Pamela Vance was standing on a port in Warjilis, waiting for the boat carrying Gene Weston, Luna Renk, Daniel Rayne, and Rush Broyer to get back from the Deep Dungeon. Why Deep Dungeon? It was a hunch of Aeris's. They went there to look for any clues on the location of their loved ones. The stubborn strand of straw-yellow hair that always fell into her face did so again, and she blew it out of the way and took her gloves off as she attempted to put it back in her loose ponytail. She set the Artemis Bow on the ground in front of her next to her gloves as she tried to fix her hair.

"The hair again Pam?" Pamela heard a voice to her left, and, still fixing her hair, turned around and saw her older sister Christine. She had forgone the traditional 'armor' of a Monk and wore just the sea green spandex. Pamela and her sister had a special bond that came from a great tragedy they both shared. When they were very young, their village was attacked by bandits, and they were the only survivors. Then, a clan of Bull Demons found Pamela and took her away. She cried for days. She was separated from her beloved sister. The Bull Demons were relatively kind to her, for monsters anyway, and they gave her food and shelter. The real problem came when she grew older and matured a little bit. The Bull Demons started to rape her, and they did so for years until she had many wounds, both physically and mentally. Then, she encountered Ramza and his troupe, and Ophelia bravely talked her into joining. By that time, she was sixteen and had been with the Bull Demons since she was two, so that was the only life she knew. She was feral and dangerous. Fortunately, Ramza had apparently encountered this before, and he sent Masahiro, his archer, to work with her.

He started by defeating her in battle, and as she lay wounded, he started to restrain her. Then he did something she did not expect: he began to dress her wounds. Pamela remembered how much this confused her, and she wanted to find out more about this powerful, strange man. This led her to accept being trained to walk upright, eat like a human being, cook her food, dress herself, and many other tasks that most people take knowing how to do for granted. After about half a year, she was almost completely cured of her crippling mental wounds. This was when she began to fall in love with Masahiro. So she invited him into the woods, and they had a picnic, and shared their first kiss. This was where all the other fears of her regressing to her feral state and going berserk and attacking everyone were assuaged. What little was left of her animal self melted away during that moment. She was cured completely.

Apparently, a similar thing had happened with her sister a year or so before, and Malak was the one who fixed her. And, like her little sister, Christine had developed a crush on the person who treated her. Her problem was that she was very masculine, and didn't get along well with other women. This led her to being 'just one of the guys', which created a problem for her and Malak. So she decided to leave and set up a center for people with situations similar to the Vance sisters' problems in Bervenia.

'I was surprised myself at the number of patients she has,' Pamela thought. 'There were so many orphans during the Fifty Years War, and most of them got picked up by some sort of monster or other. And of course there are the victims of human rape.' Pamela would never admit it to her sister, but she was jealous of how successful she was. Pamela lived here in Warjilis with Masahiro's brother Jack.

The O'Bannon family was incredibly wealthy, and Pamela felt bad just living in their huge mansion. True, she was employed as a cook, but she knew that it was just a formality and that Jack would let her stay even if she couldn't cook. That was the one thing she was actually good at: her cooking rivaled the best restaurants in the world. She apparently had this hidden talent all these years. And she actually enjoyed it. But Jack had given all his employees, he was not the type to use the word 'servant', the day off because he was waiting here for news of his brother.

Jack was very, well, the only word Pamela could think of to describe him was average. He was kind of tall, though not as tall as his younger brother Masahiro, kind of muscular, and had the trademark O'Bannon black hair and green eyes. He was very business oriented, and he was a big reason why the O'Bannon fortune was so big. His father, of course, had started it, but Jack had made it a fortune.

He was here, of course, and he stood on the dock a couple feet away from her. He was next to his sister, Melissa. She was well endowed, both physically and financially. She also had the trademark O'Bannon look, lanky with black hair and green eyes. But she was lanky in an attractive way, like her brother Masahiro. She had a favorite outfit, a maroon colored dress with what Pamela considered to be far too much cleavage. Other than that, it was fairly conservative, covering her arms and legs down to her high heels and puffing out at the shoulders. She was very fashionable, but all she did was spend all her brothers' money. Even Masahiro sent back some of the pelts that Ramza and his team poached to his brother, who got them skinned and sold them to a fur shop. This got Jack a number of rare collectable weapons, like the Madlemgen, which he gave to Olan.

Olan Durai was Orlandu's adopted son. No one really knew who his father was. He was a wizard of the Nanten Knights, and he had a black ponytail which most found to be a bit childish. He wore a dark blue uniform with a tannish cape for concealing himself, just in case. Over time, he had developed feelings for the wizard from the church aiding Delita, Balmafula Lanando. Which started a very strange love triangle between Olan, Balmafula, and King Delita, who Balmafula had strong feelings for.

Balmafula was a devoted sorceress of the Glabados Church. Delita was the one who taught her about the corruption of the Church and opened her eyes to the true Ajora. She had a blonde ponytail held together by a red hair tie. She had a brown shirt, sleeveless and starting under her shoulders and going down to her bellybutton and a brown miniskirt, and a pair of boots to match. Her cape however, was bright green. What this fascination with capes was, Pamela would never understand. She and Olan were standing not far away from Jack and Melissa.

Sitting at the end of the dock, with their feet dangling in the water, were Ramza's old friends David and Dorothy. Dorothy was proficient as an Archer, but she preferred the silver armor and periwinkle headband of a Squire. David was a Monk through and through. There was a time when David was Ramza's best friend and roommate. He was a party boy, and Dorothy was a goody-goody. Normally, these two wouldn't have given each other the time of day, but since Kylie broke up with David after Fort Zeakden, and Ramza broke up with Dorothy not much later, they were there to console each other. Their relationship came about when Ramza started dating Kylie, and they decided to fake date to make him jealous. But they realized that they really loved each other, after a while, and decided to stay together even after Ramza and Kylie broke up.

Further up the dock, there was a simple flower girl from Zarghidas dressed in a brown dress with a white bow tied on the front. She had light brown hair, and kept it covered with a black hood laced with white fabric. She always carried around a basket of flowers, which she sold for one gil apiece. Since this was not going to generate nearly enough money to pay off her thirty thousand gil debt, so thieves came after her. Cloud saved her life and killed the thieves, but the problem still existed. So Masahiro promised her that if she ever got into financial trouble again, he would help bail her out. She was a real sweetheart, but Cloud refused to be with her for some reason, he never said what it was exactly.

Standing next to Aeris was Mustadio's father, Besrodio. He wore fairly plain clothes, and had to walk with a cane because of some problem with his right leg. He was an accomplished engineer, and he fixed things. He was the chief repairman for Worker 8. According to Mustadio, he was devastated by the death of his wife, Angela, and never quite recovered. He carried himself with pride though, and he had the look of an old man, even though he was only in his mid forties.

The another of the people on the docks that morning were an old man, Gene's grandfather, Marcus Weston. He was old, and he wore an odd jacket made entirely of chocobo feathers. His pants, however, were simply normal brown fabric. His balding gray hair sat neatly atop his head, and he was an eccentric old man. He ran the Chocobo Ranch in Barius Hill, which was where Ramza sent all of Boco's children when she laid eggs. He loved chocobos, and Gene was his assistant.

Next to Marcus was another of Ramza's oldest friends, but this one wasn't human. He was a golden chocobo named Boco. Golden, not yellow. Christine had made that mistake once, and she had the bite marks on her arm to prove it. Ever since that moment they met in Araguay Woods, Ramza and Boco had become good friends. When it was time to get rid of someone from the troupe just so they wouldn't be detected as easily, it was with a heavy heart that Ramza sent Boco into the wild at Barius Hill. A few days later, Boco came back, and led Ramza to the Chocobo Ranch run by Marcus. So ever since then, Ramza has sent all his chocobos to Marcus instead of releasing them into the wild.

Standing next to Marcus and Boco was Aeris's mother, Elmyra. Elmyra was a kindly old woman who wasn't Aeris's real mother, but had taken care of her ever since she was very small. She had brown hair, and kept it neatly in a bun on the top of her head. She wore a green dress with a white apron over it. Her brown sensible shoes showed that she was a firm but kind woman who had a lot of mothering left in her.

As Pamela waited for the ship to return, she looked out at the lighthouse that served as the cover for the Deep Dungeon. Ramza had gone in there, why no one knew, maybe for the treasure, and they had come out with a good haul. Her favorite was the Yoichi Bow. Masahiro had let her try it out once. They were alone and training in the woods, and he got behind her and grabbed her hands and placed them correctly on the bow. By then they were kissing and, needless to say, they didn't shoot many arrows that day. Pamela giggled.

Suddenly, the ship appeared out of the fog surrounding the lighthouse. There were no other ships scheduled to return that day, so she assumed this was the one carrying their four friends. Everyone got up, especially David and Dorothy since their feet were right where the boat was going to pull in, and they gathered in a big group to wait for the ship to dock.

First off the boat was the only Oracle in the group: Luna. She was a blonde in every sense of the word, and well endowed too. And she never let anyone forget it. She wore low cut dresses, and had even altered her Oracle outfit to show off more of her body. She was a huge flirt, but Pamela sensed that she was playing for the other team, or so to speak. Pamela could see why she got such a wide response, from both men and women, but she didn't have to make such a big deal out of it.

Next out was Gene Weston, Marcus' grandson. His robes were like an Oracle's robes with the obvious difference of the crest of the Chocobo Ranch on one of the bright blue lapels. Pamela never really liked him. He was a nice boy, if you got him to like you. Otherwise, you got hit with the icy chill of his sarcasm. His blatant disregard for anyone's feelings, including his own grandfather, had become almost legendary in the circles around Lionel, the premier place of business for the Chocobo Ranch. Pamela sensed that he secretly harbored feelings for Ophelia, but was afraid to make a move because of her psychopath, muscle-for-brains boyfriend.

'Speak of the devil,' Pamela thought as Dan, which is what they called him for short, got off the boat. Brown hair, brown eyes, he was normal in that sense. But he was taller than everyone else in the group, built like a tank, and unfortunately rather dull. He was also an extreme racist, which led him not to like Rafa and Malak. He also hated commoners, or 'commies' as he called them, and wouldn't speak to Pamela or anyone else that wasn't nobly born. He was formerly a member of the Lionel Knights that attacked them during the final showdown with Gafgarion. He was pretty evil in Pamela's opinion. What Ophelia sees in him, Pamela felt she would never know.

After Dan came the only person on the boat that Pamela actually got along with: Rush Broyer. He was a Monk, and wore its traditional blue vest with red, baggy pants and a matching blue headband. He fought, obviously, with his bare hands. He was Strawberry's boyfriend, and they were so cute together. He used to work for Zalmo Rusnada, the Pagan Examiner from Murond, but Ophelia persuaded him to join Ramza. Now the two were happily married. He was really a nice guy, but sometimes he could be a little naïve, just like his wife.

"Well, did you find them?" Christine asked in her light but masculine voice. "Was Aeris wrong?"

"If the fates chose to give me that vision," Aeris said, her voice resonating clear as a bell. "I can't help that. All I know is that we were supposed to find someone or something there."

"Well, we found something all right," Rush said, and he pulled a small, perfectly circular mirror out of his pocket. It was perfectly still, not a single ripple on the surface. Around the glass was set a row of pearls, each perfectly spaced apart. It was beautiful.

"What is it?" Pamela asked, transfixed by the strange object.

"Well, whatever it is," Luna said brightly. "It's obviously very important and powerful, since it was hidden deep in the Deep Dungeon."

"What I don't understand," David chimed in. "Is why we didn't find it on our first trip to Deep Dungeon. Was it hidden, or was it just lying around in plain view?"

"Well, I didn't see it personally," Dan said and pointed to Luna. "It was commie over here."

"I have a name," she said snottily. "But yeah, I saw the mirror and nobody else did. Maybe we should go back to Jack's house and-"

"MLAPAN!"

Aeris's voice rang loud and clear across the docks, and everyone looked over at her. Her head was upright, her face parallel to the sky, and her eyes were wide open and emitted a soft green light, like the color of her eyes. Her hands were taught at her sides, with the fingers extended. She seemed possessed. She screamed out the word again.

"MLAPAN!"

Then she collapsed to the ground. Everyone ran over to her to make sure she was alright. Except for David. He stood still, looking thoughtfully down at the floor.

"MLAPAN…" he thought out loud. "MLAPAN… now where have I seen that- Deep Dungeon!" Everyone turned around to look at him.

"David?" Dorothy said. "What are you talking about? We just came from Deep Dungeon."

"No, MLAPAN is a floor in the Deep Dungeon," David responded. He was with Ramza right up until the battle with Elibidis. That was the moment when Dorothy got sick, so he left Ramza and then he was replaced by the Byblos creature, so he just stayed with Dorothy.

"So I guess we're going back into the Deep Dungeon," Rush said. "But this time, we're taking David with us as a guide."

"What?" David said, scared and confused. "Don't be silly! I don't know my way around there any better than you do!"

"Maybe not," Olan said, shrugging. "But you're the best we've got right now. I'll lead the team that goes down there. Bal, Dan, Chris, and Rush will come with me for support. Dave, you'll be our guide."

"What about the rest of us?" Pamela asked. She wanted to be there if they found Masahiro. "Why can't we go?"

"If they're not down there," Olan continued, looking at Pamela and Aeris. "We'll have to fight our way out. And I don't want to get stuck protecting more people than I have to."

"Well, it was my blindingly painful vision that led you to believe anything at all was in the Deep Dungeon," Aeris said commandingly. "Can't I at least come along to see Cloud?"

"How do you know he will be?" Balmafula asked.

"I just have a feeling," Aeris replied. "A hunch if you will. Just take my word for it. They're there."

"Okay, Aeris can come," Olan said, obviously thinking she may prove useful in leading them to their friends and loved ones. "Pamela, you should come along, just to protect her."

"Well, sure," Pamela said, glad that he didn't just let David baby sit the flower girl. "If you want me to come, I'll come."

"So it's settled then," Olan said. "Dave, Bal, Dan, Aeris, Pam, Rush, Chris, come with me. The rest of you go back to Jack's mansion."

"Okay everybody," Jack O'Bannon said loudly to all those not going to the Deep Dungeon. "Let's head out." They got in the carriage that brought them to the dock, and set out for the O'Bannon mansion as the other fighters got on the boat.

A/N: Okay, the chapters following will be more like this length, except with something actually happening besides Aeris getting a vision. I just needed to introduce the rest of the characters, not all of whom will be important. The main focus will be on Ramza, Agrias, Mustadio, Ophelia, Kletian, Meliadoul, Beowulf, and Reis because I like them. And a couple other characters that haven't yet been introduced. Minor characters like Jack, Marcus, and Elmyra will make random appearances but not really be involved in the story. Now, finally, all the characters will be together and the story should pick up.