Fuu: Hello readers! Here's chapter 23 to Going into Ivalice!
Rozaline: Fuu, what about the announcement you were supposed to make?
Fuu: Oh, yes! Of course! But…here it is. It's not much of an announcement, but more of a 'thanks' thing. I want to thank all of my reviewers and everyone who has been reading my story. It is still my favorite fanfic of ALL OF MY FANFICS to write, and I love reading your comments. It makes my day so much better and it gives me more motivation to continue my writing to please you readers. I hope I can keep this story going until the very end and you keep reading and reviewing it, too!
Rozaline: How touching…
Fuu: That sure sounded believable, Rozaline…
Rozaline: But who will say this chapter's disclaimer, might I ask?
Drace: Me.
Fuu: You haven't even been in the story, Drace! Besides…are you…dead?
Drace: Yes.
Fuu: So I'm talking to a ghost?
Drace: Yes.
Fuu: …okay…spooky…
Rozaline: Disclaimer please?
Drace: Certainly. Fuu does NOT own Final Fantasy XII. This all includes plots, characters and settings. The only characters she owns are Fini, Yuko, Misa, Jude, Rozaline, and herself…as well as some of the more minor characters, such as Hiroyuki, Garbuden, and Delfenynn…
Garbuden: Like I said before, I am no minor! I am the shi—!
Fuu: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE!
Going into Ivalice
Chapter 23: Fools Fall Fast
I couldn't believe what was happening. Was it true? Was I dreaming? If I was, God, if anyone wakes me up, I will punch them in the face! But the emotions going through my mind and this mysterious adrenaline going through my veins were too realistic for this all to be a dream…this was definitely real, it had to be.
Balthier was actually kissing me.
This was my first kiss, so I had no idea what to do for the first few seconds. I just went on and shut my eyes, letting him take me in. His lips were soft…tender…perfect. If I gave my first kiss a score out of ten, this would most definitely be an eleven. The kiss lasted about ten seconds (my mind was dazed in and out of shock, so this is just a guesstimate) before he finally let go. I slowly opened my eyes and looked into his. He looked down at me, studying my eyes…no smile on his face or anything…just a very observant stare.
"I…knew it." I heard myself whisper. "I knew it! I knew you had feelings for me!" I now found myself yelling exuberantly, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tight. Instead of returning the embrace, Balthier stood perfectly still. His arms didn't wrap around me or anything…he was completely motionless.
"Feelings?" He finally asked. "I believe you are mistaken."
Mistaken…?
Slowly, my arms let go, and I slowly backed away a few steps. I looked into his face, where a serious but neutral expression was painted on his face.
"Why do you sound so…unsure of yourself?" I asked slowly, my heart practically in my throat now.
"This is no uncertainty I am encountering," Balthier stated. "Think of that experience as a…an experiment."
"Experiment?" I repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"I wanted to…" Balthier cleared his throat. "See your display of feedback…and the outcome was most unpredicted." I stood there, knees quivering, absorbing his words in slowly. Balthier…no…did he only kiss me so he could see how I reacted? No…that couldn't be it! Was he the type of guy to do that to a poor girl?
"You…you just wanted to have a little experiment when I was the pathetic little test subject?" I asked, a tone of rage developing in my voice. "Are you…kidding me?"
"Please do not let this displease you." Balthier went to touch my shoulder, but I smacked his hand away.
"You JERK!" I suddenly shouted. "You can't just do that to a girl! You can't just randomly kiss them and see what happens! Especially when you don't even love them!" I was then aware that hot tears were spilling down my cheeks.
"Love?" Balthier was still quite calm even through my shouting and tears. "As if anyone actually believes in a fantasy like love."
"Oh, that just makes it better then!" I continued to yell, pointing an angry finger at him, my face firing up in the heat of fury. "You don't even believe in love, so you're too dense to even know the true meaning of it!"
"And what do you know about love?" Balthier asked, a strictness forming in his voice now. "You're just a child. You know so little."
"A child, huh?" I screamed. "So you had the nerve to kiss one…especially when you also know so little about love?" I sobbed a bit. His eyes softened a bit, but his mouth stayed firm. Another sob escaped my lips and I turned around to run off, but I felt a hand clutch around my wrist. This caused me to lose some balance, and after a squeak of surprise, I fell onto the dry, white sand of the shore. He still clenched onto my wrist as I lay there, sobbing like crazy.
"Why does this affect you so vastly?" Balthier asked after a long pause. I continued to weep a bit, as I was trying to think of the appropriate answer.
"Because a kiss is supposed to mean something." I responded. "A kiss is supposed to be a definition of love…and I just used my first kiss on someone who doesn't even believe in love. Isn't that…awful?"
There was another pause, this pause much longer than the last one, and I continued to lie in the sand…heart-broken and trapped in a world of melancholy and betrayal. Balthier never let go of my wrist, and it was throbbing a bit because of how hard he was still clutching onto it.
"Forgive me." He finally whispered. "I am sorry…but I…" He suddenly let go and walked away, not even finishing his sentence. I was still laying there, tears still stained on my face.
"Jerk…" I muttered. "What a…jerk!"
"Fuu?" Said someone behind me. I turned around to see Jude staring down at me, with Rozaline neatly perched on his right shoulder. He was a bit stunned to see me crying…even Rozaline seemed a little surprised.
"Hey. Are you okay?" Rozaline asked.
"Oh, yes, because these tears represent utter joy." I hissed sarcastically. Rozaline opened her mouth to snap back at me, but she somehow managed to stop herself from doing so.
"No need to get testy." Jude exclaimed. He bent down on one knee and looked at me. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"
"That is not your concern." I said, finally standing up after lying in the sand for so long.
"Well, it is now, so explain." Jude stood up too; grabbing my shoulders and making me stare into his eyes. I was sick of making eye contact with all of these guys, so I looked down and pushed his arms aside.
"If I explain, you'll think it's completely stupid." I mumbled.
"So you're crying over something that's supposed to be 'completely stupid'?"
Touché.
"Well, before I explain," I swallowed a bit. "Do you love Lena?" Jude's face softened after I asked him this question. After a few seconds, his famous little smirk appeared across his mouth.
"We're happy together. I make her laugh and vice versa…we tell each other anything…we always know how to have a good time with each other…and every single time I see her, my heart just beats like a freaking drum…" He looked at me. "So, I think you know the answer to your question."
"When did you guys…first kiss?" I suddenly began to ask.
"Oh, I'll never forget that day." He chuckled a bit. "We were at a bonfire party, and there was a barn where our friends and me danced in. There was a room where we began talking, and she said that she had never kissed a guy before. I said 'well, now you can say that you did'. Right then, we kissed." (A/N This was actually technically my first kiss. I just used mine for Jude's first kiss with his girlfriend!) I found myself chuckling at this…I couldn't picture Jude being such a softie at all.
"How precious." I giggled.
"Don't you mean barf-worthy?" Rozaline chimed in with disgust.
"Zip it, Roz," Jude snapped. Rozaline folded her arms and puffed out her cheeks like an angry child. "So Fuu, why are you asking me these questions? What happened, did you get kissed or something?"
"No!" I lied. "Why would you think that?"
"You were with Mr. Dream-Boy." Jude smirked again. Of course he was talking about Balthier. "I can picture a kiss scene…right during a sunset, too. That guy knows the right timing to everything—."
"Are you deaf? I just said that nothing happened like that! Sheesh!" I continued to lie.
"Well," Jude chuckled once more. "I think we should head to our tents now. We've gotta get to Draklor, remember?"
"How could I ever forget?" I exhaled. "Thanks for answering my questions, Jude."
"No problem, Butch." I cringed at the nickname.
"Rozaline, cheer up."
"Hmph, says you." She grumbled. Jude sighed and walked away to enter the guys' tent. I sniffed a bit, trying to calm my face down so the girls' wouldn't see that I had been crying. I walked over to the tent during the process of calming down, and after a deep breath, I put on my smile and entered the tent.
"Howdy!" I grinned.
"Fuu-chan!" Yuko ran over. "Let me see it!"
"See what?" I was confused at first; until I looked down to see my Clarity stone…the stone Balthier gave to me. I pushed Balthier out of my mind and bent down so Yuko could get a better glimpse at the stone. "Here it is."
"It's so enticing." Yuko smiled. She then started to giggle a bit.
"What's so funny?" I had to ask.
"Do you think it's a token of love?" Yuko giggled even more. Immediately I felt my face heat up and all the memories of what happened moments before with Balthier slowly returned again…
"Certainly not!" I stammered.
"Oh, maybe it is, Yuko." Misa laughed along. "Just look at that tomato of a face."
"Shut up!" I continued to stammer in embarrassment.
"What's wrong, Fuu?" Penelo suddenly walked up. "Your face looks like you got some real bad sunburn."
"Oh, I wish." I exhaled.
"So what did Balthier reverse to you about?" Ashe wondered. I knew she was going to ask me…that princess sure loves to know the details sometimes.
"Oh, he just told me that…we were…uh." Think, Fuu. What do you say on the spot? Sure, you're no improviser, but can't you just think of some sort of story that sounds a bit believable? "Good friends."
"That's it?" Yuko's smile faded in a slight disappointment.
"I have to agree with Yuko," Ashe tried to push away a smile. "Curiosity was getting the best of me. I wanted something a bit more exciting than a friendship speech."
"Ashe! Even you were expecting something…more than friends-ish?" My face never halts on the heating up.
"If that's the title you give it."
I looked over at Fran, who was the only one who was not listening to the conversation. She did look at me, but gave me a look that meant, "I'm not apart of this, don't even look at me, woman." I turned back to Yuko, Ashe, and Penelo as they all grinned.
"C'est l'amour!" Fini giggled.
"Le français n'aide pas!" I shouted back at Fini.
"Um?" Penelo questioned. "What was that?"
"Oh…" I completely forgot that only Yuko, Jude, and myself could see game guardians, and me speaking French to Fini looked like me speaking French out of the blue in the eyes of Penelo, Ashe, and Fran. "Nothing. We should probably head to bed now."
"Sounds like a plan." Penelo nodded her head. Ashe and Fran agreed to this and went to their sleeping bags (although it was actually hotter than the Salikawood, so we just slept on top of the bags rather than in them.) "Sleep well, everyone."
"Will do." I said.
"Goodnight." Yuko yawned, plopping on her sleeping bag.
And with that, the lanterns blew out, and we all shut our eyes…
……………………………
"Master."
Mateus?
I opened my eyes, where I found myself in an area surrounded by darkness. There were twelve symbols surrounding me, and two of the symbols were Belias and Mateus, standing there, looking at me. I blinked a few times.
"Where am I?"
"This is the imaginary world Delfenynn wanted to complete." A familiar, elderly voice said behind me. I turned around to see none other than Raithwall, the Dynast-King. He placed a hand on my shoulder (I never noticed until now that he likes to do that a lot) and smiled at me gently. "Do not be afraid. This is not an actual setting, so he cannot be awakened yet."
"He who?" I blinked. Raithwall looked down, and I took that as a sign to look down, too. Beneath me was a HUGE, silver symbol. As I looked close at each symbol that was empty, I started to recognize them… "These are the Espers…so this big one I'm standing on must be…"
"Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts." Raithwall answered for me.
"No way." I said breathlessly. Now, to be honest with you all, out of the hundreds of time I played Final Fantasy XII, I have never obtained the final Esper. Call me a chicken, but I was scared to even fight him. He was the most powerful Esper out of them all, and it just felt like having him was too much to ask for. "This is what Delfenynn wanted in her experiment, right? To summon Zodiark?"
"Correct." Raithwall said. "Delfenynn wanted to seek such a great power, and she sought Zodiark. We all feared that if she had this incredible beast in the palm of her hand, she would bring destruction to Ivalice."
"Would she really do that? Was she that obsessed?"
"Yes. She sought so much power in her exploration of the Espers that it was taking over her sanity."
"Ouch." I looked over at Belias and Mateus. "So is that all you guys called me for?"
"That is not all." Belias said. "We have summoned you in this imaginary scenery to tell you about your powers."
"My powers?"
"You are over-exerting yourself with your fury." Raithwall told me. "You killed a Judge."
"I know that, but he deserved to die. He killed Anastasis." I suddenly remembered Bergan…what a creep.
"I know he commited many wrong deeds, but your rage went into overdrive and killed him. You must learn to control your powers, or else Delfenynn will take over your sanity. If that happens…who knows?"
"Oh. Sorry. It won't ever happen again." I apologized. "But if it does, then forgive me."
"Delfenynn does not take things lightly. She will harm you if you overexert your powers…and not just in the physical sector." Raithwall looked into my eyes.
"Hey, Raithwall, I have a quick question." I suddenly remembered something. "Why did you want to marry Delfenynn? I understand you two married so you guys could work together and complete all sorts of cool crap…but it wasn't ever out of love?"
"No." Raithwall answered me quickly. "Love was something I did not think about…Delfenynn was the same way. Delfenynn agreed that if we took our hands into marriage, we would discover secrets about each other's abilities…and our blood."
"I see." I exhaled. Even people like the Dynast-King didn't pay any mind to love…that just made my situation with Balthier a whole lot crappier. I shook my head. "Anything else, chief?"
"That is all." Raithwall gave me a kindly smile. "Now…it's almost time to wake up…you must head to Draklor."
"And face off with Dr. Cid, right?" I smirked. "No problem."
"Good luck, Fuu." He said. "We are all counting on you."
"Keep out for more Espers, as well." Mateus added. I nodded my head and watched as everything around me vanished. Suddenly, I felt my own body kind of drift away…
………………………
And then morning came.
..........................
To be continued in chapter 24!
Holy POOP! I finally updated! I'm gonna be stuck in my house all day, so I'm going to get started on the next chapter after this is updated, so there won't be much of a wait…hopefully…maybe…yeah…bye!
-da Panda