Gem: Part of this has a random tribute to an earlier FF game. Props to you if you guess the right one! That said, I own a bunch of random toys but nothing related to FFIX.

I originally lived in Treno and knew early on that I was an accident. My parents only wanted one child and made it clear that I wasn't wanted.

"Marcus, get down here now!" yelled my mother.

Even at barely three years old, I knew better than to argue with that tone.

"Look what you did. I'm going out for an hour; I expect this to be spotless when I come back."

Someone had broken a lot of crystal all over the living room and I hadn't left my room all morning. My mother wrapped both my hands in rags and then handed me one before leaving. I knew that she didn't want blood all over her "precious" carpets. I could see my older brother smirking from behind the door to his room. He managed to weasel his way out of everything. But somehow, my parents would never believe that he was doing such things. I cleaned up the mess before taking off out the door. Even at such a young age, I didn't want to be there. As I ran through the slums of Treno, no one tried to stop me. Well at least until I ran into some man.

I looked up at him. He was extremely tall and had messy brown hair. I couldn't tell if his eyes were brown or black. He was balancing a package on one arm and a tiny girl on the other. I didn't have a chance to register the girl's features before I turned and started to flee. I got about two steps when I felt a hand clamp down gently but firmly on my shoulder.

"Hey now. I'm not going to harm you and I'm not going to let any of the others down here harm you."

And then the man did something that surprised me; he grabbed my hand and holding it tight began to lead me out of the slums. I looked up because I was sure I saw a package in his arms. It was wedged between the girl and the man's shoulder. I noticed bare feet stuck out the bottom of her slightly dirty dress and that she seemed almost content sitting in the man's arms. Her waist length brown hair was tied back in two braids and her eyes were the same color as the man's.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy."

I was surprised when she spoke. I didn't think she was old enough to speak in full sentences yet and her voice was very soft.

"Shh baby. When we're home, you can have your nap." He smiled down at me. "You can nap too if you want to."

We approached a house that looked like it was built for a middling noble and a woman came out of the house. She was about a head and a half shorter than the man and was being followed by a girl who was barely into her teens and a boy maybe a year older than I was.

"How was it?" the woman asked taking the tiny girl. The man still held onto my hand.

"She enjoyed the auction house but I think that's because she could hear the auctioneer. The other places gave us funny looks when I repeated what they said. It's nap time for all these children. I need to talk to you in private Irene."

I saw the woman nod and turn to the older girl. "Arianna, will you please take these children to their rooms? Locke and I want no interruptions short of the end of the world."

"Yes ma'am," replied Arianna.

Arianna took the tiny girl from Irene and then took my hand. With the best shooing gesture she could make, she got the boy to start into the house. I watched the tiny girl lean over and make her own shooing gesture at the boy. The boy turned back and smiled at the girl before sprinting into the house. I found myself wishing I had siblings like them.

We stopped at the girl's room first and I watched the boy run over and pull down the covers. I noticed that the covers on the girl's bed were green and so were the walls. Didn't seem much like a girl's room to me. Arianna laid the tiny girl down and then covered her up. We stopped at the boy's room next where he literally jumped on the bed and Arianna chided him for it. The boy's room was painted blue and I watched Arianna cover him with blue covers. She took me to another room; the walls were still blue but the covers were white. I missed the washstand in the corner and before I knew it, my face was getting scrubbed and so were my hands.

"Nap time for you."

I found myself being picked up and set on the bed.

"You don't have to sleep. They just want you to rest some."

She left the room, shutting the door behind her. I was too excited to sleep and I could vaguely make out voices through the door. The voices faded as the people outside moved farther away from the door. Why were complete strangers being nice to me? Didn't they understand that I was unwanted? But that man had allowed me to come into his house; he had held my hand. With him, I didn't feel quite so fearful. The girl who had tucked me in wasn't the couple's daughter. That much I had figured out. She seemed to be a servant but one that was taken care of. She seemed to be happy to take care of the couple's children.

I eventually drifted off to sleep and it felt like too soon, I was being shaken awake. I groaned and rolled over. The shaking didn't stop and I found myself being picked up and carried.

"The rocking chair should wake him up."

"Why does it?" asked a young voice. I figured it had to be the boy.

"Ask your mother that Kane."

I felt the person carrying me sit down and begin to rock. I didn't think that anyone had ever woken me up like that before. I sleepily blinked my eyes open to see Arianna staring gently at me.

"Time for you to be up."

I sat up and yawned. Both of the other children were sitting on a couch. The girl's feet were tucked up beside her and her head was on her brother's lap. They sure didn't act like noble children but they had to be. Plus the house was too nicely furnished.

"Children! Dinner!" called a woman.

I was set down and the other two children hopped off the couch. The girl's feet made a slight smacking noise on the floor of the front hallway but Kane and Arianna were quiet as mice. The woman who had come out of the house earlier met the four of us in the kitchen. This time I actually looked at her. Her waist length brown hair was tied back in a braid; her eyes were a greenish hazel; and her hands were calloused. This was one odd noble's house.

I watched the other children head towards the table and the woman stopped the girl.

"Not yet baby. It's time for your ear drops."

"Mummy, I don't wanna."

"Baby, we're doing what we can. I'm sorry it hurts so much."

I was curious. What exactly was wrong with her ears? I saw Kane sitting at the table his feet dangling several feet off the floor and Arianna coming over to get me. She lead me to the table leaving the girl with her mother.

"What's wrong with her ears?" I asked.

"I wish I knew. The doctors have been trying all sorts of things but nothing works. It's like her ears have a bad cold that can't be shaken off."

Arianna picked me up and placed me in a seat across from Kane. She then sat down next to me and soon afterwards, dinner got started. I tried to eat very little but the woman noticed and piled more food on.

"You're too skinny. Eat; eat."

Both children were grinning as they watched their mother give me more food. Kane grabbed more but the girl didn't.

"Gem, don't you want any more?" asked her father.

The girl shook her head. Well I at least now knew her name. These people were nice and didn't seem to judge anyone. As dinner continued, I learned that the father went down to the auction house fairly often hunting for the legendary magicite. The mother just laughed at that and continued trying to get everyone to eat more. I learned that Arianna was essentially a servant but her only duties were to keep the other two children out of trouble.

After dinner, it was determined that I would head back to my own house for the night. I was welcome back anytime I wished and the children would happily play with me. The father held my hand as he took me home. I didn't want to go but knew I had to. When I showed him which house was mine, he smiled and then knocked. My father answered the door and asked not very politely where I had been. He seemed to accept Locke's explanation and took me inside. As soon as the door shut, the yelling started. I was never to leave the house without permission for the next several months and I had to do both my own chores and my brother's. I was sent up to my room and wasn't allowed to come out for a whole day. I quietly opened the window so the room wouldn't get too stuffy and looked out at the surroundings. I spotted Locke and another man standing in an alley looking at my house and talking. I could only catch bits and pieces of their conversation.

"There's something wrong there."

"You've told me your suspicions enough times. Can you get one of your children to get the truth off of him? I'll work on getting him out of there."

"You really want that troupe started young? I'll see if Gem can get the truth. Arianna said he was curious enough about her. It'll work towards both our advantages."

"I'll find you again when the plan is settled."

For the next several months I went to bed more tired than I had ever been. I was doing too much of a workload and yet it was never enough for my parents. I was hoping an opportunity to leave this hellhole would come soon. Little did I know I was about to get my wish that day. Someone started knocking on the door a little before lunch and my father got up to answer it. He called for both my brother and me to come towards the door. The person on the other side and my father continued their conversation.

"I'm looking for a companion for my daughter," I heard a man say. He sounded eerily familiar. "I heard you had a son about her age."

My father motioned for both of us to come closer and my brother pushed in front of me. I could just see the outline of a girl with two braided pigtails tugging on the man's coat. He leaned down to oblige her request and I could faintly make out that she thought my brother smelt funny. It flew over both my father and brother's heads.

"What about your other son?" the man asked.

"Oh no. He is much too young."

"I still want to see him."

My father pushed me in front but kept a grip on my shoulder.

"I like him," said the girl.

The next thing I knew, I was tucked under the man's arm and he was sprinting out of town. I wondered if this could be counted as kidnapping since I was willing to go. I was physically tossed to a man on board an airship and the man who had been carrying me was hastily climbing up the ladder. As soon as he was on board he put the girl down. She straightened her dress, grinned at me and then quite literally skipped into the cabin.

"Yo Uncle! Daddy says that lunch is on the table and for both of you to eat." The girl had poked her head out of the cabin and as soon as the message was delivered, she disappeared back inside.

"We'll talk over lunch kid. You are going to be working but not as a companion to anyone's children." His hand was on my shoulder and I used this time study him. He was stocky and his face was covered in facial hair. As soon as I was seated, he sat himself across from me.

"First things first kid. I don't know your name and you can't be kid the entire time. I'm Baku but you will call me Boss. I've been trying to start a theater troupe for some time now."

"Marcus," I replied feeling a little uneasy. "Where are you taking me?"

"Back to Lindblum."

I heard what sounded like someone falling down the stairs to the lunchroom and stared as I realized it was the same girl from before. She was very upbeat to say the least. Holding out one hand to me, she silently asked me to come with her.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked eyeing her offered hand uneasily.

"Up top. Daddy said you needed to see the sun."

I gave a look at Baku who just nodded. I took the girl's hand and followed her up the stairs. The sky was just starting to change colors and she dragged me over to the railing. A few minutes later, I could see a yellow disk hanging in the sky. It was different than I imagined. The sky had been orange but was now blue. It was an interesting change.

"So did you enjoy it?"

I turned to see Baku standing behind me and truly smiled for one of the first times in my short life. The girl had disappeared again but I was still impressed with what happened. I leaned on the railing and watched the ground fly away almost backwards. I don't know how long I stood there but someone called for dinner and I found my way back to the same room I had lunch in. It was just Baku and I again. After dinner, I was able to explore the ship until I had to go to bed.

I poked my nose in the engine rooms. The people down there smiled and answered my questions. I poked my head in a few bedrooms but saw no one. When I wandered into the kitchen, the cook made me sit down and gave me hot cookies. I eventually found my way back 'up top' and wandered into the pilot's room where I found a man steering the ship.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Steering this ship. It's easier than it looks. Would you like to hold the wheel?"

I was nervous but my own curiosity overcame that nervousness. I held onto two of the bottom spokes since everything else was out of reach. I felt extremely happy just standing there helping to steer the ship. My every move wasn't being watched or shunned. When we arrived back in Lindblum, Baku came for me again and lead me to the hideout. It felt like home. I explored the entire place and realized that much wasn't set up yet.

The next day began with a very loud sneeze that shook the hideout. I fell out of bed and made my way back into the main room. Baku was sitting at a table and breakfast was placed on the table. Next to breakfast was a variety of weapons; everything from a shuriken to a broadsword. I was apparently going to learn how to use a weapon of my choice. I ate quickly and then examined each weapon. The shuriken looked funny and I wondered who would really want to use one. The broadsword was too big but I liked the general shape of it. I found a sword I could handle and pulled it away from the pile.

A year passed quickly. I learned how to use the sword I had picked out and how to read and write. It wasn't very legible at first but that didn't seem to matter. I was also slowly learning the finer arts of stealing. I knew it had to be done. On one such trip we ran into a few soldiers down at the docks. I slipped through them due to my size and saw what looked like a boy lying on a dock.

He couldn't have been older than I was; his hair was a dirty blond color and caked liberally in dirt; he had a monkey or cat tail, I wasn't sure which; and was curled in a fetal position. The soldiers were attempting to revive him. He eventually sputtered and opened his eyes. They were a brilliant blue. He managed a cocky grin at the soldiers and trying to stand up, nearly fell over. Boss had worked his way to the front by that time and caught the kid. Boss lifted him gently into his arms and we headed back up into the castle proper. I followed after trying to get a better look at the kid. As soon as we were back at the hideout, Boss turned towards me and asked me to go find Aunt Irene.

I had been over to her house enough times but something seemed desperate. I broke into a run and nearly tripped a few people. I didn't care; I needed to hurry. Once there I pounded on the door with my fist and waited until someone opened it. I told whoever opened it the entire story and was starting to run back when I felt someone grab my hand.

By the time we got back, the kid was stripped of his clothes and wrapped in several blankets. He was still shivering and fighting to get free. I watched as Aunt Irene continued to pile more blankets on and occasionally have to lay on the kid to stop his flailing. I was hustled out of the room because whatever the kid had could possibly be caught. I watched from a crack in the door as Boss and Aunt Irene talked. I hoped the kid would be okay.

Some time later, the kid finally woke up again and started speaking in some gibberish language. He sounded confused from what I could tell. Boss got the kid to calm down from his excited jabber and started attempting to learn the kid's name. I could tell it involved a lot of pointing to try and get the point across. Finally frustrated at everything, Boss motioned for me to come out of hiding. I thought that this was just going to confuse the kid more; then I saw it. A nametag was starting to poke out of the kid's shirt. I pointed at the nametag and then myself silently asking if I could see it. He pulled it over his head but held on tight to the chain. I wasn't the greatest reader yet but I found what looked like a name on the one side.

"Zi-dane?" I sounded it out.

Getting a smile from the kid, I assumed that was his name. Pointing at myself, I told him my name. When he repeated my name, there was an accent that I had never heard in his voice. Boss sat there stumped and watched the two of us interact. He had donned his tag again and tucked it into his shirt. Giving a smile to both of us, he promptly fell asleep.