Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
(Luca)
They were there; they had made it to Luca. This being both Jecht's and Rayne's first time seeing it, they both stood at the base of the steps of the Highroad, leaning against the railing and looking out at the city in awe.
"It's so big!" Rayne murmured, eyes wide.
Jecht nodded. "Yeah. Hey, look! There's the blitzball stadium!"
"Wow, a real stadium. I gotta go see that later!"
"There probably isn't much to see there, kid."
Rayne threw her head back and looked at Jecht curiously. "Why not?"
Jecht laughed loudly and stood back from the railing, jerking his thumb to his chest and replying boisterously, "Because I ain't there, and I'm the best!"
Rayne quirked a brow. "Really?"
Jecht grinned. "You can bet all your chocobos I am! I could probably take an entire team of those losers down there single handedly!"
Rayne studied him with a dubious gaze. "I'm not sure if I should be impressed or skeptical…"
"Shouldn't you be looking for your brother, rather than worrying about blitzball?"
They both turned to face Auron, who had another of his steely gazes fixed on Rayne. She shut her mouth immediately and turned back around, pretending to be looking for someone who wasn't there.
"Jeez, Auron, don't be such a stick in the mud! She's just having a bit of fun, and—"
"Jecht!" Auron growled, taking a step toward his fellow guardian. "Have you forgotten that you're a guardian?! This is no time for fun and games, this is a serious matter! We need to get back onto the road!"
Braska, who had also been looking at the city, turned and frowned at his guardians. "Auron, Jecht, stop this. There's plenty of time for us to catch the boat to Kilika, so in the meantime, we'll help Rayne look for her brother."
Feeling guilty for both the fight and the devotion Braska was showing to find her nonexistent brother, Rayne put on a tight smile and turned to face the group. "It's alright, really. There aren't any fiends in Luca; just a lot of people. I was going to head into the city and find a tailor before I went to look for Michael, anyway. So… you all go ahead and get your supplies and head to the boats to Kilika. Thank you so much for everything."
She ran forward and shoved a bag into Auron's hands, then turned and ran towards the steps that led to the town. She paused at the top and waved to them. "Good luck! And thank you again!" She then ran down the steps and out of view.
Auron looked at the bag in his hand. It was different than the Gil bag she had found; this one was made of black velvet and had a purple drawstring. As the other two walked over, he pulled the bag open and poured its contents into his gloved hand.
"Are those…?"
Braska studied them closely, shaking his head as he pulled back and muttered, "It sure looks like they are…"
Jecht looked between the two in confusion. "What are they?"
Braska shook his head and poked the black stones, "They look like Dark Matter…"
Auron frowned, "But they can't be. Dark Matter is extremely rare, not to mention dangerous. How did she get a hold of a bag of it?"
True to her word, when Rayne made it into one of Luca's squares she began to immediately look around for a tailor. Luca was pleasantly warm, but it was a bit uncomfortable in a baggy shirt and sweats. Ignoring the odd looks she was receiving from people, she walked into a shop that had clothing on display and casually stepped up to the counter.
The girl standing at the register looked Rayne up and down with obvious disdain and drawled, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this store doesn't sell discount."
Rayne felt the muscles in her jaw twitch and narrowed her eyes. She may have been insecure and quiet up until then, but she sure as hell wasn't going to take that.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," She began in a voice a bit more timid than usual, faking hesitance as she raised her bag of Gil and dropped it onto the counter, letting its contents spill out, "I wasn't aware that this shop sold items more expensive than this."
Now, Rayne may have been bad when it came to fighting in the game, understanding some concepts in the game, and been horrendously terrible when it came to playing blitzball, but she knew the Gil system, and the way she figured it, 1000 Gil could buy her at least seven simple outfits back home, and 4000 would be enough to get her respect from the greedy vendors here. And she was right.
The woman, who had been leaning against her hand, slipped and slammed her head on the counter. Rayne smirked when she sat back up and eyed the Gil with wide eyes. The woman looked at Rayne with even wider eyes.
"Now then," she flinched at Rayne's smug and condescending tone, "I came here for a new outfit. Can you think of anyone who might be able to help me?"
Rayne walked out from behind the screen and over to a mirror, spinning slowly to admire her new look. She was now wearing a long black skirt that had been slit up the sides and to her mid-thigh, the rest of it held together with crisscross leather stitching and a pair of knee length dark blue shorts underneath. Her top was also dark blue, short sleeved, and a slightly high neckline. The actual material of the top stopped half an inch above her navel, the rest of it woven black leather mesh that went on a bit passed the waistline of her skirt. Not wanting to get burned by the hot Spiran sun, she also had a custom jacket of deep blue that could easily be mistaken for black and went down to her knees.
She stole a quick glance at her bare feet before striding confidently back into the store and looking at a wall that was lined with shoes. The woman, who was now very eager to please, walked timidly over to Rayne to make a few suggestions (and rather pricy ones), but was quickly brushed off and put out.
When Rayne walked back with her selected shoes, she placed a pair of thick boots on the counter and locked the woman's demeaned stare with her steely one. "How much will all of this be?" She asked with as little interest as possible. She had made sure that her appearance was a Spiran as she could stand it, but also Spartan enough that she hadn't spent too much.
The abashed woman calculated that she was owed 1500 Gil, which Rayne slammed down onto the counter with as much indifference and spite as possible before she grabbed her old clothes and walked out of the store.
When she was out of sight of the shop, she turned down the nearest alley and leaned against the wall, breaking down into a fit of giggles. When she had woken up on the Highroad, she had been insanely frightened and scared, and she had felt that way the entire time she was with Braska, Auron and Jecht, mainly because they were all characters from a game.
But now she could see the truth; game or not, Spirans were human, and when you broke it down to the bare bones of it, all humans were the same. All Rayne really had to do was accept and remember this, and she could easily walk among the Spirans as if she were one of them. That vendor had proven it.
When she had calmed down, Rayne tied her Gil pouch to her shirt (why buy leather mesh if you aren't going to use it, eh?) and wrapped all of her old clothes into a bundle, using the legs of her sweats to tie it tightly. With her bundle clutched under her arm, she walked out of the alley and over to a bench, where she sat down her things and pulled a length of leftover tan leather string and began to attempt to braid her hair.
When I wrote 'attempt', did you somewhat get the feel that she wasn't doing a good job at it? If you did, bravo! If you didn't, I apologize for not making my meaning clear enough and allow me to restate it for you; she began to make a poor attempt to braid her hair. When it came to braiding, Rayne found it much easier to do if you weren't doing it to yourself.
She was still struggling with separating her thick brown hair when she felt a small tug on her sleeve. She looked beside her and saw a little blonde haired girl standing on the bench staring at her with wide green eyes. The girl gestured towards Rayne's hair and began mimicking a twisting motion, making Rayne blink in confusion. She then glanced at her hair and it hit her.
"Oh! You want to help?"
The girl nodded quickly and held out her hands, at which point Rayne turned around and let her hair fall across her back. She felt the girls small hands run through her hair and begin to deftly pull it into a somewhat tight braid. After a few moments, the girls hand peeked over Rayne's shoulder and she handed the girl the leather string, which the small hand took and disappeared with.
Soon Rayne felt her hair drop and felt a small thump as the braid landed heavily onto her back. She turned to the girl and smiled. "Thank you."
The girl grinned widely and jumped down from the bench, about to run off when Rayne reached out and grabbed her hand, slipping thirty Gil into it. When the girl looked back at Rayne with wide eyes, Rayne noticed that her pupils were swirled, but she brushed that off as a genetic mutation.
"Thank you." She repeated.
The girl looked at the Gil in her hand, then her head shot back up and her face bore a wide smile. "Dryhg oui. Yht oui'na famlusa!"
Rayne stared after the girl in confusion as she disappeared into the crowd, but shook her head and stood, turning in the direction of the blitzball stadium. She smiled when she heard the sounds of cheering drifting through the air.
"I think it's time for me to see how real blitzball is played."