I own nothing of Final Fantasy, but the OC is all mine.
Her bones ached profoundly with each step she took. With each step closer to the shore, the waves lessening, the early morning air stinging her wet skin. Despite the deadening pain numbing all her nerves, the young girl couldn't help but feel the relief and happiness of freedom wash over. She could finally rest. Her whole body just gave out, succumbing, weakened by the epic swim and everything went dark. The girl crashed to the muddy sand, the tiny waves washing her in serenity…
........
There was something. Something licking her cheek, warm and soft in the dim of her sleep. There was something audible behind it too. Purring? Her jade eyes fluttered open halfway. A creature's face hung over hers. She felt its moist nose nudge her gently. Focusing her vision, it… it was a lion. A regal lion with sea blue eyes staring at her, the sunlight shimmered in its grand mane. It lied down next to her in the wet sand, warming her naked skin, comforting her. She fell back asleep; the lion's purr her lullaby.
.........
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Eyes opened once more, this time to a blur.
A small square room. The lion was gone.
She couldn't move, her body still in a trance of some sort. The girl arched herself up on the bed, feeling the electricity of pain shoot up her arms. Facial muscles tightened. Planted her hands behind her. Her long hair falling in swirls and ripples upon the bed. But once she felt the blanket across her bare chest slip down, a quick hand grabbed it before the fabric could descend too far. She noticed tubes running in and out of her arm.
Fear was beginning to set in. There was a window to the outside behind her, a window to another room to her right and a full-length glass door in front of her. It was as if she were in a glass box. In response to her inner distress, the heart monitor was sounding beeps rapidly.
Sitting there, wrapped in a soft blanket, the young girl couldn't decide whether to feel frightened or happy. Tears were appearing in those green eyes. She had no idea where she was but she knew that it was far away from that hell.
Suddenly, the glass door slid open. An older woman wearing a long white coat walked in, smiling sweetly at the girl.
"Did you rest well?" her voice was gentle too. The patient attempted to speak but not a sound came out, her throat weak and dry. The woman gave her a sympathizing look, "Poor thing, I'll go get you something to fix that." With that she left the room.
The girl watched through the door; she was speaking with someone on the office phone,
"Xu? Yes….. Yes, she just recovered a few minutes ago…… Great. Okay, goodbye." She heard the phone click on the receiver.
Her hand felt her small throat, touched the side of her face, covering her dizzy eyes. Beneath her heavy bangs, it felt her forehead, then finally ran through her long auburn hair. Almost every possible human emotion that ever existed spinning inside, she fell back upon the bed.
Moments later, a much younger woman approached the tiny room wearing a strict-looking ensemble, her chocolate brown hair neatly tucked behind her ears. She had a clipboard in her arm. But she smiled a little. The girl sat back up again, keeping the blanket tight to her body. Sensing her confusion and distress, the uniformed woman seemed to turn warm as she handed the girl a mug of hot tea,
"Wow… I finally get to meet you now… Oh careful, it's hot." She sat down on a stool on the right side of the bed. In a raspy whisper,
"…Where… where am I?"
"Balamb Garden." The girl's expression was complete bewilderment. "This is the Infirmary, of course… I had found you on the beach about four days ago and brought you here. Thankfully Dr. Kadowaki took great care of care of you." The Infirmary, the older woman, Dr. Kadowaki. But what was…
"… Balamb Garden?" the woman was not expecting that question.
"… well, Balamb Garden is a training academy and school for SeeD."
"What's SeeD?" She began to look just as lost as the girl. Trying to regain professional composure,
"…SeeD…um… SeeD is the name given to the top mercenaries trained in Garden." Shifted in her seat and hesitated, "Are you… are you from around here?" The girl slowly shook her head, putting her lips to the rim of the mug. "…Where are you from?"
Contact seemed to break. Those jade eyes averted down as she sipped the tea. No response. She couldn't answer. Not that. The woman's voice went low, "…Forgive me, miss, I….." The room quiet. Then the subtle grin returned, "I didn't introduce myself. I'm Xu, a SeeD of Balamb Garden." Xu, cute professional SeeD Xu with the chocolate brown hair. "…And you are?"
There was a long pause. A chance, a chance to start over, to be reborn. The girl had found her chance. Her eyes appeared hypnotized as her voice spoke a clear word,
"…Alona." Her vision came back to Xu. "Alona Bennette."