I'm back, with a new chapter special for youuuu! Extra long chappie, since I couldn't find anywhere to cut it off. In this chapter, we have the debut of an original character, created by moi, of course. When I'm done writing her main purpose, I'll let you vote whether to toss her or keep her. No voting until her original purpose is over, please, even if you hate her XD BIG thanks to all who reviewed... let's break it down:

Paine3: Tch tch, naughty naughty! Haha, just kidding. But don't tell anyone else! P.S., I'm SUPER glad you want me to update! Thank you soo much!

7w7: Ah, I'm so very glad to hear it! Thank ya kindly for reading and reviewing!

Motet: Haha, I was caught up in reading that book for a little while, too--I'm on my second time, now, because I liked it so much that I had to read it again. Good but sad, in my opinion. Anyway, thanks for the review!

...ooo...

"Lady Ginnem, Lady Ginnem," Rikku muttered to herself as she and Paine walked briskly back towards the airship. "Ever heard of a Lady Ginnem, Paine?"

"No," Paine said. "Why do you want to know?"

"I dunno, it's just—" Rikku yawned widely "—she looked so familiar."

"It could just look like someone you know," Paine suggested. "It might not actually be Lady Ginnem that you knew."

Rikku considered this thoughtfully. "Hmm, you're right."

Before long, darkness was closing in on the island of Besaid, and Rikku was suddenly made painfully aware of how tired she was. It seemed hard to believe that all on that day she had fallen down a fifty foot hole, killed gigantic spiders, searched the entire secret cave and the Temple, and was now hurrying back to the airship. Her nice, soft bed that she knew was waiting for her in the cabin seemed to be calling out to her. Her eyes drooped a bit, but she trudged on. When at last they were back aboard the airship, Rikku made straight for the cabin without another word to anybody.

...ooo...

The next morning, Rikku was being shaken awake by Yuna, who was insisting that they get an early start today, as they were going to search Luca, nearly the largest city in Spira.

"What a day today is going to be," she said, yawning widely as she checked her braids to make sure they were all in order. "And we thought all that stuff yesterday was rough."

"But we're searching the scene of the crime, so it's important to be on the look out for any sort of clues," Lulu reminded her.

"Yeah, I know," Rikku replied. "But… imagine how much ground we have to cover today!"

After eating a hurried breakfast, the four girls departed for downtown Luca. It was the morning rush time, and the girls were getting thrown every which way on the streets by the immense crowds. When they at last got to a less crowded street, Rikku proceeded to have a complete collision with a small, red-headed girl.

Her wavy red hair was pulled into pigtails, and she was a bit on the shorter side. She wore a green tank top with a black skirt over a pair of black legging-ish capri pants. She had a dark brown belt with many pouches on, countless bracelets on her wrists, and several necklaces and chokers. She had a pair of black flat ballerina-esque shoes, and there was a pearl ankle bracelet on her slender left ankle.

"Watch where you're goin'!" Rikku said angrily, dusting herself off.

"Me? You were the one that totally caused that," the girl argued.

"Nuh uh! You were walking down the middle of the sidewalk—"

"Aw, just forget it," the girl said bitterly, and she started to walk away in the opposite direction.

"Hey, I'm not done with you, pipsqueak!" Rikku yelled after her.

The girl froze. Wheeling around slowly, she said in a low rumble, "Who are you calling PIPSQUEAK!"

"I said I wasn't done with you, so you better stop walking, shorty," Rikku said authoritatively.

"THAT'S IT!" the girl bellowed, seemingly irked by the references to her height. "NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!" She glared piercingly at Rikku, and snapped her fingers on her right hand.

For a moment, Rikku considered laughing, because whatever the girl had tried to do, it seemingly hadn't worked. Then, Rikku noticed a single, solitary braid, slowly being consumed by a small flame. Rikku shrieked.

"Put it out, put it out!" she screeched at Lulu.

Lulu effortlessly cast a water spell, which left Rikku completely drenched, but put the small fire out nonetheless.

"Who the heck do you think you are?" Rikku demanded.

"My name's Aya, and I'm a mage," she said, anger still evident.

"Mage?" Rikku repeated. "How could a kid like you be a mage?"

"By learning, of course," Aya said. It seemed she was cooling off, since she had quit glaring at Rikku and was now looking at the group of four, hands on her hips incredulously. "Who're you?"

"I'm Rikku, this here's Paine, that's Lulu, and this is High Summoner Yuna—"

Aya looked a bit apologetic when Rikku mentioned her name. "I'm sorry, Lady Summoner, for having disturbed your travels—"

"Don't be silly," Yuna said. "Call me Yuna, none of this Lady Summoner business. Rikku, don't you think you owe her an apology?"

Rikku glared at Yuna. Making sure that Yuna understood that this wasn't the last she'd be hearing about this, she grumbled, "Sorry. For, you know, knocking you over."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry! I knocked you over and started your hair on fire!"

"It's fine," Rikku mumbled, fingering the half-burnt braid.

"It was a good spell, though," Lulu said.

Aya watched her reproachfully. "You're a black mage, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Lulu told her. "What type of a mage are you?"

"I know both types of magic, and then some," Aya said, an edge of pride in her voice.

"Amazing," Lulu murmured.

"Yeah, it's pretty rare to master both," Aya said, still watching them carefully. "It's in my blood, though. My mother was the same way, and she taught me everything I know."

"I used to know a very bright mage," Lulu said. "She would occasionally teach me things. It was in her blood, too."

Aya looked a bit more relaxed. "So, what are you all in Luca for?"

"We've lost some friends," Paine said. "So we're looking for them."

"Oh, are those the two that were kidnapped from the Blitzball store? I heard all about that, how terrible!"

"So, kid, since we've got a whole city to search, we've got to get a move on it," Rikku said hurriedly. She evidently didn't care for Aya much. Either that or the singed bit of braid that she was eyeing was bothering her immensely.

"I'm not a kid, I'm sixteen," Aya protested. "Besides, you're forgetting that I've lived in Luca my entire life. I know almost every secret there is to know about this city!"

"We don't need your help," Rikku said at once.

"Then again, she seems to know where you're going," Aya said, pointing at Rikku. "So you'll know all about how to get into the secret basement beneath the Stadium where your friends could easily be stowed, right?"

"Well… no, but—"

"Then you do need my help!" Aya said brightly.

"We would be grateful," Yuna said.

"Not a problem, not a problem at all—follow me!" Aya said, leading the way through the crowded streets towards the enormous Blitzball stadium. Despite Aya's height, it was not difficult to spot her on a crowded street—her flaming red hair stood out against nearly everything. Lulu and Aya were getting along very well. They were leading the group around and talking about magic.

"The mage I used to know couldn't ever master transportation spells—can you do them?" Lulu asked.

"Yup," Aya replied, grinning. "They're really—"

"If you can do them, then why are we walking?" Rikku interrupted.

Aya whipped around. Grinning, she said, "You got legs, don'tcha?"

Lulu laughed. "Or maybe you don't think it's proper to use it when your destination is so close."

"Bingo," Aya said. "Plus it's way harder to transport more people."

"How did you become so skilled at magic if you're only sixteen?" Yuna questioned.

"My mom," Aya said simply. "She was amazing. She worked hard, though, and she taught me from when I was able to talk…"

"But?" Paine said expectantly.

"Dead," Aya said sullenly. "It's mostly just me and my brother now, since Dad's gone all the time. He thinks we can take care of ourselves, since Ryuen's seventeen, and I'm sixteen. Mostly he's right, but…"

Rikku's glaring expression softened considerably. "I'm sorry, Aya," she said quietly.

Both Yuna and Paine were watching Rikku knowingly. Yuna's easily readable expression was very reassuring, while Paine's plainly said "don't even think about it".

"It's alright," Aya said, keeping her eyes firmly in front of her and blinking often. "Ryuen and I will manage."

After that, they arrived at the stadium, which Aya seemed grateful for, as the awkward silence amongst the five of them ended.

"So, where are we headed?" Paine asked.

"Let's check the basement, first, and then we'll check the docks," Aya said. "It's like a labyrinth, I promise you, so try to stay close. Fiends guard whatever's down there… I'm not even really sure what. If we get into any real trouble, I'll try and transport us out of there, but I can't guarantee anything." She had a strangely determined look on her face as they walked into the stadium.

"Where is this basement, anyway?" Rikku asked, eyes swimming with curiosity.

"Just follow me," Aya said, trace of a smirk across her lips.

Before long, they ended up in the actual stadium where the Blitzball players played. Aya led the way down up into a corner of the stadium, where a trap door with a small keyhole was vaguely visible. Aya put her hands down right on top of the keyhole, and with a noise that sounded like a small explosion, the trap door burst open.

"Locks, you know," she said, turning around and grinning at the stunned faces of the four girls behind her.

Each girl in turn hopped down into what seemed to be a large storage room, full of things like blitzballs and other trinkets. There was one wall that was completely bare, save a small bookshelf. Aya pulled a particularly fat book off the shelf, revealing yet another small keyhole. She placed her hands over it, as she had done with the trap door, and with another explosion-like sound, the bookcase swung forward, revealing a dimly lit passageway.

"Voila, the basement," Aya said with flourish as she led the other girls down the passageway. She picked a lantern up that was near the door, quickly lit it, and proceeded down the hallway.

"Why all the secrecy?" Rikku asked.

"Dunno," Aya replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I've explored this a lot of times, and never found what they've got to be hiding under here. I think the fiends appear more the closer you get to this mysterious treasure. Since I'm always alone, I'm a little paranoid about fighting all these things myself. A girl can get drained pretty quick down here."

Rikku looked slightly terrified at this, but kept her cool. "What types of fiends are there?"

"All types," Aya answered. "They figure if you come prepared for one, the fact that there's so many will be your downfall. At least, I think."

"Seems logical," Yuna said with a nod. "The Gullwings are prepared for anything!"

...ooo...

Read Aya's part carefully over the next few chapters, and decide if you like her! I'll let you know when to start voting! I'd love it if you'd review, since it gives me a feel for how I'm writing this. Please, do! It makes me wonderfully happy!

Thanks for reading,

Lulala