Chapter Four- Rabanastre
After a long ten minutes of walking around in the Estersand, we finally reached Rabanastre! It was larger than I thought and I was awestruck by it. So many bustling people in the streets, shops, teleport moogles, and so much more other sights that my keen eyes missed in the game! We all reached the save crystal and it healed my sprained ankle and wrist and all of my other injuries; even some blood stains on my clothes! Basch kept safe behind Fran, who was the tallest out of all of us in the group, so people wouldn't suspect him and throw him back in jail.
"I'll be off." Basch said, bowing to me. "Take care, Legend." He said. I blinked and waved goodbye to him.
"You take care yourself! Don't get caught!" I said as he walked away. The rest of us then looked at each other. "Now what?" I asked them. Fini then whispered into my ear. "Fuu, we need to find that human child!"
"Let's all stay low, we rest in Rabanastre." Balthier said. I jumped up and down, throwing Fini off of my shoulder.
"Yes! This will be a blast!" I shrieked excitedly. Balthier cocked an eyebrow and then left with Fran. I knew where they were heading, and for fun, I decided to follow them. "Catch you later, Blondie…" I said, waving my arm up in the air. He seemed a little confused but decided to leave anyway.
"Fuu, think seriously here! We need to find the human girl!" Fini hissed in my ear. I shrugged my shoulders.
"What for? Is she a so-called "Legend" too?" I asked.
"I don't think so, suspecting that she is only five years old, but, she might be some use to us." Fini said. I seemed a little confused. Why would we need a little brat to take along our journey? I also didn't really see how the brat would be of use to us on the journey anyway…but I actually put up with it and decided to find this twerp anyway. I started walking in the bazaar, hoping that I saw a little girl with present time clothes there. Nope. I then checked every store, but there was no sign of a human anywhere, according to Fini. I decided to check out the Sandsea, which smelled like something was being grilled. I opened the door and saw bustling crowds, people drinking away, and hunters accepting the hunt boards. I looked up to the second floor and saw Balthier and Fran with drinks in their hands. Maybe they have a glass of water or a soft drink in here or something…I thought. I walked up the stairs and plopped down next to Balthier (Again, I tried to sit down next to Fran…but she just gave me a creepy look…).
"So, the young lady joins us." Balthier said after taking a sip of his drink. I scowled at him.
"It's Fuu." I corrected him. Honestly, the whole thing of him calling me "The Young Lady" was getting old already, even though he only did it three times so far, it got really annoying. Balthier ordered around a Bangaa waiter and told him something that I couldn't hear, because there was so much bustling and noise in the place! I decided to get out my iPod and started listening to Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit". Balthier stared at it in confusion and awe, as well as Fran, who still had her same expression on her face as she stared at it. I glanced up and saw them staring at my nano, totally confused at what it was…hey, they were in a whole different world, so I don't blame them being confused.
"This is called an iPod." I said, taking out my sea green ear buds. I handed them to Balthier first, because Fran didn't want anything to do with the ear buds for some outlandish reason. Balthier seemed to like "Breaking the Habit", since I saw his finger tapping along with the song on the table.
"Such peculiar music…this device, it plays songs?"
"Yup…it's from my—" I started to say, but I didn't want to spoil my secret to Fran, who I thought was still unaware to my different being than a being in Ivalice. She then glanced at me, looking straight in my eyes.
"Your world…I know…" She said. I then felt a little uncomfortable again…but I shook it off.
"Um…yeah…that's right…" I said softly. Balthier handed me back my ear buds, which I heard Lily Allen singing, "Smile". I then saw the Bangaa waiter who Balthier spoke to clash down a glass of a deep orange drink. I looked down at it and blinked.
"Er…what is this?" I said to Balthier, pointing down to the drink.
"Your beverage…" He said as he took a sip of his. I then took a sniff of it…oh…my…God…I recognized a terrible smell like this drink…
"I can't drink this! This is beer!" I said loudly. Balthier and Fran glanced at each other and looked back at me.
"Problem?" Fran asked. I looked over at Fini, who was sitting on my iPod, not knowing what was going on, and then I went back to the situation.
"It has alcohol in it, I can't drink until I'm 21!" I stated.
"How old are you now, then?" Balthier asked me.
"14, that's WAY too underage in my world." I stammered. Balthier drank his beer and set it down.
"I started drinking when I was 14, too…so there." He said calmly. I sighed and looked down at the glass…
"Well…maybe just a sip won't hurt…" I sighed before I took the most daring sip I would ever take.
25 minutes later…
I was completely gone. I chugged down another drink…my seventh one. As I completed it, I exhaled and started laughing like crazy. I was entirely drunk.
"OMG, IDK, BFF!" I said loudly. People were staring at me in weirdness, but I didn't care about them…I was too lost to do anything now.
"Settle yourself." Fran mumbled, slightly embarrassed about my ways. I didn't listen to her, though. (Drunk or not, you better listen to Fran…you don't wanna piss her off…) I leaped out of my chair and saw something I wouldn't expect in Rabanastre…an electric guitar! (Frankly, I am over 100 percent sure that they don't have electric guitars in Ivalice…but, hey, since this is a fiction, I can dream, can't I?) I was playing one, so I thought about some entertainment in the room. It was red and very smooth…but I couldn't remember much of it because I was dizzy and crazy. I picked it up and looked over at Fini, who was trying to get me to control myself.
"I think I have my gee-tar pick down dere…" I said as I hiccupped and pointed at my backpack. Fini sighed and dug through my backpack and got out my indigo guitar pick. I immediately began strumming the guitar and was playing "Falling Down" by Atreyu, and badly singing it, too. Somehow, this attracted audiences. They all clapped for me and I continued playing the song. I was rather surprised that I was not sober and was playing like a million bucks.
"It's in your head! All the voices mistaken! Shake it off! Shake it off! We're all dying in the end!" I sang. I kept on singing along until an employee took me away and placed me back at my table, and I was laughing hard. Balthier then took my guitar pick and poked my stomach with it. At first, I thought it tickled, but then it started to hurt.
"Ouch!" I screamed…and, surprisingly, I came back to my senses! I blinked and looked down at Fini, listening to my iPod (She had her whole face next to one ear bud since the ear bud was bigger than her own head.) and raised her eyebrows.
"Nice going, Fuu…" She mumbled. I giggled innocently…even though I didn't remember much about my insanity a few minutes ago. I looked over at Balthier, who was looking at my indigo guitar pick…and my only one. I wanted it back.
"Balthier, that's mine!" I said. I stretched out my hand to grab it, but he clasped it in his fist and put it in his pocket.
"I might need to use it again…you'll never know when you'll go impractical once more." Balthier said, slightly grinning. Fran rolled her eyes…I looked down to pick up my iPod, until I saw Fini fly over to the first floor…I looked down and saw a little girl…wearing an overall dress, red-striped long sleeved shirt, and sneakers…! It was the little brat Fini mentioned to me in the Estersand! I clumsily ran down the stairs and ran over to the girl, who could actually see Fini. Yup, this had to be her.
"Excuse me…" I said. The girl looked over at me. Her long black hair was tied in a high ponytail…and my God, she was so darned cute! "Are you a human?" I asked her. The girl nodded. I was surprised that she knew "the code". Was she really an obsessive final fantasy gamer after all?
"I really don't know how I got here…I just saw my big brother push me in the TV back at my house…" She said with her cute little voice. She reminded me a lot like Mariko from Elfen Lied, except she didn't have 26 lethal vectors.
"Your brother pushed you in the TV?!" I exclaimed. How discourteous. I got it now…she was forced into the world instead of her big brother! That was kind of sad…
"Uh-huh…he said "Go on, my friend will give you answers you need…" yeah, that's what he said." The girl said. She blinked and then bowed. "My name is Yuko, by the way. And this is my brother's game guardian, Misa." Yuko then pointed to a small pixie female. She had black hair with her bangs dyed turquoise, she also wore a black corset top with a matching mini-skirt and high boots. Her eyes were also turquoise like her bangs and her antennae, and her wings were also bat-like, just like Fini's. She nodded her head at me then looked at Fini, who seemed a little shocked.
"Misa of game 4,879…so we meet again…" Fini mumbled as she twitched. Misa gave her a smirk.
"Fini of game 26,403…nice to see you looking in excellent health…" Misa said. I looked over at the two pixies, Fini twitching madly and Misa grinning madly.
"What's up with you guys?" I asked them. Fini sighed.
"Misa…we met each other long ago…and that girl…is evil…" Fini muttered. I still didn't get it.
"What does that mean?" I asked scratching my head.
"We used to be partners a couple of years ago, making sure the games around the world were all the same, et cetera…I used to pull the best pranks on her, it was so much fun." Misa smiled widely and she snickered, making Fini growl in ferocity. Yuko looked over and saw Fran and Balthier walking down the stairs to where I was.
"Your friends?" Yuko asked. I turned around and saw them looking at Yuko, then turned back to her and took her hand.
"Balthier…Fran…this is my new friend, Yuko…" I introduced Yuko to them. Yuko waved them a hello and bowed her head. "Do you mind if she joins our little group?"
"She's not from this world either, isn't she?" Fran asked me. I sighed and shook my head.
"You're correct…look, her elder brother pushed her into Ivalice on purpose, so she doesn't know what to do around here. We have to do something to get her around the place, right?" I asked them. Balthier looked over at Fran and shrugged his shoulders.
"Do as you please…" Balthier said as he walked up the stairs to his table again. Fran nodded and returned to the table as well. I looked down at Yuko, who gave me a small, satisfying smile.
"Thank you." She said. I gave her thumbs up and took her hand as I led her up the stairs to the table. I kept my hands off of the beer this time…I listened to my iPod, this time it was "That's What You Get" by Paramore, until a Bangaa walked over to our table in fury. It was Migelo!
"Are you Balthier?" Migelo asked Balthier. Balthier looked up and nodded.
"I am. Why do you ask?"
"Then you must be the one those bounty hunters spoke of!" Migelo exclaimed. Balthier raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe it is a misunderstanding…" Balthier said. I turned down the volume on my iPod to continue listening to the conversation. I then noticed that I packed a couple bottles of water in my backpack, so I gave one to Yuko, who gladly gulped it down.
"Misunderstanding?!" Migelo stammered. I then saw Vaan walking up the stairs, Basch following behind him. "What I am understanding is that they took away Penelo because of you!" Migelo screeched. Vaan gasped and walked over to Migelo.
"Penelo got taken away!?"
"Oh, Vaan! They've taken Penelo! They said to go to the Bhujerba Mines!" Migelo said to Vaan, who was terribly worried for his friend.
"It's Ba'Gamnan. He was in Nalbina." Fran spoke up. Migelo turned to Balthier.
"If anything were to happen to that sweet child—!"
"Settle down, lil' doggies…" I said in a strange accent. I stood up from my seat and wrapped up my iPod and tucked it away in my backpack. I turned to Migelo. "Penelo will be fine, trust me on this. All we have to do is go up to Bhujerba and rescue her in the Mines. Piece of cake…don't worry, Migelo, we will bring her back." I said. Migelo's eyes widened when I said his name. He then whispered three words to himself…
"The Legend exists…" He bowed down to me and I raised an eyebrow. Yuko glanced over at me, questioning why I was called "Legend". I also saw Misa nod her head in approval, like I really was this Legend.
"Um…sure…why not?" I said. Immediately, the whole Sandsea grew silent and stared at me. Some dropped their glasses on the floor while others just stood motionless. After a while of silence, they all bowed down to me. I looked confused, undeniably confused. They totally had the wrong person…I think…I really didn't know if I was this Legend or not…I mean, I knew pretty much everything about Final Fantasy XII, but it doesn't mean that Raithwall spoke of me. It almost seemed impossible…it had to be…besides; this was never mentioned in the game…right? Right?
"Um…let's leave…" Misa mumbled to me. I nodded along with the pixie and I left, everyone still bowing down to me like I were a princess or something. Everyone else followed me outside and Balthier glanced at me.
"The young lady has grown quite popular these days." He said to me. I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to correct him this time. Balthier then looked over at Vaan, totally worried about Penelo's kidnapping. "We'll take my airship…let's go to the aerodome." He then walked west to the aerodrome's location, Fran following him. Basch and Vaan caught up with them and I looked over to Yuko.
"Do you wanna come with us, Yuko?" I asked the girl. She nodded.
"Anything to not be so lonely…" She said. We both locked hands and nodded as we walked behind the group of adults. Vaan turned around and saw Yuko.
"Who's your new friend?" Vaan asked me. I looked down at Yuko.
"This is Yuko, she'll be accompanying us from now on." I said. Yuko bowed to Vaan. "Yuko, this is Vaan, and that's Basch with the beard…" I pointed to Basch, who was walking behind Balthier. Misa landed on Yuko's head and kept staring at me like I had an unidentified insect crawling on my arm, and she was studying it. I looked down at her, her bright turquoise eyes glistening in the sunlight. "What's up?" I asked the other fairy. Misa was slightly startled but shook her head.
"What that Bangaa said in the Sandsea…about you being the Legend…you might be the one…" Misa said. I stopped my tracks and shook my head.
"No way. I have no qualifications to be that role." I said to her.
"Yes you do. You know everyone's names, locations all around Ivalice, et cetera. Besides, you do have atypical clothes on." Misa pointed out.
"Not listening!" I said in a singing tune as I kept up my pace. Fini rubbed her temples.
"It also said in the Legend of Raithwall, the Dynast-King, that the Legend had a marking on her back…markings similar to an angel's wings." Fini said. Misa nodded and started to lift up my camisole!
"What the hell?! Stop that!" I screeched. I shook off Misa, who landed on a large vegetable in a stand. She rolled her eyes and retreated back to us and landed on Yuko's shoulder. After about five minutes of taking a stroll, we reached the aerodome. It was quite crowded inside, so I clutched onto Yuko's hand and guided her through the bustling crowds to where Balthier was headed. We finally entered a room where a bunch of lights turned on. I walked beside Vaan who was awestruck by one object in the room…an airship.
"This is the Strahl." Balthier said proudly. My eyes sparkled as much as Vaan's. I remembered this scene in the game, but my Lord, the Strahl was so…so awesome! I then saw three mechanic moogles march out of the Strahl, one squeaking in approval. Vaan and I ran to the ship in perfect unison and were both barely drooling on just the entrance to the inside of it.
"This is sick!" I exclaimed loudly. Vaan looked over to me and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sorry…it means it's cool." I said. Vaan still looked confused, but he got over his confusion as he continued admiring the airship. Balthier and Fran walked on the airship, Yuko following as Fini and Misa fluttered behind her. Vaan immediately rushed on, wanting to fly on the Strahl, Basch following behind. I smiled and finally got on as the door automatically closed behind me.
"Fasten your seatbelts everyone." Balthier said as he sat in one of the two control seats in the front, Fran taking the controls. I sat in a seat and placed Yuko on my lap, since there weren't enough seats for everyone. I put on my seatbelt and was ready for takeoff. I felt the floor vibrate beneath me as the Strahl slowly flew up in the air…then…when we reached the sky, we launched up into the sky like a flash of lightning! It was quite comfy, so I got out my iPod again and listened to "Fully Alive" by Flyleaf. Just a little more to the floating city of Bhujerba!
To Be Continued…