Chapter Two: First things first: Chapter Nine

Sheena

We got out of the village (well, we don't know what it's called, it's tiny! I didn't even know it existed until the information network found it.), we managed to make it to the Ossa trail before sundown. Now that I think about it, we never did know the name of village where Celsius lived. I looked at her, she had her normal tank top on with short denim jeans, around her waist was the wing pack that carried all of her necessities. The marks that were on her legs were all but gone, her skin was no longer a deathly blue-pale, she definitely looked more like me now.

From what I could tell and assume, the spirit might of stunted her growth in some areas, because she was so short. Only 5'3, she was the shortest person in our group besides Presea and Genis. But, that's where the similarities ended with her current her and her past self. She was defiantly growing a nice body, muscular still but more top-heavy, not as big as me, but it's something guys would defiantly like. Her eyes seemingly have changed the most since then, back then they were an icy cold. Now they seem as beautiful as Colette's. Well, I don't think that's quite possible. As for Colette, she's well, Colette. She never changes.

"Sheena, is it just me or are you taking better care of yourself?" Colette looked at me innocently enough. I don't think anything has changed about me. Heck, last time I looked in a mirror I might of seen a zit, my hair was a bit messed up, I think I had bags under my eyes, and I looked like I gained a bit of weight. I just want look my best.

"No, I don't think so. In fact, I'm think I'm beginning to let my self go." I commented, hoping this would end the subject. But, like Colette always did, she decided to dig deeper.

"…So when did you start to notice yourself letting yourself go?" Colette asked again, this time giggling a bit. I looked at Celsius, she was still in a daze off in her own little world. I guess there's no getting out again.

"Umm… I think a few weeks ago when you announced that we are going to go on a road trip." I guess she's starting to get the picture, man I never should of said anything.

"Hehe, that's also when I said we're going to Visit Lloyd too." Oh dammit, not this again.

Celsius looked over, "Yeah, you don't look that much different from when I first saw you, but your skin looks cleaner, your starting to wear eye shadow and makeup. It's completely unlike you." She looked at me, trying to see what I was thinking. Nothing was wrong, nothing at all.

"Oh, it's nothing! Nothing at all. I just don't want people to see Sheena looking all messy." I started to walk quicker, hoping to get away from the subject. Not like it's going to help me at all, beyond the Ossa trail is just the Triet desert.

Celsius and Colette smiled at each other, I guess they knew what each other was thinking. Colette looked at me, "It's because of him. Isn't it? They say being separated make a women more beautiful."

I looked around and noticed we were near the summit in the opening. "Let's set up camp here. It's pretty clear." I tried to ignore Colette and her comment about him, but it's so hard to.

"Admit it, your trying to make yourself look good for Lloyd!" She began to giggle even more, nearly breaking out in a full fledged laugh.

"I said It's nothing! Let's just make camp!" I really am starting to regret coming with these two…

Celsius

We decided to turn in early, after a small dinner and a bit of rest, we gathered fire worth and started a small fire. Flames burning so brightly, representing burning passion, devotion, and anger. I laid my head down on a pillow and began to day dream, the past is finally beginning to catch up with me. Or maybe I'm still running to catch up. Now that I think about it, we're nearly there. The temple of fire. I doubt I'll see him. But then again…

"Wake up!" yelled a high-pitched and quirky voice. I sat up quickly and looked around. My dorm room was small, only two beds, two closet and a large desk. On my side on the desk was a blue rose that I've had for a last several years and a snow-globe I got from Flanoir. The girl who walked in was my roommate, her name was Mina, she was a bit taller then me and a genius is every respect. She was also friendly as heck. Younger then me by a year, she still acted like my older sister often. Just like right now. "W-what is it Mina?" I ask groggily.

"There's a new exchange student coming in! I hear she's from Mizuho!" Mina grabbed my by my arm and dragged me out of the room. I was only wearing what I wore the previous day.

"Hey! I don't think it's that big of a deal!" Suddenly I felt my hand slip out of hers. "Hey! Slow down! Don't run down the stairs!" it was too late, my hand slipped from her's and I went headfirst down the stairs. I knew at the moment that I was going to go into a concussion. Well, I thought at least. I landed on something soft, feels like someone's stomach… I looked up and there was the first time I saw him. Tall, muscular, redheaded and handsome. Maybe Martel did like me after all.

"H-hey, watch where your going!" He stood up and looked disappointed, I remembered who he was now. Efreet, the star of the boxing club.

"Well sorry! No need to get all rude and stuff!" I yell back at him, still annoyed that I fell down the stairs.

"Look who's getting rude! You're the one who fell into me!"

"Well then watch where your going!" I yelled back as loud as I could.

"Listen, I don't care if you're a chick or a guy. Say sorry or I'll have to deck you!"

Mina whimpered behind me, "Don't do it Celsi! It's not worth it!"

"Nope, I don't say sorry. It's a personal rule of mine." I knew this would get him pissed off, I just wanted a good brawl with the leader of the boxing club.

"That's it!" He pulled back his nearly over-muscular arm and directed a punch straight at me, almost easily, I dodged the punch and threw him down the stairs. I may not of been strong at the time, but I was the most nimble girl in Sybak. I got letters almost daily from the gymnastics team for me to join them.

"What the hell?" he got up, he started to run up the stairs again, and aimed another punch straight for me. I laughed as I jumped out of the way and landed on the stair way railing. As soon as he turned around I jumped off the railing and onto the first floor. This was it, I saw him hit the wall and with little pain he managed to punch a whole in it. I sighed.

"Stop showing off and get serious already. I have stuff to attend to." I remembered my own little technique I made up, it uses everything in your environment to your advantage, it works well for those who are weak with their hands but not with their legs. He rushed towards me again. I guess I did the same, before we met halfway through, I turned by center of gravity towards the wall and jumped. Almost with too much ease, I ran on the wall and behind him before turning around abruptly and landing. Before he could respond and turn around, I kicked him once in the back, causing him to fall, from the momentum I gained from that, I launched myself into the air and landed hard on his back, and even after that I wanted to vent more anger, so I tucked my foot underneath this shoulder and back flipped off him, causing him to fly upwards before he could land, I aimed a carefully at his face and knocked him halfway across the hall. He was unconscious.

I pushed some of my hair behind my ear and whispered, "For it was beauty that killed the beast." and I walked away with my hands in my pockets. Students rushed from everywhere to see what happened. "C'mon Mina, let's go see that person from Mizuho you were talking about."

She nodded and followed me. "Alright, she's this way…"

The sun suddenly hit my eyes, I tried to sit up and reach for a shade, but then I fell backwards again. "Dammit. I hate mornings sometimes." I sat up and noticed that Sheena was still fast asleep, and Colette was already cooking breakfast. How she could be so cheery in the morning was beyond me.

"Hey Colette, how long have you been awake?" I asked, rubbing the sand from my eyes.

She smiled at me before looking at the food and inspecting it, "Not that long, maybe an hour or so." She then looked at Sheena, "She's a pretty deep sleeper. She loves to take after Lloyd a lot. Hehehe." I guess she was right, but then again, I've always known Sheena to be the last to wake up.

"Anyways, first things first." I commented, standing up and doing stretches. I found a nearby tree soon after words and started to hit it.

"What are you doing?" Colette asked with a strong curiosity.

I continued to hit the tree with bark, wood and leaves falling off with each hit. "Morning practice. I do it once every other day to stay in shape." I said, counting off by twos as each of my fists hit the tree.

"You're a strange one Celsi." Colette began to taste the food and make sure it was good enough to eat. "Oh yeah, I noticed something on the sash Sheena wears."

I stopped and leaned against the tree. "What is it?"

"It's Lloyd's we both know that. But it's not the same one from several months ago." Colette started.

"Huh? How is it not the same one?" I asked, looking at the sash.

"Look here." Colette looked at one of the ends of the sash, carefully sewn in was 'to Sheena, a gift for you instead of stealing my other one. Love, Lloyd.'

This changes everything, well, not really. "Hm, I guess Lloyd does harbor a lot of feelings for her. I then remembered how Colette felt about Lloyd, "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you …"

She nodded, "No, it's okay. Lloyd told me everything. And I knew about them even before he told me. I don't mind." she smiled softly. Everything Zelos wasn't, she was. She was shy, delicate, honest and sincere.

"Yeah, it must be hard for you sometimes." I tried to make her feel better, but that's something I've never been good at.

"No, no! It's okay. Let's just wake her up and start eating. I'm using Sheena's recipe for curry." She smiled as she took the pot and placed it on the ground.

I was actually surprised, right after I joined Lloyd and the others at the Ice cave, we went straight to Gnome's place. It took some getting used to, but the things that lived down there (still can't remember their names) knew well enough not to get on my bad side. (I paid a visit to Gnome once, let's put it this way. There's a reason why those things are only a few in number.) Anyways, "Well, I don't think that's necessary." I said as I shifted my gaze to Sleeping beauty.

Sheena rubbed her eyes and looked around, she looked messy in the mornings sometimes, her hair was in every which direction, basally her clothes were falling off because she moved around a lot, I'd say more but that's a bit private. "Man, what a hell of a sleep." she commented.

"Hehe, Sheena, you snore loudly." smiled Colette, pouring some of the Curry into a bowl and handing it to me.

Rubbing her eyes, she tired to register everything, "I don't snore that much." Sheena said, pulling up her bra.

I just nodded, "Oh yes you do. Loudly I might add." I remembered during the night, waking up once and seeing a bear a walk slowly up to Sheena's tent. Suddenly she let out a loud snore, the bear ran away afraid. I just fell back down and slept. Didn't care.

"Oh whatever." Sheena took the bowl that Colette handed to her and started to eat. I swear, the only person here who is good in the mornings is Colette. We didn't chat much while we were eating. Afterwards, Sheena and I got dressed and straightened our hair. Just because I'm a tomboy doesn't mean I don't like to make myself look good at times. As for myself, I brought along something different then usual to wear for the desert trek.

I found a spot behind a tree to take off my current clothes and replace them with my desert climate garb. It was a long partially see through skirt, no slits or anything, it reached down to my ankles. To avoid showing any of my underwear, I always wore a pair or short shorts underneath it. For my top, I wore a white-pink short sleeveless shirt cut off at my belly button. I also put on my spare blue headband to keep my hair in place. Finally I put on two sapphire earrings. Then I knew I forgot something. I placed the clothes I just took off in a wing pack and I scoured the area for my contacts.

Sheena gave me an odd look, "Um, Celsius? What are you wearing?" she asked.

I picked up a container and looked a bit embarrassed. "So I like to wear pink now and then? I'll explain my choice of clothes in a minute." I leaned against the tree again and carefully placed my blue contacts on my blue eyes.

"You wear contacts? So your eyes aren't neutrally blue?" asked Colette, her stuff already packed up.

I laughed, "they are, these are just to help my near sightedness." I said as I started to pack up. Apparently, I was the only one who hasn't packed yet. "Oh, also. These clothes are specially made in Triet and Flanoir to keep in body warmth/coolness. It looks thin, but it's not. But you still need to wear a jacket if anything." I then rolled up my tent and placed it along with everything else in a wing-pack. "And these earrings keep me cool as well as allows me to cast ice magic."

"Strange, one day you wear purely blue and no jewelry. The next day you wear mostly pink and two earrings. You think you know a person…" Sheena remarked, staring to walk away.

"Yeah. Well, let's get going now." Colette said as she walked along side Sheena. I caught up with them and we began some idle banter. "Oh yeah…Sheena."

"What is it Colette?"

"Be careful of holes."

"Shut up."

Huh? What are they talking about? "What's up?" I said, eyeing a strange pole sticking out of the ground right in Colette's path.

"Let's walk on the grass for a bit. Get in the shade. The sun is killing me." Remarked Sheena as she began to walk on the grass.

I noticed COlette wasn't paying attention where she was going, "Look out…" trip. The lever fell down. "There's a lever there."

Sheena looked at Colette, "Wait, that lever has a red handle...oh…" A trap door opened beneath Sheena as she fell. "…SHIIIITTTT! COLETTTEE!" I think I know why Sheena hates holes now.

Colette smiled while looking down, "oopsie."

This is going to be a long journey.

A/N well, well, well. How did you like the little comic relief at the end? It was just too tempting. Anyways, MizzDarkness, I made Celsius' town a small nameless town in between the northern continent and the Iselia continent.

chaos0619-I litterlly spent 6 hours typing this two nights ago, mainly because I was in the moon to write.