Chapter Three: The Land that was Never Meant to be

"Are we all set, Kyle?" Colonel Jade wandered about the Sylph and sat on an open seat with one leg crossing over the other. Everyone was onboard and tired from last night's event.

"Yeah, we're all set!" Kyle pushed a lever and pulled another, causing them to fly high above Grand Chokmah, and forward, into the clouds. Cheese and Mieu were running on all fours around the floor, diving and weaving through obstacles and legs.

"How long will it take to get to the 'area'?" Luke called out to the pilot.

"Roughly about two hours…" Kyle paused and thought for a few seconds. "The 'area'… what's its real name and why can't we call it by that instead? It gets annoying calling it the 'area'."

Everyone fell silent. The only sound that was heard was the pitter-patter of Mieu and Cheese's feet that had already stopped. "How should we explain this?" Jade pushed his glasses back with his index finger. "The 'area'… it's a subject we would like to avoid talking about, but… if we are to get over the event, we should try exposing ourselves to it more. Guy? Care to explain?" Jade turned his head towards Guy and smiled.

"Its always me!" Guy sighed. "Alright. Not really a comforting subject like Jade said, but lets give it a try. Ok. So, for starters, do you know a place called Hod?"

"Yeah. I heard the whole city was completely obliterated."

"Gailardia Gailan Gardios. That's my full name. I was once the prince of that place, Hod. Amazing as it is, I –"

"YOU? A PRINCE? WHAT THE HELL!" Kyle whipped his head around and was smacked in the face with a flying Mieu. "HEY! Don't go throwing around Mieu! Cheagles aren't toys!" He patted Mieu gently on the head and placed him on his lap.

"Shut up and listen! You're the one who wanted to hear this!" Guy scolded in annoyance.

"Humph. Old Geezer." Kyle said indignantly.

"I'M 22 DAMMIT!" Guy coughed and composed himself breathing in and out. "So, as I was saying. I was the prince of Hod. I was only six at the time… when Duke Fon Fabre, Luke's father, ordered the Oracle Knights to massacre the island of Hod." Luke was leaning against the wall and held his head down. Hiding his face with his vibrant red hair. "All of my maids protected me, including my older sister, Mary. I was hidden under the corpses of women from the time they went on a killing spree. That's how I got a women phobia. One survivor, Pierre had found me cover in their blood and took me away from danger. From there, we ended up in Baticul and I found myself working as a servant for Luke. The end." Guy held his hands up as if to say, "I'm done".

"A 'women phobia'? Aren't you fine around Tear, Natalia and Anise though?" Kyle questioned.

"Yeah! He's gotten over it since he regained his memories and now, I can poke him all I want without him running away!" Anise jabbed Guy in the side. Guy cringed and was moaning.

"Plus, isn't Hod gone?"

"It was recreated using fomicry. A man named Mohs had made a replica of Hod in a different location then where it was before. In other words, its not supposed to even be there." Jade pointed out.

"This was all big news last year! Where were you?" Luke poked at Kyle.

"I was probably working my ass off for Emperor Peony. If I didn't try hard, the maids and servants probably wouldn't have accepted me… Look! Is that it?" Everyone looked out the window and for sure, there it was. Hod's replica. The place was covered in dark green moss and was lying on the shore of the beach. It was the place they all dreaded the most. Where Luke was almost sacrificed. Where Tear's brother, and Luke's ex-hero, Van had died. The large stone was cracked and had vines growing inside and outside. They climbed the remains and began to turn (and kick) over rocks, searching for the missing key.

"There's nothing here!" Tear called out.

"Yes. There is nothing but rocks over here!" Natalia sat on a large boulder and rested her body.

"This will take forever!" Anise collapsed on a long smooth rock.

"Dammit! Where could it be?" Luke dug through the stones and scratched his head.

"Why couldn't you just have left it in a more conspicuous area. Like the surface of all this junk, Luke?" Guy blocked the sun from his eyes with his hand and scanned the layout.

"We could be here for hours if we work at this pace." Jade blasted through large pieces of rubble with fonic artes with pieces flying through the air relentlessly.

"I'll go search in a different area. I don't want to be here forever!" Kyle stood and jumped around, avoiding tripping over any large cracked slabs. He walked towards the center and heard a metallic "clanking" sound.

"Holy!" Kyle crouched down and dusted the rocks away. He held a large sword with a jewel placed on the guard in his hands.

"I found it!' Kyle proudly held the key up high and waved it.

"Alright! Now we can get this plan into action!" Luke ran towards Kyle with nimbleness. Kyle took a step forward with his left foot as the ground began to crumble. His body sunk deeper and deeper into the ground with his legs dangling in the air below.

"Dammit! Hold on!" Luke was able to grab a hold of his hand and grasped it tight. Luke struggled to pull him up, when a snarl was heard behind him.

"LUKE! BEHIND YOU!" Tear called out from her spot. The monster scratched Luke's back with its long claws, ripping his cape.

"AHH!" Luke cried in pain. Clenching his teeth, he refused to let go. The bird like creature continued to scratch his back with its now, reddened nails.

"Let go, Luke! I'll be fine! I won't die from a fall like this!" Kyle called from below.

"No! Never! You'll die from this height!" ` Luke shouted.

"I'm telling you, I won't!" He paused and looked away. "Even if I die, I can't let you!" Kyle ripped his hand away from Luke's and began to descend into the darkness below.

"KYLE!" Luke extended his arm with his eyes open in disbelief. Flying above Luke, the monster withdrew its wings and aimed its sharpened beak at Luke's back.

"Don't get distracted, Luke!" Guy ran up to him and held his sword in both hands, blocking the beak. A spear suddenly struck and went through the entire body of their enemy, leaving a pool of blood at Guy's feet. "Thanks, Jade." The spear immaterialized and faded into a glittering dust.

"Luke, have some faith in him. If you can't do so, then don't even bother with him." Jade coldly glared at Luke.

"He's right, Luke. If you can't trust a person to keep their word, then it's just a waste of time." Tear walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Well, all we can do for now, is wait."

"Geez! If we stay here any longer, I'll get sunburned." Anise complained.

At the bottom of the pit, Kyle groaned and opened his eyes. Joy. He thought. I've become a panda! With all these bruises, I'll be aching all over for a week or two. Kyle reluctantly brought himself to his feet and turned his gaze from the endless darkness, to the small light above. Dang, I fell from there? Well, who cares? I'm alive. Kyle wandered pointlessly around in the dark, occasionally stumbling over a few stray rocks. Rummaging through his bag blindly, he took a match and lit it. The light echoed for a small distance, but at least now, he was able to see. A large brick fireplace was to his left, old and dusty. Kyle walked over to the fireplace and ran his finger over the surface of it. A crunching noise was heard underneath his foot. He bent down and picked up the wrinkled piece of paper. The picture was of a small baby, cradled in someone's arms. Two people were in the picture, a woman and a little boy. The woman had her arms wrapped around the boy, both smiling. The bottom half was torn off and had gone missing. Kyle turned his head towards the fireplace, a strange sensation spread through out his body. He felt as if he had seen it before. He distracted himself from the question by loading his gun with a small bomb and aimed at one of the walls away from the fireplace. The wall he shot crumbled and yet, it leads to another room. Continuing to blast through any obstacle, he had finally reached the end and jumped out into the sunlight's warmth.

"KYLE!" Anise franticly waved her arms side to side from the other side of the beach, next to the Sylph.

"See Luke? You had nothing to worry about!" Guy patted Luke on his shoulder reassuringly. "Its true that idiots don't die!"

"Isn't it 'idiots don't catch colds'?" Luke corrected.

"Yeah, but in this case, its die."

"If I'm an idiot, then you're an even bigger idiot, old man!"

"Please! Stop this quarreling!" Natalia was already boarding the ship. "I'd like to get to the Absorption Gate as soon as possible."

"I agree. It's best that we get there before any thing drastic happens." Jade followed her from behind.

"Thanks for caring about me." Kyle limped his way to where they waited.

"Are you alright? Kyle?" Tear question his limping.

"Yeah. I'm all right. This is nothing." Kyle patted his left leg with a strained smile.

"You're clearly not ok. Lets take a break and have Tear heal it." Guy grabbed Kyle's shoulder, but he shook it off.

"There's no use of wasting time! It can heal on its own unlike the Planet Storm." He hurried his way up the stairs and to the pilot seat. "Lets go." They watched the sky pass by and flew over the endless ocean. The Absorption Gate was seen where Kyle landed the ship next to the entrance. Knights from both the Malkuth and Kimlasca empires were waiting outside for them.

"Colonel Jade, we have been ordered to come and meet you here." A knight dressed in the Malkuth uniform said.

"Hrm? Is something the matter?" Jade crossed his arms and glared.

"Well, sir, I have been told that we can't create the new planet storm unless it is created in the space where the old one was. Engineers have already started working on the shield for descending inside. You won't be able to do this until next morning, unfortunately. Please return to Emperor Peony's palace to rest upon the mission tomorrow morning." He saluted and walked away.

"I suppose we cannot do anything here. Shall we return to the palace and rest?" Natalia sighed in dissatisfaction.

"Whatever. I guess we'll just have to wait." Guy picked up Kyle in his arm, and lugged him away.

"Hey! Put me down! My sides hurt from your arm!" Kyle continued to struggle until he was released into his chair. "Dammit that hurt!"

"I heard you the first time!" Guy held his hands up and sat into an empty chair.

"Master? What's going on?" Mieu and Cheese poked their heads from inside one of the drawers.

"Mieu! What have you guys been doing?" Luke scooped them into his arms.

"Mieu was playing with Cheese. We found a bag of stones in one of the drawers!" Mieu pulled a brown sack from a corner and opened it, showing its contents. Anise rummaged through the bag and took out a few of the slightly transparent glittering stones.

"These are so pretty!" She held them up and showed them to Tear and Natalia. They each took one a held them up to the light. "Where'd you find these?"

"Whenever I went outside to another part of the world, I would collect these and store them in that sack. It's kind of like building memories. I don't like to lose things. Especially the things that matter!" Kyle, in his seat smiled at them. "Alright! Enough about my rocks! Lets get back to the palace. This adventure whipped out all my stamina!" The clouds had cleared, leaving the sky draped in an assortment of vibrant colors. Now, in front of the grand palace, Kyle placed his hand on Anise's shoulder, and asked her if she would stay with him for a while. She looked at him skeptically, and reluctantly agreed.

"So, what do you want?" Anise asked bluntly.

"Nothing really. I'm got bored and decided to bother you." Kyle stuck his tongue out and sat on the edge of the fountain. Anise shoved over the edge and into the cold water. Water from the top nozzle trickled down his face and fell into his hair. Kyle took a handful of water and sprayed Anise with water. She removed her socks and shoes and dipped her feet in, attacking Kyle with a series of splashes. After a good amount of time, they exited the fountain with their clothes and hair dripping with water.

"Look what you did! Poor little me, I'm dripping wet!" Anise squeezed her shirt and giggled cheerfully.

"You started it!" Kyle laughed along with her, emptying his goggles of the water that seeped in. "Hey, you want to see something really nice?" Kyle grabbed her hand and tugged her along the emptying streets. They both jumped onto the soft sand and entered a small narrow cave that led them to another part of the beach, secluded from the other parts of the beach and the city. Kyle loosened his grip and jumped onto a large flat rock in front of them. He patted the seat where Anise sat down.

"The views nice, right?"

"Yeah." They stayed in silence while their clothes dried and the sky darkened. Kyle finally reached into his white messenger bag and pulled his hand back out. "Stick your hand out and close your hand."

"Your weird." She gently pushed him and did as ordered. Kyle placed his hand on top of hers causing her face to turn a light red. He opened his hand as she felt a cold smooth object now in her palm. She opened her hands and saw what had replaced the emptiness. A small forest green rock shimmered in the setting sun. "Are you giving this to me?" He simply nodded and looked down at his hands.

"When I found that rock, it reminded me of Ion because of his hair color." He looked at her face. "I thought that it's better to expose your scars than to cover them up. Keep shining no matter how dark it gets." Anise held the stone tightly and smiled with a tinge of sadness.

"You know about replicas, right?" He nodded. "Ion was one of the seven replicas of the original. He and Sync, one of the Seven God Generals, are gone. But I still have Florian!" Anise weaved her fingers through each other and smiled sweetly.

"Oooh? Who's this?" Kyle poked at her. "Your crush?"

"Of course not!" She snapped back jokingly. "He's one of the replicas. We found him last year, and ever since then, I had been tutoring him since he never learned this stuff when he was 'born'. So I have to be his older sister and teach him the basics of life and money!" She stood confidently and placed her hands on her hips.

"How touching." He stood up and watched the waves roll on by.

"FIGHTING!" Anise screamed into the vast horizon.

"WE CAN DO IT!" Kyle punched the air. "Oh, Anise! I finally remembered what I wanted to ask you about!"

"WHAT? You're so slow! It took you so long just to think of that one thing… I thought you were just bothering me!" She puffed her cheeks in disapproval.

"Shut up! Its not my fault!" He reached into his pocket.

"Yes it is!" She mumbled.

"Take a look at this. I found this inside the replica of Hod. Do you know anything about it?" Anise's eyes opened wide.

"This is a picture of Guy and his sister!"

"Really? The Old man?" He looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah… the bottom's torn off?" She pointed out.

"I didn't see the bottom half. I guess I'll go ask him about this picture." Kyle took the picture back and skillfully leaped off the rock. "Lets head back!"