Paine finally pulled her hand away from Isolde. She realized that the red head was a lot stronger than she looked. Having a nice battle with her would prove fun. But Paine knew that now was not the time to think such things. The warrior regained her serious composure. "What in all of Spira is your problem?" Paine asked.

"I told you before that I like you. why is that so hard for you to believe?" before Paine could even respond Yuna and Rikku were now making their way over to them. She hated to admit it but right now she could really use their help. Maybe getting rid of this nut case would prove harder than she first thought. There was something really strange about the magician. was she seriously for real or was this some kind of trick.

"Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it."

"Thank us after we've found…" Paine stopped. "What exactly are we looking for again?"

"Here watch this sphere we're looking for them." Isolde tossed the sphere over to Yuna. She motioned for Paine and Rikku to come over. Together the three of them watched the sphere. They saw three men or at least creatures that looked like men. Excluding the fact that they had wings, claws, and fangs. Along with some very strange marking all over their bodies. The one with the green hair spoke first.

Zone: Do you think that we will ever find out master?"

Another one of the strange creatures stepped forward. His hair was black with blue highlights. As Paine glanced at the strangers she looked to Isolde. A look of uncertainty was upon her face. Just kind of monster making freak was she? The silver haired woman didn't like the situation at all.

Ruko: We must find our master. We've been separated for so long. The shortest one soon stepped out of the shadows. He slung his sword over his shoulder. His purple eyes staring straight ahead. He was probably the most normal one out of the group.

Chaos: We won't find Isolde by just standing here. Come on lets go."

With that everything went dark. Paine took the sphere and tossed it back to Isolde. How hard could it be to find them? They weren't exactly average or normal looking. This shouldn't take too long. "What are they?" Rikku wondered.

"Oh well those are my assistants. Ruko, Zone, and Chaos I created them. That's why the look the way that they do. I must say they are some of my best work."

"So you're saying that we have to search the entire high road for your "creations" or whatever. Is it just me or is this whole thing sort of strange?" Isolde glanced over to the blond thief as she said this. Finally she just nodded there was nothing else to say. It wasn't as if the Gull wings hadn't taken on strange missions before. Yet this was by far the strangest. Could this all just be some horrible dream? Paine was starting to wish that it was.

"You're right it strange and maybe even a bit out of this world. But I'm a magician strange and unreal is what I do. Besides if we split up we can find them faster."

"I agree you're right." Yuna told her. Soon Paine felt Isolde grab her hand. Her grip was iron tight this worried the warrior. Now how would she avoid her? It was bad enough that she couldn't get rid of her as it was. All she had to do was grab Paine and it was all over.

"Shall we go then?" she smiled at Paine.

Quickly as if on cue Paine pushed her away. Seeing this made Rikku smile a bit. Maybe this meant that the warrior didn't like her after all. Well at least one could hope in this case. "No one said that I was going anywhere with you." Paine said coldly.

"Paine the quicker we find her friends then we can leave. Just go with her alright?" Yuna suggested. Paine looked from Isolde and then turned her attention to her friends. There was just something wrong going on here. why couldn't Yuna see that? Sure she was too nice for her own good. But still common sense should be kicking in right about now.

"Excuse me Isolde while my friends and I converse privately." The red haired woman simply nodded then walked away. Once Paine could see that she wasn't within earshot she looked towards her friends. "Yuna you cant be serious. If you leave me alone with that magician who knows what will happen. I might end up killing her. Yuna I'm only thinking of the well being of that deranged woman." Paine spoke.

Rikku started to laugh. Sure if it would have been anyone else it wouldn't have been funny. Yet this was Isolde the magician that kissed Dr. P twice. Besides she just really didn't trust her. The young thief could see that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Paine obviously didn't trust her either. Even Yuna chuckled lightly but soon stopped. "Paine this isn't funny. You won't kill her."

"You ready to make that bet. Okay well it's her life that you're sacrificing."

"But Paine she obviously likes you. what's wrong with having someone admire you? okay so Isolde is going a little too far with this game. We should just play along maybe she's just shy. It's not really easy to talk to you Paine. She probably designed this whole thing so you two could be alone."

Rikku looked as if she would start to throw up. Yet know that Yuna had mentioned it; it did make sense. Sure it was odd and crazy as hell but it made sense. Talking with the warrior was not an easy task. Especially if the person happened to be a complete stranger. Only Rikku hoped that Isolde wasn't going to go that far. It said a lot of things about her personality. "You have a point Yuna. I still don't like this though."

"Paine just talk to her okay."

The silver haired woman took a deep breath. As much as she didn't want to talk to her. It was probably best if she let her down now. She needed to tell the red head that she just wasn't interested in her. Only she doubted if it would change things. In fact there was a chance that things could only get worse. Rikku just watched Paine in silence. She wondered what was going on in that head of hers.

"Alright Yuna I'll go talk to her. If you don't hear from us in awhile well you know what happened?" Paine pointed to her sword. The warrior started to walk away with Rikku walking after her. She didn't follow her all the way though. She soon called out to the silver haired woman.

"Paine pa lynayim ugyo!" she shouted.

She stopped and turned back around. She locked eyes with the blond for a moment. Then she quickly thought about something to say. "E ymfyoc tu. Tuhd funno." Paine replied. Once Rikku was reassured she headed back over to her cousin. Yuna of course did not speak any al bhed. Yet obviously something had happened. She raised her eyebrow in question. Rikku noticed the look that she was receiving from her. "What is it Yunie?"

"What did you just say to Paine?"

"Oh that I just told her to be careful. And don't give me that look Yunie Isolde is weird. We could be sending Paine to her death right now. Then the news would be all over Spira "When weirdo's attack" Rikku smiled. Yuna laughed with her cousin. It did nothing to stop her from seeing the truth. Rikku was clearly jealous right now. She could see that Isolde was definitely strange. No one was denying that. Nonetheless Rikku had been bitten by the green jealousy bug.

"Rikku its okay you know that you're jealous."

"What oh says I'm jealous? I'm so not jealous. (Pause followed by silence) Alright, alright Yunie your right. So maybe I am a little jealous. What if she likes that magician?"

Isolde was leaned up against a statue. She soon turned around to see Paine standing there. A small smile appeared on her face. "Hey again Red." She spoke.

"Isolde don't play ridiculous games. You shouldn't make up stories about needing help. Especially if there was never a problem to begin with. We know you set this whole thing up." Isolde looked up to the sky a sort of dreamy look on her face. As if she was really a million miles away. Paine only hoped that she wouldn't be doing anymore magic. And now maybe after this she could get some well deserved rest. Isolde looked back at Paine her silverish blue eyes seemed to flicker with sadness.

"Alright so you got me. I guess the great Isolde isn't so great after all. Well I actually did create those guys but they aren't here. I just wanted to be able to see you again Paine. Can you really blame me?" the magician walked over to Paine placing her hand to her cheek. Rikku and Yuna were able to see everything. Rikku was doing her best to hold her jealousy in. It wasn't really an easy task when she thought about it. Soon Paine pushed her hand away.

"Don't touch me." She said in her monotone.

"Why because your afraid to feel. Is that what you're afraid of? Paine you hide behind this stoic mask to protect yourself. But you see if you do that you will miss out. Come on Red just let me…" she stopped. She then put her fingers to her lips. Then with her other hand she pulled the warrior forward. Slowly she pressed her lips to Paine's. The silver haired woman resisted at first. She tried so hard to push her away but soon relaxed into the kiss. Rikku felt as if her heart was breaking. She turned around and started to walk away.

"Rikku are you going to be alright?"

"I guess she finally fell for all that magic after all. I'm going to head back to the airship." Rikku replied sadly.

Al bhed translations:

Rikku: Be careful okay.

Paine: I always do. Don't worry.