Hi to all my readers out there! Thanks to Iris Mist for the review, it helped me a lot with what I've got here. That and it also pointed out a few of my flaws in some of my stories. This is a bit shorter than the first chapter, but it's what I've got for now. Take a look, and by all means feel free to give me criticisms/flames/etc. Oh! If you really want to, you can send me a few ideas too. No guarantees about if I'll use them or not, but they will be welcomed, and you will be credited if I do use any ideas you give me.

In no way form or fashion do I own anything that belongs to the original Final Fantasy world setting, which includes characters, places, and things. I have a few of my own things and people, but by and large I do use a good deal of people, places, and things from the games. In no way do I retain ownership of anything save my own creations.

Delima

On the main summit of Mount Ordeals a lone Paladin stands watch over the forest far below, 'Once again everything is in motion…would you still help them along on their quest…Father…' He thought as the fading rays of sunlight swept along the planet, casting beautiful shadows all over the place.

"Cecil?" An angelic voice mused softly as a woman, a White Mage with golden hair, blue eyes, and white robes of pure silk approached the Paladin, "What do you see, Love?"

"Nothing and everything, Darling Rosa." Cecil turned to her, "All of this is reoccurring. That much we have seen. I just wonder if the Light shall be strong enough this time."

"Yes it will. You will see. I know you have faith in them, otherwise you would not have told them of this place." Rosa smiled faintly.

"You're right." Cecil laughed a touch, picking her hands up, "As always, Darling, but why will you not let them see you?"

"It is not time. I will let them see…when the time comes. For now let them be blinded to this truth. It is the best way." Rosa nodded, and kissed Cecil softly before walking away into the temple of the Light residing nearby.

'Time…such a fickle thing that…' Cecil sighed softly, 'It seems we are running out of it…' Pushing that thought away he walked off to join her in the temple.

Meanwhile in the brightest part of the Village of Mist a figure stands and watches the sky. Clad in shades of black and dark purple in such a way as to cover all but his short black hair, and his dulled brown eyes the man scans the surrounding mist, "I know you are there. Why do you try to hide from me, Tellah?"

"Hide, Edge? Has anyone said that?" An older man walked out, a sage in every respect, though a bit faded in his color, "It is good to see you made it back here so well. There is need of your wisdom here, and her successor will need your aide I'm sure."

"Ah, Old Man, you've always been so quick to handle business. Her successor you say? Then our line survived…Rydia's and my own…" Edge trailed a bit, "Why though…why is she wandering?"

"To save this planet; just as we were required to do so long ago, Friend. She may not understand yet exactly why she started, but she does know why she continues." Tellah nodded, pulling slightly on his silver beard.

"Hmmm…then I can go see her?" Edge asked. At Tellah's brief nod the ninja glanced around the misted village, "Ah, so long it has been. Far too long if the truth is told. This place has changed a bit. Wouldn't you say, Old Man?"

"A bit." Tellah agreed, and with that the old sage was gone. Edge stayed there a moment longer before vanishing into the shadows and mist to go and find Rheah.

Syl, and his new friends, had set up camp that night to rest and prepare for the journey ahead, "Looks like tomorrow will be a bit difficult." Priam mewed softly as he turned a little pensive.

"We can take it." Silvine and Lupine replied instantly to the cat's speech, "Though…" Silvine continued. Her voice the light touch of a feather fall compared to her brother's, "It's…interesting. Tell us. How did you come to talk?"

"Not that we haven't seen similar back home in Mysidia, but out here?" Lupine added as a bit of an after thought.

"Come to think of it…we hardly know anything about you." Lilisha mused to Priam.

"Me?" Priam blinked at the sudden attention, putting his ears back confused, "I don't know how it is that I came to talk. I've just always been able to do so. Curiosity here that I pray won't kill me…why weren't any of you startled? Lili, I know why you weren't. I wouldn't be too shocked if I was too busy thinking of my lost friend or relative too, but…"

"If I were shocked by a talking cat then what kind of fighter would I be?" Caine shrugged in response, "Aside from that a White Mage carting a black cat around…I figured there was something strange about you from the start."

"Right…" Syl mused quietly, "I was shocked, Priam, but I didn't have the ability to respond to it. Initial shock aside it just sort of became natural."

"I'm trained in the arts of black magic. Not much startles me." Rheah answered, "Well…not much aside from finding out I am apparently the last person in existence that can call animals and monsters from out of thin air. Wherever they come from."

"Purrrrr…." Priam curled up happily, "Oh…one last question. Lili…where did you get a speedboat? It's been bugging me since I met you, but I never really had much chance to ask."

"That? That was given to me by a guy named Cid that I met while I was training. I told him I came from an Island, and he gave me the boat. It's interesting technology, but it's also special. I love that boat because he was such a good friend of mine." Lilisha answered him, shrugging because it didn't seem unusual to her. The others were looking at her strange though.

"Cid…you say?" Lupine asked. Lilisha nodded, and Silvine spoke up.

"We know Cid." Silvine trailed, "He was in Mysidia for a while talking to the Elder. He kept saying…"

"That he wanted to make sure we never learned the spell to turn ourselves to stone. Whatever that meant." Lupine finished. Getting the twins the same strange look that Lilisha had gotten, and Lilisha was just looking at them a bit blankly.

"Is that so?" Syl mused, "Cid was at Baron for a few days. Insisting he show me a few doors and tunnels that I've never heard of before."

"He wanted me to learn the art of being able to hold off against some weird stuff at that. He was talking about mind control, and stuff the like." Caine added. Priam had stayed quiet this whole time, asleep they all thought.

'Cid…so long since I've heard that name…are you really still around, Friend, still out there somewhere watching over us?' Priam thought as he lay there. The firelight casting interesting sparkles of that silver tinting in his fur to dance lightly through the black of his coat.

"Alright, so what brought you out here? Far better that we know what made you all start this adventure, and if you want we'll tell you ours too." Lupine nodded.

"I left home to seek my cousin Ran. Priam left with me to help me. I'm still out here…because…well…" Lilisha mused, becoming pensive for a moment, "Because it is a chance to follow in the footsteps my ancestor Rosa set down. I want to be like her, and this seems a chance at doing so. If I can help save the world then why should I not? It is what she would have done, I'm sure."

"I followed this monkey." Caine snickered lightly, indicating Syl with a slight jerk of his hand.

"Hm? Monkey? Where?" Syl blinked a bit, "Originally I was just getting bored back at home. For some reason I just don't feel…like I belong there anymore. Then the whole thing with Mount Ordeal, and…well…from there this just seems the right thing to do."

"Mount Ordeal?" Silvine blinked, and looked to Lupine, "Hear that we're traveling with a Paladin, Brother. Didn't she say she's a White Mage?" She nodded lightly toward Lilisha.

"Mhm, and if I'm not mistaken in what we were taught then isn't Caine a dragoon?" Lupine tipped his head to one side lightly as Caine nodded a touch, "Anyway…what are you getting at? That these guys are some big party of heroes or some such? Sorry I don't think so. If that were the case then where's the old man that should be here too? There was before at that if the legends are an indication…" Silvine cut him short…she bopped him over the head, "Ack! Hey!"

"You ramble too much." Silvine shrugged innocently, "Though please go on." She looked to Rheah, "If you don't mind answering that is."

"Oh I don't mind. I'm out here because I was being instructed in the art of black magic by my teacher: Master Dega…or…" She looked tentatively to Caine, who nodded faintly, "Or I guess the real name was Master Tellah, but…now? I don't know why I'm out here now. I guess I just have nowhere else to go. I don't have family to go back to. My home I hardly remember." Everyone save Caine and Priam looked to her shocked.

"Tellah? One of…the legendary heroes?" Syl and Lilisha exchanged a look, and then Syl continued at Rheah's slightly confused nod, "I saw…I saw a Paladin before I ever went up that mountain. He was the one that told me to go. He told me as well that I must to stay close to Lilisha. To her and to any other friends that go with me on this journey."

"Mist cave…" Priam trailed. Sitting up a moment later and looking at Caine pointedly.

"The Dragoon there?" Caine nodded, "Mmmm yeah, but what does all this mean do you think? We already know the world is in danger. Little miss Pyro let us in on that much."

"We've already seen the similarities to the legend of old." Rheah nodded.

"Is there anywhere we can read the legend that the heroes went on?" Syl asked.

"It was in Mysidia." Priam answered, but before they could speak he cut them off, "Key operating word being was in that sentence by the way." He curled his tail around his paws softly, "It should be…perhaps in the ruins of Eblan, but there is no way there. Not even Lilisha's speed boat could make it."

"Then we find another way. Let's…let's look for Cid. We all knew him it seems. Maybe he can help us out." Lilisha offered.

"Maybe." Silvine and Lupine nodded. With that planned out for the next day the group curled up and went to sleep, content for that moment to get some rest, and let it sort itself out on the morrow.

'Maybe he will and maybe he won't…' An older man chuckled softly from his hiding place in a tree. A heavy looking hammer that appeared made of Mythril hung across his back, and his brown beard and emerald eyes as sharp and keen as a razor's edge. A few stray beams of moonlight slipping through his form, proving he was a ghost at best. The clothing he wore was designed for working with complex mechanical devices, 'That remains to be seen. Giving Lilisha the speedboat was bad enough meddling, that and what I taught and told the others. I've pushed it enough. This old engineer's going to stay out of this for a while. Though…perhaps one last instance of helping them won't hurt anything…I will have them work for it though. No one gets anything from Cid without a little effort, regardless what effort that is.' He chuckled lightly once more before vanishing in a soft puff of smoke.

The next morning as they were awakening a sense of dark will seemed to settle around them. It did no more than to upset Priam, since he was a cat he was the most in tune with nature, "I…don't like any of this…guys…" Priam mewed nervously as they walked the forest headed for the city of Baron, "It isn't right…I tell ya…" He closed his muzzle when they reached the city, and kept right at Lilisha's heels the whole time. As the group began getting closer to the castle Lilisha spotted a familiar old man standing outside of a house.

"Ah! Cid!" She squeaked happily and rushed over. The others of the party following her over to Cid, each having a few puzzled remarks about Cid being in Baron instead of where they had each met him. Confirming quickly that yes they all did in fact know the same Cid.

"Hello, Lilisha, I see you have put the boat to use." Cid smiled, and looked around at the others, "And the rest of you are here too. Good to see you all though I'm a bit amazed that you seem to have met." He added silently that should they see through that little white lie then they were ready for this challenge.

"Neh. I don't think so." Lupine mused, "You knew me and Silvine were leaving Mysidia for other continents. You must have known at that then that we would have met someone out here in this world that you knew as well."

"Hahah! Well said." Cid smiled to the two, "So I figured a few things would happen. Nothing." He shrugged a bit, "What are you doing here anyway? The Young don't need to tie themselves down in a city. Not when they can go out and explore."

"We figured this would be a good place to stop for a bit to figure out our next move." Lilisha explained, "Cid…we need your help. Please tell me that you know a way for us to get to Eblan."

"Eblan? Why would you want to go there?" Cid blinked, acting like he had no clue at all, they all fell for it except Priam, and he wouldn't talk here. He didn't want the villagers upset.

"Please, it's important." Silvine jumped in, "We need to get to Eblan, Master Cid, because there is something we must do there."

"Hrm…" Cid sighed lightly, "There is one way, but I haven't had the chance to finish it. I'm too old to do so on my own. If you can find my grandson then I can teach him to finish it. I believe he may be in Kaipo. He's a bit high strung so be careful. When you find him bring him here to Baron and I'll show you what way I mean."

"Alright. We'll do that then." Caine nodded, "Thanks, Cid. You're a lifesaver, y'know."

"Hey, what lifesaver? I'm just an old man is all." Cid shrugged, once again being a little too innocent for Priam's liking. The little black cat; however, did no more than follow his friends as they started to leave Baron to go to the Mist Caverns. None of them were in the mood to waste even a second if it were not necessary. Once they were gone, Cid once again vanished in a soft puff of smoke.

"Mmmm, these children…these children that have come to think themselves strong. Don't worry over them, Master. Leave them to me." Ruciel purred softly as she walked the iron halls of a structure that no one had seen. The whole of the tower existing on the Island called Deletha. Letting her hand run smoothly across the cold wall of metal the fire elemental smiled a little, "I will take care of them should the others fail I will not disappoint you. Though it would disappoint me should they fail to live to our next meeting." She laughed then, a soft laugh that rolled along like waves of the ocean in a storm.

Once they were clear of Baron, Priam spoke once more, "Something was weird…something felt off about Baron…and wasn't Cid being just a little too innocent? He knows something…"

"Perhaps, but he's our friend. Why shouldn't we trust him? What would we be able to accomplish if we stay here that going to Kaipo will destroy?" Lilisha puzzled. Though Caine did sort of agree with Priam, for now he kept his opinion to himself. He trusted Cid…even though the old man was a bit off his rocking horse he wasn't a bad guy.

"Besides." Rheah spoke up suddenly, "Somehow I believe that we should go to Kaipo anyway. Didn't…wasn't that a place that the heroes went on their journey? We should go back, and this time spend a little more time there, yes?" She looked to Caine, then around at the others, "Honestly now…what do we have to lose? We…everything seems to correlate to this old legend. Our lives seem to be twined with it. So why not play the game for a while, and see where it takes us?"

"Good point." Syl nodded, "So we head to Kaipo, and then back to Baron. It is the way to Eblan after all. I still believe…we should go there. I don't know why, but it seems we're being pulled to Deletha, and Eblan may be the only way to stop it."

"Syl?" Silvine looked to him for a bit, "Alright, but do we have to like it?"

"Yes." Lupine looked to his sister, "Come on! What are we debating here? Cid is a friend of ours, and has he proven to be untrustworthy to any of you?" A slight murmur of agreement was the answer, "I thought not. Now why are we standing here creating false doubt when we should be heading for the Mist Caverns?" With that they set off again. Priam still a bit worried over having those small, nagging doubts in the back of his mind. None of them had noticed the shadow in the trees nearby, or the fact that it was following them at that. As night settled once again over the land they stopped to rest just outside the Mist Cavern. On the morrow they would start through toward Mist Village, and from that small village would head toward Kaipo.

'She is…she is just like you, Rydia.' The shadow following them smiled faintly, 'Tellah told me enough to know so. Then…who has sent your group this way? I figured you would still be in Baron.' He looked off through the wilderness in the direction of Baron. Then looked to Rheah once more, 'They go to Mist cavern? I wonder why. I can…find it in her dreams I'm sure, but I will let her be for now.' He looked to the sky then, to the full moon hanging there, 'Are you still there…Fu So Ya…' He then began to vanish, 'The line of children from Eblan is not gone yet…our role in this recurring story has not ended by a long shot. Has yours?' He sighed lightly as he vanished entirely. The night was mostly uneventful. Sounds of night animals and monsters surrounded the group, but none threatened them. Around dawn; however, a set of crystalline blue eyes stared out at the group with a strange wistful lilting.

'Are these the ones that Ruciel so wishes to see destroyed by her hands?' The form thought, slipping through the shadows slowly, 'They seem headed inside the cavern…good…I can…play with them a bit.' The eyes sparkled as a sort of sadistic smile touched them, 'For Kainazzo…to be his proper granddaughter…and to prove that I can be better than Ruciel. I must destroy them utterly. Though no harm will come from playing first…' With that thought still dancing in the mind of the form it slipped off into the Cavern ahead, and vanished into the mist. For a moment had anyone looked they would have seen a teal colored turtle like beast with sharp fangs for teeth. The next moment; however, and the beast was embraced by the mist of the cave and seemed to just vanish. As the sun began to rise the little group awakened, and started through the cave. This time it was Rheah's turn to be nervous.

"Does it seem a bit…mistier in here than the last time?" She asked as they walked along.

"Well, it is the Mist Cavern. I'm not really surprised." Priam shrugged lightly, "I'm sure there would be times when the mists would get thicker than we've seen them. Maybe it's just because it's early morning?"

"Yeah…maybe." Rheah nodded slightly, 'Though I doubt it…' She added silently to herself. The journey seemed uneventful enough at first, but when things starting taking shape in the mist the young caller followed a bit closer to the nearest person to her, which happened to be Syl. Something kept making her glance back to make sure they weren't followed. That and she was just generally on edge for the moment.

"Oho ho ho, good to see you've come here. Just as I thought." A smooth voice that reflected ice reached them as they arrived at the end of the cavern. Rheah started and ducked behind Syl. Priam hissed faintly and bristled his fur a touch as he searched the mists for the speaker.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Syl spoke up after a moment or two. Making certain that Rheah was safe. Hey, she had ducked behind him he may as well protect her.

"Who am I?" The voice echoed slightly in the caves, "I am the one who will be commended for your demise. I am Killan." The mists suddenly began gathering before them in a very unusual fashion. As they watched this Lilisha, Rheah, and Silvine all took a step back tentatively. Lupine, Caine, Syl, and Priam stood their ground to protect the girls. This was weird, considering the mists would hit a certain point and become water it was not exactly normal.

"What do you suppose this Killan is?" Lupine puzzled as a few sparks of black lightning crackled for a second across his hand. He'd been on the defensive for him and Silvine for all of a few moments, and didn't like waiting for the inevitable.

"No idea, but it does seem we're going to get wet here." Caine answered with a light shake of his head, holding his spear so it formed a shield for him and Lilisha.

"That's a nice little understatement." Syl looked briefly to Caine, "Care to add anymore?" He was still standing defense for Rheah, and enemies would be very hard pressed to even attempt to get past him.

"How nice…Dear Ruciel did tell me that you were noble, but she didn't tell me I would have to deal with a few smart ass remarks either." Killan's voice answered them as she appeared in the mists. A rather pretty teal turtle the size of a horse at the shoulder, and just wide enough that getting past her would be almost impossible. Pooling all around her were a few spots of water from the gathering mists, "Now do be sweet will you, and die? I will not lose this battle for I must stand and fight if I am to ever be as good as my Great Grandfather Kainazzo."

"Che, hate to disappoint you, but there is no way you'll win this." Caine answered. Killan looked square at him, and laughed. With that the battle started. Killan throwing them off balance with the tidal wave her family was known for. It took a few moments for the recovery, but once he was back on his feet, Caine launched into the air. Killan's brief distracted self at Caine's vanishing act allowed Syl to dart in and give her a good shot with the sword he wielded. A shriek escaped her, but she was merely thrown into a brief fit of panic that faded after a moment. Silvine and Lupine started a low chant, at first perfectly in sync, and as time went along the words, though still in sync, began to deviate from known spell chants. Caine reappeared above Killan and landed on her with the point of the spear before back flipping back to defend Lilisha.

"She's tough…" Syl trailed lightly.

"Fire wouldn't work…neither would Delita…" Rheah mused, then set about to chant a spell of her own. Remembering a spell that her mentor had taught her, and preparing to use it against the fiend of water that stood facing her and her friends. At that point both Silvine and Lupine began sparking with flashes of energy as their chant began to come to its end. Killan swung her head around to face the two at sensing the energy. The twins threw their hands forward, and a moment later streaks of lighting appeared from the mist surrounding Killan, and shocked the water elemental into hiding in her shell. Rheah's spell would take a few more moments, which gave them a chance to let Lilisha heal them with her strongest spell. They hadn't shown as much to Killan, but that tidal wave attack had taken a good bit out of them. Just as Rheah's chant came to it's end Killan darted out of her shell, and snapped at Lupine, well really at Silvine, but Lupine got in the way. Rheah's spell sent more lightning at Killan, and the water elemental recoiled forcefully back out of Mist Cavern.

"Augh! How dare you? Horrible little children! Just wait! I'll be back!" With that a second tidal wave washed the turtle away as the mists returned full force.

"Lupine!" Silvine's voice distracted them from trying to follow Killan. Silvine had tried using cure spells that she knew, but they hadn't worked. Just as Lilisha got to their sides Silvine looked up at the White Mage, "This is weird…this isn't something I've seen…" She mewed worriedly.

"We'll have to get him to Kaipo. It's the nearest town, and he'll stand a better chance." Lilisha nodded. Just as they set out of the Mist Cavern to go to Kaipo with Lupine being carried by Caine the mists seemed to close about them, and they lost sight of one another. Rheah, in a brief fit of worry reached out and grabbed the nearest physical person, which was, once again, Syl. The moment she had Syl's arm they both felt something pull them up off the ground. Syl caught hold of Rheah to make sure she was safe, and the caller tucked close to Syl. They were on the back of something that was flying them very high off the ground, and it seemed to be nothing but Mist!

"Guys?" Priam mewed worriedly as he paced along through the misted veil. He stumbled out of the mist, and practically into the lap of a boy who was sitting next to the mountains watching Kaipo in the near distance, "Ack! Shoulda stayed on that Island…" He grumbled lightly. The boy shooting to his feet, and dropping Priam like the cat was a deadly thing.

"Gracious! It…it talks…" The boy stammered. His voice was very familiar and highly reminiscent of Cid in a way.

"Huh? Oh shoot…er…s…sorry." Priam blinked as he turned to the boy, "May I ask…have you seen anyone else come out of the mists?"

"No, just you…er…Cat…Kitty…uh…" The boy fumbled for a bit, "You…you're a t...talking…"

"Talking Cat. I know." Priam sighed, "I didn't mean to let you hear me either. I'm sorry." Priam mused. Then he heard Caine's voice coupled with Lilisha's. The Dragoon and White Mage successfully emerged from the mists, still with Lupine in tow, "Ah! Guys, you're okay!" Priam dashed immediately to Lilisha, and jumped onto her shoulder.

"Thank goodness we're out of that. Now we can get to Kaipo." Lilisha smiled at Priam, then noticed the boy, "Oh…I'm sorry if we startled you. Out of curiosity what are you doing out here?"

"I come out here when I get tired of Kaipo." The boy answered flatly, having to look up at these people. They were older than he was, even at the age of thirteen he was still just a kid to these people, "Y…your cat…why does it…"

"Talk? Yeah…he does that. I really don't know why. He just always could." Lilisha shrugged faintly, "By the way…you wouldn't know the name Cid would you?"

"Cid?" The boy blinked a little, "Sorry, I had them off for a bit." He put on a pair of thin-framed black glasses that matched his brown tinted black hair easily. Looking up once again at them he blinked his bright emerald eyes a bit, "Yeah, I'm Cid. What is it you want, and just how do you know my name? I don't trust strangers from mist valley much lately."

"I'm Lilisha, this is Priam." Lilisha answered, then looked to Caine, "And this is Caine and Lupine. We were heading to Kaipo to look for the Grandson of an old engineer named Cid. We were supposed to head back to Baron once we found him, but…" She shrugged faintly as Silvine made it out of the mists as well.

"Ah…that was crazy." Silvine mewed lightly, clinging a touch to Lilisha, "Lili…you made it out too. Good to see some of us did."

"Yeah, but then there's still Syl and Rheah…" Caine pointed out, much to Lili and Silvine's slight disappointment.

"We don't have time. We have to take care of Lupine." Lilisha mused, "Let's go ahead to Kaipo for now, and return to this place once Lupine is safe."

"Yes, let's. Please…" Silvine turned huge innocent eyes on Caine, who shrugged a little.

"Okay, Ladies, okay. Let's go then." Caine answered, and then looked to the boy, "Said your name was Cid, yes?" The boy nodded, "Would you mind taking us through Kaipo so we can get to the healer's faster?"

"No big. Let's go, huh." Cid nodded a bit more animated than he had been for the past few moments. He did just as they'd asked, and led them straight to the healer's building.