DISCLAIMER: You should know by now that I'm not Bill Gates, or Sakurai. And thereofr do not own anything mentioned in this fic. The plot and custom-made characters are used with permission

Note: This chapter was written by my buddy Brendan, and co-written by me

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Chapter 6

Rikku

3:15 A.M. 6/11

Darkness... blackness... nothingness... I opened my eyes slowly. It was hard to see... I looked out the window to see nothing but darkness and the pale light of the moon. I tried to move, but immediately cringed in pain, my chest felt like it was on fire. I glanced down and saw a nasty wound there, with some work done on it to prevent it from killing me.My eyes began to adjust, and I got a better view of the room I was in. It was messy, not organized at all. I looked over to the side and saw a figure on the ground. I squinted my eyes, and recognized the figure to be the little blue guy I met earlier, Meta Knight. He was asleep, and I figured it was safe to assume that he saved me from that strange cloaked man. I realized how exhausted I was, even though I had been unconscious for the longest time. I leaned my head back, and eventually fell asleep...

10:00 A.M. 6/11

I awoke the next morning to the feeling of warmth on my face. It was the sun. I opened my eyes and looked around again. I heard a familiar voice.

"You're awake. Good."

I turned to see Meta Knight looking at me from a chair in the corner. I spoke to him

"Meta? Did you bring me here?"

He nodded. I smiled and gave him a hearty thanks. His expression remained unchanged, and I found it a little bit weird... maybe it was the mask, I dunno. Anyways... He got up and walked over to me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Well..." I tried to move again, but I winced and felt the same burning sensation from the previous night

"Nngh...!" I groaned as the pain shot through my chest. I could tell that I worried him

"Hey! Careful. You shouldn't be moving if it hurts THAT bad." he said. I nodded. He was silent for a moment. I could tell he was the arrogant type, especially after what happened yesterday.

"... Is there anything you want? I'll get it for you..." he asked reluctantly after a few minutes of silence.

"Um..." My stomach growled, and I blushed a bit "I could eat..."

He let out a smirk at my embarrasment and then walked over to the door "I'll be back in a bit." He left and I layed back down...

BANG! CRASH! CRUSH! "Aagh! What's going on?!" I heard someone scream. Something was going on. I heard a commotion and voices talking to each other

"Ahg!"

"Come here! I'm gonna kick the snot outta ya!"

"Stay back!!!"

I layed there, confused as to what's going on. Next I heard a large crash outside of my room, and the voices I'd heard were trailing out. Whatever commotion was going on, was taken outside.

I heard the sobs of a girl "... Drusk... Armond..." The sobs went away.

After a few moments of awkward silence, I heard approaching footsteps. Meta burst into the room

"Are you alright?!" he said, obviously flustered.

"Ye-yeah..." I said, confused. He sighed with relief

"What happened out there?!" I asked him.

"A fight busted out. Some big crazy guy with a spear attacked these guys. The big guy threw one of them through the outside wall, and they kept fighting outside. I don't know where they went... There's this big pile of cards laying in the middle of the hallway though. I don't know where they came from, but they look weird." He said, carrying some food.

"That's weird. Do you know any of their names?"

He shook his head no and handed me the plate of food. Seeing as how I probabaly wouldn't be getting any more informaiton on the outburst that had just happened, I thanked him and started eating. He watched me while I did it. It kinda creeped me out, but my gurgling stomach took priority. After eating I set the plate down on the nightstand.

He walked over to me. "Hey... What's with your eyes? They're all swirly." he said.

(Why was he looking at my eyes?) I thought, but I had expected this would come sooner or later, and I was prepared to explain to him.

"Well, I'm an Al Bhed. We're a race of humans, with green and swirly eyes... We're not a respected race though. We face a lot of prejudice and racism, and it hurts. That's why a lot of us wear goggles or thick glasses. It's too hide our eyes, which make us stand out in a crowd." I explained, having a little bit of trouble doing so.

He was quiet for awhile, taking it all in. I decided to break the silence again.

"Have you had any luck finding Yuna?" I asked him.

He seemed confused for a bit "Yuna...?" after a moment of silence. "Oh yeah! Isn't she that girl you're looking for?"

I nodded. He shook his head no "Nope. Haven't gotten any leads."

I felt sad for a bit... Yuna is one of the few family members I have left. She's my cousin. She's real nice and gentle. She's got brown hair, blue and green eyes. She's beautiful, and she's also famous. Not only is she a Summoner, but she's also a popular music artist. She saved the world from a great evil known as Sin, and then made the world even better with her music. I felt better after thinking about her for a bit. She should be fine, Paine's with her...

"You ok?" Metaknight asked, noticing my sad expression.

"Er, yeah! I'm fine. Fine!" I let out a smile.

"...ok then." He said. "How's your chest?" he asked again.

For the third time I attempted to move, but couldn't. "Hm... Alright." he said I heard a rumbling in the distance. Thunder? I hope not... I hate thunder... I hate lightning... I've always been scared of storms.

I looked outside and saw a familiar red ship in the distance. "Hm? No way! That's the Celsius!" I shouted.

"Celsius? What the hell is that?" Meta Knight asked.

"It's the ship Yuna's on! She found me!" I was beaming. My day just got 50 times better!

"We have to go see her!" I said to him.

"No... Not in your shape. I'll go get her to come to you." he replied. I was a little bummed, since I wouldn't get to see Yunie right away, but I was still happy! She's so close now!

I smiled and said "Ok." He nodded and left the room I layed back down, thinking about everything that's been happening. I ended up dozing off...

12:05 P.M. 6/11

I awoke a few hours later. It was almost early evening. I looked outside and saw the Celsius parked right by the mansion! I got excited, and I heard footsteps approaching. The door to my room opened and Meta Knight walked in. Shortly after he walked in, Yuna AND Paine came in!

"Yunie! Paine!" I said, smiling nice and big.

"Hello Rikku. I can tell you aren't in the best of shape..." Yuna said. I could tell she was worried about me.

Paine leaned up against a wall, not saying much as usual. "Hi." she said.

"Where have you two been?" I asked.

"Oh you know, traveling the world, gathering spheres. Same old same old." replied Yunie. I smiled, glad that they were still keeping the Gullwings in business.

Paine spoke up "We've been looking for you." I nodded

"I've been worried about you both!" I said.

I looked over at Meta Knight, who was keeping quiet. We were leaving him out of the conversation, so I decided to get him in on it.

"Um... Meta Knight?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he replied,

"Do you know what the Gullwings are?"

He shook his head no.

"Oh, I'll tell you, ok?" I said. He shrugged.

"The Gullwings are a team of sphere hunters. We travel the world in our ship, the Celsius, and we go to all sorts of places! See, spheres are powerful little objects that have all sorts of goodies on them. Some of them have video recordings, some are just junk, and some even have items and stuff to use!" I said.

Meta seemed bored, so I decided to stop. Yuna smiled, but Paine just closed her eyes and turned away.

Yuna walked over to me "I'm glad we found you, but I'm a little worried about this injury of yours..." she said.

I looked down at it. It didn't look any better. It almost made me feel sick, but I shrugged off the feeling. I could tell Meta was worried too. He kept glancing back and forth between me and Paine. He kept eyeing her suspiciously, and looking at me with sympathy.

I turned back to Yuna "Do you think you could heal it for me Yunie?" I asked, with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh of course Rikku!" she replied. She activated her Garment Grid, changing into a White Mage.

I could tell Meta was surprised. His eyes widened as her clothes vanished, and a new set of clothes appeared before her naked body was revealed. I let out a grin.

Yuna placed her staff just above my wound and chanted for a little bit. "Cure" she said softly. A white glow enveloped the end of the staff and my wound. I felt the burning sensation subside, and the wound was almost completely healed.

"Wow! Thanks Yunie!" I said, jumping out of bed and hugging her.

The two of us laughed, and I could see Paine let out a small smile. Meta was still a bit awestruck about the garment grid, but I saw him smile. He was glad to see me better, and that made me feel good.

"Be careful though. It's not completely healed, but at least it doesn't hurt, right?" Said Yuna. I nodded.

Yuna then turned to Meta Knight. "Surprised at my change?" He nodded.

Yuna let out a little laugh "It's one of the many many capabilities of spheres." He shrugged.

Paine spoke up again "No use boring him with details. He obviously doesn't care."

"Are you done yet?" Meta asked, seemingly annoyed for some reason.

I could see Paine glare at him, but I don't think he noticed it.

"Rikku?" he said, calming down slightly.

Yuna stepped back so I could chat with him.

I looked at him "Yes?".

"Do you mind coming with me to look for someone? I helped you find your friends, so can you help me find my... er... friend? I talked to Ultima and Mell, and they agreed to let you three stay here as long as you need too, so you can catch up later." he said.

I was confused at the delay before the word friend, but I passed it off as just paranoia. I knew I was indebted to him, so I had no other choice but to accept.

"Um, sure thing! I'll catch you two later. Bye!" I said to the girls, waving.

Yuna waved, smiling, and Paine just stood there.

Meta Knight and I walked outside. I then noticed the craziness from the fight earlier. A couple of walls were damaged, and some of them were destroyed. There was a gaping hole in the side of the mansion, and it looked like some people went through it. I studied the scene a bit, and then continue onward with Meta. He lead me in the direction of the forest, but all of a sudden a black and red blur ran at us. I jumped back, thinking it was an enemy, but it stopped, showing the black and red hedgehog I saw in the main room of the mansion yesterday. The first thing that I noticed was that he was crying...

"Meta...did you hear yet?" he said, bawling.

"Hear about what?" Meta responded.

The hedgehog glanced at me, for a few seconds, and he notioned for Meta to walk with him a little ways away. Apparently whatever it was, he didn't want me knowing. The two of them talked for a few seconds, before Meta got an expression of shock on his face. He nodded to the hedgehog and walked back over to me. I was about to say something when Meta grabbed my arm and led me into the forest. I looked back at the hedgehog for a moment, and then back at Meta Knight.

"What was that all about?" I asked him. Meta hestitated to tell me.

"There was...a murder this morning..." I almost fell over when I heard that, I was already being filled with emotions of sadness, I knew how hard dealing with death was.

Despite seeing my reaction, Meta decided to continue " The man's name was Ramza... Shadow said he was a good friend to alot of people..." Meta didn't continue after that.

I couldn't beleive it... I fought to hold back tears.

"So... then where are you taking me? What are we doing?" I sputtered out to Meta Knight, as we walked down a path in the woods.

He turned to me, and and pointed to a spot off of the path and started walking. I followed him and repeated my question

"What are we doing?"

"Well..." Meta said "We're going after the murderer...the cloaked man, Vaati"

12:30 P.M. 6/11

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PLOT TWIST!

so yeah. Leave me a review or two, or better yet three. Tell me if you liked it. Tell me if you hated it (and if so, why you hated it). Tell me hi. I don't care, just leave a review so I know you care. (seeing as how Chap 4, got a whopping 30 hits after a week --)