Chapter Nine

And let your scrawny little hands violate this magnificently flawless angel? Nevah! I jumped to my feet and saw them staring at me like I did something stupid again. Which usually happens to be true, considering the fact that I am an idiot. "What?" I asked and only then did I realize something. How come I don't have a say on what goes out of my mouth nowadays? Oh right, I keep forgetting that it's a sentient being, capable of embarrassing me.

Thankfully, Steiner had started glowing at that very moment, drawing their creepy skin-crawling attention off me. Wait. I wasn't aware people could glow. Unless...he was going on a Trance like Zidane did in the Evil Forest?

"You shall not touch the princess, you filthy fiend!" He bellowed, the words sounding like a war cry. Zidane, who was the first to recover from the sudden outburst—mine or Steiner's, I have yet to figure out—took advantage of Steiner's single-mindedness by jumping on to the man's back. Yelling his own, less-deafening version, he leaped into the air and plummeted downwards with the speed of a flying spear. The Black Waltz—I knew what it was called, having had to face the damn thing several times in the Ice Cavern—was too busy fending off Steiner's heavy blows to notice an aerial attack. From the looks of it, Steiner's Trance seemed to double, almost triple, his strength. Reminiscent of the Jump attacks a Dragoon does to his enemies, Zidane plunged his dagger straight to the Black Waltz's chest.

Roaring in disbelief, the Black Waltz stumbled backwards and raised his staff with both hands as if offering it as a sacrifice to some strange gods. "We will have the princess in due time! We will bring her back to Alexandria where she belongs!"

Fire sprang from him, engulfing us all in a tidal wave of flames. Before I knew it, I had scooped up both Vivi and Dagger in my arms and had closed my eyes, willing the sadness of a death—even one of an enemy—wash over me. Energy sprang to my veins, filling it with a somewhat gentle inner heat that seemed to do battle with a more violent one—the one that the Black Waltz had summoned.

"Rebecca?" A voice squeaked from my left armpit. Oh hell. Do I smell that bad? I opened my eyes and pulled away, my body feeling oddly cool. I looked immediately for Zidane and Steiner and saw them just outside of the burnt area. That meant that they had managed to run off in time.

"What...happened?" Dagger asked, her eyes trained on me.

"Yeah, you were all inside his attacking range but none of you were hurt," Zidane stepped towards us, his eyebrows clashing fiercely against each other. His shoulder carried a first degree burn which Dagger immediately healed; that meant he hadn't escaped the flames completely unscathed.

I would have worried about Steiner too except Dagger and Zidane seem to be giving me these meaningful looks that say I need to think up a lie...and fast.

"I don't know," I spoke, inwardly cursing myself for my honest streak. "I just...I just knew that I had to protect Vivi and Dagger from his attack." Nope. No word of strange new powers at all. Thank you, mouth, for being quiet this one instance.

Yes, I'm imagining hand gestures just to emphasize that.

"You..." Their gazes left me as Steiner slowly rose to his feet. He looked deathly pale like he had just lost his favourite Brahne doll. Wait, what the heck? I never thought he would be like Cinna in that aspect. Aaah, the poor man.

"Yeah?" Zidane folded his arms and glared at the knight, as if daring him to speak.

"You saved my life."

The words were barely audible and felt...frightened which made little sense to me. What's wrong with saving a life? Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and even Dagger, at some point, had saved my life from the various species of wildlife which this world seemed to boast. Heck, even Cinna had inadvertently saved me once.

...this isn't going to turn into one of those B-grade soap operas my parents insist on watching, is it? The image of Steiner wearing a floral dress and swooning into Zidane's arms made me want to vomit. Eurgh. I may not mind homosexuality, but please people! Don't do it in front of me. Same goes to you heterosexual couples. Do you know how painful it is to see you guys trying to swallow each others' faces?!

"Mayhap, you're not as bad as I thought you were," Steiner announced and turned away, folding his arms as if deep in thought.

Zidane seemed taken aback for a moment but his features quickly changed to accommodate the massive grin he had.

Oh bloody hell. I rolled my eyes. No way am I going to let this develop into a sapfest this early in the chapter.

...wait. What?

"Hey, guys. Why do you think that thing wanted the princess?" I asked, hopefully diverting this would-be drama into something else.

It was Dagger who answered, "Yesterday, Vivi had been kidnapped by some of the men in this village. We managed to find him underground and discovered a...factory that created these dolls that looked a lot like that mage we just fought."

"They were placed in these boxes that had the mark of the Alexandrian crest." Zidane explained. "Maybe he was sent here to retrieve the princess?"

"What are you implying exactly?" Steiner actually looked civil. "That Queen Brahne was the one who sent this foul beast?"

"I don't know about you, but it struck me as weird the way she bombed our airship like that," monkey boy spoke with a shrug. "It was almost as if she didn't care if the princess got hurt."

"Wait," I said and took a quick glance at Steiner's direction, hoping that he didn't get offended by all this. "You're telling me that the queen would do something like that? Maybe someone else is behind all this and is simply using the queen as a figurehead."

"We can't really say for sure, but I think that pretty much tells us that the princess is better off going to Lindblum right now." Zidane looked up and met Steiner's eyes evenly. "I don't really see why they're trying to kill us like this. If they wanted the princess back and knew you were with her, it'd be a lot more logical if they sent you reinforcements or something. Instead, they have these Black Waltzes who don't even care if people get hurt, Steiner. Even you."

"And what if they're just thugs? What if they weren't sent by the queen after all?"

Dear gods, these people were actually having a normal conversation. I think I'm dreaming. I pinched myself and grimaced. Naaah. Still awake.

"Nevertheless, it wouldn't be safe to go there right now. Remember the Waltz's final words? I don't think he was lying when he said they were going to bring the princess back to Alexandria. At least if we go to Lindblum, she'd have more protection until we figure out what's going on." Hey, my mouth can do something useful after all. Oh joy.

"Then forgive me for I was about to suggest that we ride this airship to go to Lindblum. It was my plan to bring all of you back into Alexandria. Now, I do not think that that is the best course of action." I didn't know Steiner could actually sound this reasonable! Maybe it was the shock of being saved by the one man you abhorred the most.

"It's alright, Steiner! We forgive you." Zidane clapped the man's back and gave me a side-long grin. "And anyway, we're still boarding that ship."

"But I just said it was going to Alexandria! Are you deaf, man?"

"Just creative, Rusty," Zidane beckoned for us to follow him. "Just pretty damn creative."

There was stillness in the air or perhaps, for the sake of accuracy, there was no air at all, just a kind of stillness: lifeless and heavy. A short young woman with hair the colour of charcoal and forest green eyes that dulled with indifference leaned against the concrete wall, her mind clearly somewhere else.

She was reminiscing; she hadn't been able to do that before and she relished that moment as if it might disappear. Hell, it had happened before, hadn't it?

Her first few real memories were inside a hospital, strapped against a bed, her leg in a cast. They had told her that she had been in a car crash, and was the only survivor with a couple of scrapes and bruises on her body and a broken leg to show that that was indeed the case. They had told her of the car's other occupants, a girl and a boy near her age, and how they had died gruesome deaths. They had told her how she was lucky she had been sitting in the backseat and had miraculously managed to escape death.

Then, they started asking questions. Questions she could not answer for her memories seemed not to be there. They persisted, but she was incapable of speaking about what she did not know about. Who am I? She would sometimes ask, interrupting the first few of many sessions to come. And they would simply shake their heads in answer.

It was after that first night in the hospital that she began receiving things. Sometimes they came in the form of books; sometimes in CDs which had foreign cartoons that amused her to no end. Sometimes, they even came in the form of games she could play when her thoughts of everything had slowly began to make sense in her mind once more and she was no longer feeling so damn confused and panicky and dizzy at the thought of being a nobody.

She wondered, at first, who it was that kept giving her these well thought-of gifts and had asked around, hoping that her mysterious benefactor would appear to her soon enough, with a strong connection to her past. She found it odd that none could answer her question; they had all claimed to have forgotten the man—or was it a woman?—whose face was so unremarkable that none could remember him.

Days passed, and she became more and more engrossed with her gifts. They were either about amnesia—which was only logical, seeing as she suffered from it—or about people getting thrown into different dimensions, different worlds that mirrored their own. It seemed her benefactor also had a good taste in games and she speculated—when she was lying in her bed at night, the darkness of the room seemingly swarming towards her—that perhaps her benefactor was an avid fan of video games. She did not know how close she was to the truth at that time.

It was when her leg had healed and her doctor had pronounced her fit as a fiddle that something phenomenal had happened. She had disappeared off the face of the earth. No one remembered her, of course. That would have caused questions and investigations and all sorts of meaningless activities for the sake of one girl who would never set foot in their world again. It was better this way. It was better that no one remember who she was, that no one know of her true identity. Even herself.

That was when she had also met her mysterious benefactor and first AI, Clarity. The AI was a short, plump, middle-aged woman with greying black hair tied in a meticulous bun and a set of crow's feet decorating the corners of her lively dark brown eyes. She had the air of royalty about her and moved with a certainty that people would look her way and pay her attention if she wished it so.

She was kind despite her strict image which seemed to say otherwise, and had quickly explained to the girl her true intentions. Clarity told her about the Game and the rules which governed it. She told the girl about the Developers, the Researchers, and the Avatars—what role they played in the Society and what kind of AI's they were. She spoke about the Developers and their arrogance; about the Researchers and their unfathomable curiosity; about the Avatars and their constant struggle to rise up in rank.

She wove a pretty tale and for a while, the girl could do nothing but stare at her, mouth flapping open like a fish waiting for a hook to appear. It was when Clarity began talking about how they would need her for an exclusive experiment—different from the other Expendables—that she found herself blurting out in panic, questioning why They had chosen her in particular. Clarity, of course, had an explanation for everything.

Clarity was a Researcher given the task to create a controlled environment wherein the Expendable—instead of getting dumped into a certain game-world which was often the case—will be brought there as an infant. She would grow up in a perfectly normal family, her memories the only visible clue that she was in fact an off-worlder. Since the girl could not remember anything in her past life save for those few months in the hospital, she would be able to adjust to that world more easily compared to the other Expendables. The few memories she did have would become her anchor and would remain her one single link to the world she had originally come from.

The girl could not believe all of this at first but Clarity had also shown her images of the other Expendables—of their struggles and of their triumphs; of their joys and of their pains. Feeling as if this woman was the only person who could make sense of the situation she was in right now, she agreed to the AI's plea of help, however reluctant she felt about the whole thing.

Words had been said, things had been done, strings had been pulled, and the next thing the girl knew, she was a small child again, wearing a long threadbare tunic that ended just below her bony knees. She had gotten her first memory back at the age of five.

And the name her foster parents had given her was Morrigan.

She shook her head and cleared her mind of the plaguing memories which insisted on giving her a headache. That's enough. She thought morosely. She didn't want to remember her parents just yet. Though they were not her real ones, she was still very close to them, and the thought of leaving them a second time—the first had been for a war she had been thrown into—had irked her to no end. The time for reminiscing had come to an end.

She pushed herself off the wall and scanned the weapons rack which decorated the other side of the room. Her hand reached for a pair of twin sabres that were just the right weight. The sigh that escaped her lips was a longing one.

Let's get this over with.

I am never riding an airship again! Gaaah. I didn't want to be here. It was bad enough that I had to wear these damn weights on top of my shoulders—Steiner had remembered at the last minute and had sent me scurrying back to the village to get them from Eve—but I also have a strong case of the airship sickness.

My head slumped against my knees in a desperate attempt to drone out the loud noises the engines were making. I've flown in planes before but this was very much different. For one thing, it was easier to delusion myself into thinking that I was in some sort of flight simulation and all this flying around Wasn't Real. After all, you don't really see what's going on outside the plane. You had this little world that consisted of a seat, a tiny screen that provided you entertainment and a nifty foldable table where you place the airplane food they give you.

Speaking of airplane food...

I wrinkled my nose and pulled out my lower lip in a not-so-pretty pout. I miss civilization. And real food.

Something must have happened because the black mages previously working on the engines had left their stations. I scrambled to my knees and moved to the ladder. Why were they going up? I had no idea. I grabbed the rough wooden bars and pulled myself upward all the while whispering to myself again and again, "Curiosity killed the cat." Pushing the trap door open, I let the cold sharp air caress my cheeks for a moment. I was about to chicken out and head back in the engine room when I caught sight of Vivi glaring furiously at the Black Waltz's direction. There was another one of them? Damn. I do hope this guy is the last one. If I had to even look at another Black Waltz, I will scream.

What made me freeze in my tracks was the wonderful display of magic these two mages were doing. Colors fizzed through the air, bringing heat and a fiery aura in its wake. They spattered across the floor and created sparks that crackled angrily and somewhat vindictively. Given that my vision was near the floor area, some of those damn sparklies made my eyes blink back tears. Agh! The paaay-yin.

I sunk a bit lower from my position near the trap door but continued on watching these fellows fight it out. Who would have thought that the little guy had it in him to kick ass so prettily? It sent me fangirl shivers along my spine just thinking about it. Once this was over and we were all safely back on the ground—the sweet wonderful solid ground—I am giving Vivi one mega-sized glomp with some cheek-pinching on the side. And I don't care if I have to look around a bit underneath his hat just so I can touch those probably pinch-able cheeks of his!

Ice began to form around the Black Waltz's body, immobilizing him and preventing him from casting even more spells that would have led to the destruction of this tiny airship, given the time. Without even giving it a thought, I had rushed from my position inside the lower deck of the airship and had shoved the Black Waltz's body off the ship.

Wrong move.

Having had a History of Wrong Moves already—some historians have even written down my name in disdain just to prove how much I've contributed to the grand History of Wrong Moves—I knew that something bad was going to happen the moment my hands made contact with the Black Waltz's frozen body. Unfortunately, I have the reflexes of a dying monkey and was not able to stop myself in time.

Since the Blizzard spell still wasn't finished covering the Black Waltz's body with ice, my hands had gotten frozen along. I tried to pull back but the Black Waltz's body had already tilted over the edge. The next thing I knew, I was screaming at the top of my lungs as I plunged downwards in a rapid rate. The fact that I had such a large body mass only helped speed up my descent to the ground.

The Black Waltz had managed to melt off the ice with some sort of fire spell and had flapped off, making me feel even angrier than before. That lucky bastard.

I should have just stayed in the engine room. Gaah. Why the hell am I always so effin' curious about these things?! Curiosity killed the cat...and satisfaction definitely did not bring it back. And seeing as I don't have nine lives, I'm guessing this is when I should start praying to my patron deity and hope with all my fingers crossed that a miracle was about to happen.

I never did get the chance to do so because it was then that darkness—after all that pointless ranting that I had to do—had decided to swallow me in a void of unconsciousness.

And of course, knowing me, unconsciousness has never been a quiet affair.

So you are the girl she has chosen to look after. I'm quite surprised; you're not the kind of girl one usually picks for...journeys as arduous as the one you are in right now. Such trials require warriors of strength, skill and determination. Though your determination seems endless, you lack the two others which are vital in your survival and the success of the Game.

Silence for a while. I wanted to protest but my attempt at forming coherent thoughts was a feeble one. I guess I was just too enamoured by the melody in which she orchestrated her words.

Oh? What's this? They tell me that you have the Special Ability of Emotion, but I wasn't aware that you also had a rather powerful affinity to the Earth. Having watched your past actions, this affinity of yours has brought some new things to light: one being the uncanny way in which you always seem to fall down flat on your face. It is rather comical, in a way, but it will do you no good in the long run.

An image formed in my mind except that it wasn't that clear at all which made me wonder if what I was seeing was even real. It was an image of me running from another one of those damn beasties just inside the forest. Which? The hell would I know? My legs strained from the effort as I pushed off against the grassy floor but it was a futile one. The beastie had caught up in no time at all. I tried to veer to the left but a vine had tangled itself around my foot and had brought me crashing down to the ground. If I had eyebrows right now in this incorporeal body of mine, I would have raised them both in surprise. It was almost as if...the vine had reached out to me.

Aah, yes. That ability of yours won't do at all.

I felt a tugging sensation in my navel. Was I being Portkeyed somewhere? Man, I hope not. It would kinda suck if I'm suddenly brought into a graveyard and forced to do battle with a disfigured fetus. And I don't even have a wand with a phoenix core handy with me.

The tugging sensation became more insistent, and something seemed to throb inside me like a heartbeat except it flowed across my body. Did I mention I sucked at describing things? Because I definitely do. I would nod empathically right now just to prove my point, but seeing as I do not have a body, I cannot do that.

Pain flared inside my ethereal ribs as I felt something being ripped off me. I tried to gasp for air but I found that I could not move anymore. Everything suddenly felt heavy and a sort of paralysis washed over me, making me struggle even more. Was this someone's idea of a sick joke? I had no idea.

Suddenly, words, emotions, and a shit load of hurt crashed against my senses, engulfing me in a sea of confusion. I tried to reach for something real, tried to grasp for something beyond this nightmare, but I could do nothing. All I could do was hope for sweet soothing oblivion to overcome all of my senses and turn them off.

Thank the heavens someone was listening to me; the chaos had ebbed away and was replaced with a cold kind of darkness. Sleep soon followed.

Maverick, treasure hunter extraordinaire, brought his Boco to a sudden stop. His eyes widened with alarm as he slid down the light blue chocobo—who knew those chocobo side quests were actually helpful, kupo?!—and ran towards the curled figure just a few steps away. His hand immediately flew to grab the flute he had against his hip. Playing a desperate tune to convey his urgency, he dropped to his knees and touched the girl's neck to search for a pulse after he had finished with the flute. He heaved a sigh of relief. This girl was still very much alive.

Though he did not like humanoids in general, he couldn't help but aid those who were in need. Perhaps, even if he had left behind his duty as a Cleaner, he still had the kind heart of a Moogle dedicated in the service of Mother Nature.

"What's wrong, kupo?"

He turned around and jerked his thumb to the unconscious humanoid. "Think you can help her, kupo?" The other Moogle, Mocchi, nodded and pulled out a Teleport Stone from one of her many pockets. For a brief moment, Maverick felt jealous but that moment did not last as he reminded himself that adventuring wouldn't be fun if he had it easy.

"Is it true that you've left the Cleaning Corps., kupo?" The tan-coloured Moogle whispered softly. She touched the humanoid's shoulder and disappeared in a flash. Maverick bit his lip and stood up, trudging back to his mount. He was glad that that was all Mocchi asked. He doubted he was ready to answer such questions yet, knowing that he would feel guilty and selfish if he thought back now to his recent actions. All he could really do was move forward and never look back on his former life.

Grim-faced, he continued onwards.

A tiny panda with gold and black markings bounced the glowing orb which stuck to her fingertips. She shook her paw, letting it burst into swirls of different coloured lights that danced around her. She watched it as a child would, her eyes wide with fascination.

"Developer Lachesis? You called for me?"

"Aah, Researcher Clarity," the adorable furry spoke, smiling up at the old woman. "Have you debriefed that Expendable of yours?"

"Yes, Developer."

Developer Lachesis nodded and stared at the glowing lights once more. She had heard of humans like Rebecca. They say that there were those who were born with powerful latent abilities that never truly surface. They say that it was because the world in which these humans were born wasn't equipped to handle their kind of power. Instead, they were simply drawn to certain things which might share a similar aspect to the power which they possessed. Having been brought to these game worlds which were more flexible to their abilities, their powers actually become more prominent which produces in rather...interesting end results.

"Very good, Researcher Clarity." The panda spoke, dreamy-eyed. "Her birthday is coming up and it would break my heart if I were not able to give her anything of use."

OMAKE: What Lies Beyond Death?

Rebecca fell downwards and hit something hard. She cursed underneath her breath and stood up, dusting off the dirt that clung to her jeans. Looking up, she took a step backwards and fell on her bum. Oh shit.

The letters GAME OVER crowded her vision. She gritted her teeth and shouted, "You have got to be kidding me!"

The words dissolved into a whitish liquid that rearranged itself into tinier blocky letters.

New Game

Continue

A gloved hand which reminded her of Mickey Mouse without the rest of Mickey Mouse's body tapped on her shoulder, making her jump in fright. "Fuck! What the hell?"

It waved at her and walked in perfect Thing-impersonation towards the words floating just in front of her. It pointed at the words New Game before sliding downwards to point at Continue.

"Uhm...continue, I guess?" Rebecca asked, waving her hands up and down as if to say that she had no idea if she had just said the right thing.

A blinding light enveloped her.

"And let your scrawny little hands violate this magnificently flawless angel? Nevah!" She shook her fist in the air and blinked. "What?"

A/N: Yes, who knew Rebecca was capable of making Steiner Trance?

Guys, this is Morrigan. Morrigan, these are the guys. I do hope she wasn't too Mary Sueish. Because she's going to be a permanent addition soon enough.

And Rebecca's clumsiness is finally explained. I wish I could have said that I've been planning for that bit to happen all along but that wasn't really the case. Hahaha. The same can be said for Rebecca falling off the airship.

Maverick also makes a special appearance! Yey for Moogles.

I suck at writing omakes, but who cares? You guys gave me a lot of reviews so I just had to post one. I might make cameos in the future (Rick, I'm looking at you) but I have to finish reading some fics first. And here's a preview, for those of you interested. It was originally an omake, but I decided to add it to my fic. Wahahaha. It will, of course, be converted to first person.

Oh, and if you guys happen to see any mistakes, please, please tell me. I don't have a beta reader, you see.

Five reviews for an omake! (Not that anyone wants them anyway.)

PREVIEW:

Rebecca stretched lazily, her muscles moaning with displeasure. She gave the bartender a slight, lopsided smile and dropped the gil she owed him on the counter before slithering off, her hands burrowed deep in her pockets.

Her mind was elsewhere—it always was when she had nothing better to do—while her legs moved forward in mechanical fashion. Too busy thinking about the currency which Gaia had and what kind of economical structure it followed—topics her fifteen-year old could barely understand—she teetered in surprise as a small child wearing a too-large scarf and ratty flat cap slammed into her.

"Watch where you're going, lady," the girl grumped huffily and dashed off.

Fortunately, she had the paranoia of a miser carrying cash in a bank and had reached for her purse where her gil was carefully stashed. It wasn't there.

She cursed and ran after the kid, her legs protesting from the effort. Adrenaline screamed in her veins as she threw her weight forward and, in a burst of speed, she had managed to overtake the girl and pull her into a massive hug. "Gotcha," she whispered breathlessly, grinning in triumph.

"Let go of me!"

Rebecca moved to have a better look at the squealing struggling brat and froze, her heart in her mouth.

"Whatcha lookin' at, lady?"

The greenest eyes Rebecca had ever seen peeked out from the brim of the black cap, paralyzing her. Slivers of red escaped the cap, shrouding most of the girl's face.

She was just...too...damn...cute!

"Are you even listening to me, lady?" She pouted, making Rebecca's heart flutter.

"Listen to me. What you did back there was wrong, stealing my money and all." Rebecca admonished, putting her serious face on. It was quite the battle, especially when the power of the girl's puppy dog pout had doubled after those intense green eyes were directed her way. "So I suggest you hand back my money and-and uhh...we'll call it quits?"

She tried to twist herself free of Rebecca. "No! You're an adult, you can find more! Now let me go, I'm hungry!"

The tall chubby brunette made a face and asked in a pleasant condescending tone, "What if...you give me my money back and I'll treat you to some lunch?"

"That's not fair! You'd still have more money than me by the end of the day," her whine made Rebecca's knees feel weak and jelly-like.

"And what makes you think I even have that much money on me?"

"Because the purse was pretty heavy?"

The maniacal laughter that soon followed that statement made the young girl's eyebrow twitch. "Sorry, it's just—I don't even have that much on me. Unless you want those weighted lead I left in my purse. They're for the harness, you see. I need to go to a tanner or whoever and get these weights added in," Rebecca explained all too innocently.

The child's face fell into an abysmal frown. "Really?!"

"Yes, really," Rebecca intoned solemnly.

"Then it's a date!"