from the look of things, looked like he was about to cry "h-he s-said my t-ticket was a-a f-fake" he said barely above a whisper.

I still looked very concerned 'poor kid' I thought. I looked at the ticket master "Can't you make an exception this once?" I asked.

He just shook his head. "Nope, sorry, I know how he must feel" he said, sympathetically.

'Yeah right' I thought, rolling my eyes at this.

The ticket master looked down at Vivi and handed him three pieces of paper. "Here, I'll give you these. Do try to cheer up now, hmm?"

I looked down at Vivi's hand and noticed he was holding a Goblin, Fang, and Skeleton card. I inspected the cards, and looked at them with a disgusted look 'those cards suck. Vivi wouldn't last ten seconds in a card game with those cards.' I looked at the ticket master again; I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind but decided against it. 'He's only doing his job, after all' I thought. I was jolted back to reality by the ticket master's voice.

"Talk to Alleyway Jack to learn more about cards. Good luck lads."


Vivi and I left the ticket booth. Vivi still looked pretty down about what happened. I felt so bad about what happened 'I swear, if I ever find the guy who gave Vivi that phony ticket he'll wish he had never been born' I thought. My dark thoughts where interrupted by Vivi's voice.

"w-what do w-we do n-now, Michael?" he asked.

I thought about it for a minute, looked down a certain alleyway, and smiled "we're going to see that play!"

Vivi had a shocked expression in his eyes at this news "w-w-we can't s-see it. M-My ticket is f-fake" he said, sadly, looking down at the ground.

I just smiled at this. "Vivi, my friend, if there is one thing I have learned in life it's that there is always a back door. You just need to find it." Looking down the alley again I motioned to Vivi "come on, follow me." Vivi and I both ducked down into the alleyway.


It was a narrow alley, as all alleyways usually were. There was only one man in the alleyway; a hippo like creature, who I remembered was named Dante the sign maker, was busy hammering away at his latest sign while atop a ladder. We hadn't gotten very far down the alley when Vivi tripped over his own feet, again, causing Dante to knock his sign all crooked. I heard Dante yell "blast it" but I didn't pay attention since I was helping Vivi back to his feet. After getting back on his feet Vivi looked at me with a happy expression in his eyes.

"T-thanks, Michael."

I just smiled at him "anytime, Vivi."

Unfortunately this moment was ruined by a pissed off sign maker "hey! You made me miss you little klutz!"

Vivi looked frightened at this mans outburst, I was slightly angry.

'He's just a kid. It's not like you can't fix the damn thing, geez' I thought.

We watched as Dante climbed back up the ladder and hammered his sign back into place. "Whew, that should do it."

I rolled my eyes 'was that so hard' I thought.

Dante climbed back down the ladder and stretched "well it's been a long day." Dante then walked out of the alleyway.


As soon as he was out of sight I sensed another presence in the alleyway with us. I knew who it was before he even ducked out of the small crack in the right wall. It was Puck.

"Hey you two, you're the ones with the phony ticket ain'tcha. I saw the guy tell you it was fake."

I responded before Vivi could. "So what if it is?"

Puck just seemed to smirk at that. "I'll let you two see the show if you promise to be my slaves! Well waddya say?"

This time Vivi beat me to the punch. "Alright." I was shocked at how quickly Vivi responded

'Vivi, why couldn't you let me talk,' I thought.

Puck smiled at this. "Okay, and what about you?" he said turning to look at me.

'I am no ones slave' I thought, but I couldn't let Vivi go alone. 'Darn it, Vivi.' I thought. I had no choice but to give in "fine, I agree."

Puck now looked very pleased with himself. "Awesome! Now for your first assignment! You two go stand over there and see if anyone is coming!" he said, pointing to the other end of the alley.


As Vivi and I walked over to our designated spot I was thinking 'well, at least I'll only have to put up with Puck for a little longer.' As far as I could see, no one was going to come down the alley.

"All clear?" I barely heard Puck since his voice was a little over a whisper.

"Yeah, it's clear…and why are we whispering?" I added. Puck ignored my question.

"Awesome! Engage according to mission parameters!" he said, and rather loudly, too.

'I guess were not whispering anymore' I thought. I saw him take the ladder Dante was using previously. Normally, I would object to such an action, but I thought better of it 'serves him right for being a jerk. Besides I'm sure he'll find it later.' Puck ran off; Vivi and I followed after him.


We followed Puck all the way to an abandoned steeple. When we went inside I noticed the room was very round and that it had a large tower sticking out in the middle of the building that lead up to the bell.

"Now where gonna climb up this tower" he said, indicating the central structure. Puck then stood aside and looked at us. "It's very dangerous! You go first!"

I rolled my eyes at this and mumbled the word "coward" under my breath. I stepped up to the ladder and began to climb.


I was surprised that a Moogle didn't fall out and hit me on the head like in the game. It was strange, but oh well, I continued my assent. When I got to the top I couldn't resist the urge to ring the bell. I reached out, pulled the rope, and the bell began to ring. A small box fell out from inside the bell. I knew what was in the box as I opened it and received three new cards 'these are slightly better than the ones Vivi got, but not by much, though' I thought, pocketing the three cards for later use.

That's when I heard Puck yelling at me from the ground "HEY! What are you doing! Ya trying to give us AWAY!"

I looked down at Puck and Vivi with an innocent smile on my face "Soooorrrryyy" I said.

Puck was not amused, but decided to let it drop "is it safe up there?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's safe."

"Alright, time for some upward mobility" Puck then began to ascend the ladder and Vivi soon followed after him.


I decided to walk across the narrow wooden plank that connected the roof of the steeple to another surrounding roof instead of waiting up for Vivi and Puck. I had reached the other side and turned around to see how Puck and Vivi were doing. They weren't that far from me. Puck was next to cross the plank, but when Vivi's turn came, he hesitated. That was when I remembered; 'Vivi is afraid of high places' I thought, cursing my lack of memory.

Puck began to yell "come on! Get over here!" Vivi still continued to hesitate. Puck spoke in a softer tone this time "lemme guess… you're afraid of heights? Don't worry; just pretend you're on the ground." Vivi slowly began to walk across the plank. I really felt sorry for him. This was certainly not easy for him.

When he finally reached the other side he fell backwards on the roof and landed on his butt. Puck wasn't fazed by this "come on! We're running out of time!"

Puck then ran off as I helped Vivi back onto his feet, again "thanks, Michael" I nodded to him and we continued to follow Puck.


Vivi was in front of me when we reached another narrow walk way and Vivi hesitated yet again. Puck looked back at us and shook his head, exasperated, "not again! Don't worry it won't fall."

I knew differently though, and put my hand on Vivi's shoulder. He looked up to me with eyes that showed slight fear. I looked down at him and smiled "don't worry Vivi. I'll help you." I said.

I wrap my arms around Vivi's waist; picked him up, took a few steps back, ran, and jumped the gap. I landed right next to Puck with ease and set Vivi down on his feet. He looked at me with a stunned look in his eyes.

"T-thanks, M-Michael" he said, still slightly stunned at what had happened.

I smiled. "Anytime, Vivi."

I heard Puck mutter what sounded like "showoff" before he turned to us "Come on! We have to hurry!"


We then proceeded to the next walkway when Puck turned to us "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I don't even know your names."

Vivi was first to respond. "V-Vivi" Vivi said.

"And I'm Michael."

He looked at us in an odd way "Vivi and Michael huh, strange names…my name's Puck! Pleased to meetcha!"

I couldn't resist "And Puck isn't a strange name because…" I muttered to myself so he wouldn't hear me, but Vivi had obviously heard me because he was slightly shaking with silent laughter. I smiled at this, I had a feeling Vivi and I were going to get along just fine.

Puck looked at us in an odd way before saying "what's up with you two?" I looked at him and saw he was starting to get annoyed.

"Oh, nothings wrong." I looked down at Vivi. "Right, Vivi?"

Vivi stopped shaking and responded to my question. "Right."

Puck didn't seem to care anymore "whatever, come on. Let's get moving!"


Vivi and I both began following Puck again. When ever we came to another walkway I would jump over it with Vivi in my arms. Finally, we reached the roof that would lead us to the castle. Only problem was…no walkway, but Puck did bring the ladder.

"Whew… we finally made it" Puck threw the ladder across the gap to form a makeshift bridge. He turned to us "after that wall we'll be in the castle, come on, let's go!" Puck then proceeded to run across the ladder and into the castle.

Vivi and I soon made our way across as well. I turned back to the ladder and paused for a moment 'you know Vivi and I could have made it here without Pucks help. I mean, the roofs weren't that far apart and I could make the jumps easily, even if I was carrying Vivi. Oh well, I suppose it works out better this way.' I thought. I turned to follow after Vivi and Puck. 'Things are going to get very interesting, very fast' I thought.