Split Ends

  Introduction: Hello everyone! I'm so happy so enjoy this story!! Everything is going to get a little twisty, and I'm going to throw in some old characters into the mix. The difference between FFT and FFTA? Different storylines, different races, etc. Everything's mostly different! Anyway, here's my third chapter (this story's going to be a little long, and I will weave in some romance at some point, I promise!)!

Italics- thoughts, memories, etc Bold- actions, important stuff

III

*******

 "Doned!!" Marche cried as he dashed from the house. "Doned!!!"

     Mewt streamed after him, while Ritz stayed behind to tend to Shara. "Marche, I'll check the park and his friend's house, you check wherever else he might be!!"

   Marche nodded and pressed his legs to run faster. A little voice in the back of his mind started to reassure him. Don't worry… he'll be right where you left him… at home…

   Suddenly the cobblestone beneath his feet transformed into sand. He ran faster.

  He'll just be in the house, waiting and smiling at you…

   All around him people were transforming in vieras, nu-mous… moogles and bangaas. Still others were left as humans, and a couple even turned to monsters.

   Waiting and smiling at you…

 The world around him had been thrown into chaos. Pieces of the town had been transformed into a desert, while the rest stood, as it should be, the people terrified of what was happening. Some people's homes had been transformed into dunes, stairs appeared out of nowhere, and people were transforming rapidly.

   A car with a dazed nu-mou in it almost ran Marche over as he neared his house. The poor nu-mou had no idea where he was or what he was in. The car, driverless, was allowed to speed right into a fire hydrant. The moment the two hit, the hydrant transformed into a red ahriman, its one eye bleeding.

   Sand weighed his boots down, even though there was still snow falling. The sky was pitch black, rapid winds adding to the chaos.

   He'll be at home, home with Mom…

He let out a cry of triumph as he neared his house. He was pounding up the porch stairs when his mother broke out of the house, her hair white as the snow around her. Pointed ears now stuck out of her head, a small horn protruding from her forehead. She was a complete wreck. "Aiyaa!!"

  "Mom?!" Marche collapsed at his mother's side. "Mom it's ok! It's Marche!"

  The viera sunk into her robes and sobbed uncontrollably. "M-Marche?"

 "Yes mom! It's me!!" he smiled, delighted she understood. "Where's Doned?"
   "D-Doned…?" she hiccupped, starting to lose consciousness. Her eyes lulled and her head drooped. "D-Doned…"

   "Yes! My brother, remember? Mom where is he??" he demanded, but she blacked out, her limp body collapsing on the cobblestone. "Mom? Mom wake up!"

   He shook her, but she did not move. Tears crept into his eyes, but he wiped them away as he quickly picked her up and swept into the house.

    He dashed down the hall and checked a number of rooms, each one as empty as the last. "Doned!! Doned!!!"

   There was no answer. All the hope that had been building in his mind was slowly disintegrating as he pounded up the stairs, his mother (now a summoner) still in his arms. "Doned!! Doned where are you?!"
    He came to their bedroom, the door stood ajar in front of him. He pushed his way into his bedroom, the room he shared with his brother. It was dark, and the fire in the stove had blown out. "Doned?"

   The window was open across the room, and next to the curtain Marche could see the gleam of the bars on the wheelchair. "Doned!!"

    He laid his mother onto his bed and walked slowly to the window. Nothing moved in the room except the curtain, billowing in the wind. Gently he shut the window, his voice shaking, "Silly Doned, you shouldn't have the window open… it's cold…"

   He drew back the curtain and allowed what was left of daylight to come sprawling into the room. He turned to the wheelchair, and all of his worries had come true.

 The wheelchair stood, gleaming and empty, on its side. There was no sign of Doned anywhere. "No…"

     He sunk to his knees, allowing emotion to sweep over him. "No…Doned…"

  Suddenly the ground beneath left him, and he was falling. The bedroom around him twisted, and his mother's unconscious body disappeared. "Mother!!!"

   The world around him swirled as he fell, and his mind swam with confusion. Doned… mom… Mewt… Ritz… please…

 Let them be all right…

  His mind blackened, and he knew no more.

*****

 Mewt dashed into the park, his brown hair waving behind him. He called for Doned as he ran through the park, anxious. If Llednar was still as dangerous as he was before, then everyone was in big trouble.

   As he ran through the park he saw that the snow had picked up along with the wind, and that one by the one people and inanimate objects alike were transforming into various creatures. He found after running a few feet that the park was suddenly turning into a field.

   His chest burned, he was not used to this type of exercise. He paused for a moment, breathing deeply to returning his respiratory system to normal. He placed a gloved hand on the pole beside him, his breath swirling in a misty form in front of him.

  Out of the corner of his eye to his right he could see three boys having a snowball fight, and as far as sight went they still looked normal. Actually, the only part of the park that wasn't normal was where the sidewalk was and in town. A nu-mou was reading the paper on a perfectly human recycled bench, but when Mewt looked closer he could see it was only about rumors in Ivalice combined with a few mission options.

   He sighed, glancing back into town. Doned was definitely not with his friends, and if he was he would've found him by now. His father was probably worried about him, and Ritz was possibly waking Shara up.

   He turned to leave, but a strange presence stopped him dead in his tracks. The strange presence was awfully familiar. He turned back around.

    Three figures were coming toward him from across the park. It wasn't the boys, who were still holding their snowball fight. No, it was somebody different… someone he'd definitely met before.

   The figures came into view, and Mewt froze. "Llednar…"

  Llednar walked up to him and stopped a few feet away. He was dressed in the yellow clothes Mewt had worn in his last bout with Ivalice, Mewt's bear clutched under his arm and a sword sheathed at his hip. "Well now… look what we have here."

   Mewt's eyes scanned the two companions that were with Llednar. They were both human, yet they both gave off the same aura of hatred Llednar had always given. One had black hair in a similar style to Marche's, except without the rat tail, with cold gray eyes and a soldier's uniform. The other companion was female, with reddish hair that sprawled down to her mid back, clear blue eyes, and a pink dress similar to the one Ritz once wore in Ivalice.

  Llednar gave his cold grin, "It's nice to see you again Mewt… except now that you're here we're going to have to remove you."

   Mewt took a step back, "Why are you here? Where's the Gran Gimoire?"

 The black haired boy unsheathed his sword and stepped forward, but Llednar stopped him. He clucked his tongue, "You question the great word of Prince Mewt?"

  Mewt blinked. "But… I'm Mewt…"

Llednar grinned, and raised his hand to Mewt's eye level. "Not anymore."

   Llednar extended his fingers. "Omega!!"

 Mewt's eyes widened as the attack hit him full force in the chest. His own scarlet blood splattered on Llednar's shoes as he fell onto the cold ground, his eyes wide. He could hear their laughter getting fainter and fainter as his vision blurred.

   Images swirled and his ears rang out with his pain. A trickle of blood dribbled from his mouth. And yet, as he fumbled in the darkness for his will to stay conscious, three new figures bent low over him, one of them shaking his numb right arm.

   A familiar voice said gently, "Mewt? Mewt are you all right?"

   Another one screamed, and a third cried, "Get an ambulance!"

 Mewt tried to move, but his body screamed at him every time he tried. He lie still, pondering what had just happened, and then suddenly, unconsciousness over took him.

***To Be Continued***