Strange Spirits

Chapter 4

"Have you equipped your Sphere Grid?" asked Wakka. "You know it good to learn new things."

Puzzled, Squall stopped walking down the road and said, "Sphere Grid? What's that?"

Shocked, Wakka exclaimed, "What? You mean you don't know? It's like the most basic thing a guardian should know!"

The scarred-warrior just dismissively sighed. "Whatever. I don't have time for spheres. I just level up in my abilities automatically. What matters most is if you have the right equipment and junction. You could spend hours doing the right junction combination. Obtaining spells are important too."

"Spells?" said Lulu. "I didn't know you knew how to cast magic as well. Normally that isn't a skill for a warrior."

In response, Squall shrugged and turned to face the path again and answered, "Maybe not, but I do alright. Now, lets get going."

After a while, the group encountered several fiends, but with a quick swing of a sword, some ball bashing and spell casting they were all soon defeated. Yet, the sighting of fiends troubled Wakka and Lulu because it was a sure sign of Sin's return.

Anxiously, the dark witch said, "The fiends have come back again. This is bad."

"Yeah," said Wakka. "It's like back before we defeated Sin."

Though unexpected Squall added, "I don't see what the problem is. There have been monsters falling from the moon for years. You can draw the best magic from a good battle."

Confused, all three companions stare at Squall completely vexed. They had no idea what he was talking about. Monsters from the moon? That didn't make any sense.

"But fiends don't come from the moon. They come from Sin," said Yuna. "Everyone on Spira knows that."

"I guess I forgot," said Squall.

Then, without another word the group made their way towards the S.S. Liki and boarded the ship for the main lands. The waters and the waves somehow calmed Squall. It seemed sort of similar like something he experienced before. He vaguely remembered being on the deck of a ship in the past. The waters were tranquil and the sun was at his face. He was on some kind of mission going somewhere—somewhere he couldn't remember.

Squall then overheard Wakka tell Yuna that the ship was skipping Kilika and was going straight to Luca. Pensively, the ball-player said, "I think getting things over and done with is the best thing for now."

Yuna replied, "Yeah, I guess your right. It just would have been great to see how much they've rebuild since Sin's last attack. Though, maybe we can meet up with Rikku at Luca. She said she's trying to learn a new battle technique called songtress."

Wakka shook his head. "I don't know. I just never figured singing could be used in battles. It seems kind of ridicules."

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Location: Luca

When the team finally arrived at Luca Squall was amazed at the size of the city and the number of people that inhabited it. It made Besaid look so small compared to this place. Tentatively, he walked around the absorbed the colorful atmosphere and realized that nothing seemed familiar to him at all.

Though, oddly a crowd of people began to gather around Yuna and began to talk with her energetically. He listened in and heard them call her the Great Summoner and called Wakka and Lulu her Guardians. They learned from the city people that something called the Blitz Sphere had been converted into a stage and that singing had become a new big hit.

"What!" shouted Wakka. "That's so wrong! Blitz is way better than singing."

Lulu tried to calm him down and said, "The times are changing, Wakka. Just take it easy."

Irritated, he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest and replied, "Yeah, I guess."

However, Squall heard enough. He slowly began to walk away until Yuna catch his arm and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I want to get a look around. A place like this must have good equipment."

"I'll come too. Uh, Lulu? I think we should split up and look for Rikku. It will be easy to track down that way."

The dark witch nodded and dragged her friend away. She then called back to Yuna and said, "Meet us back here in an hour."

"Right!" shouted Yuna. She then decided to show Squall the shops. She couldn't help smiling and noticed that the scarred-swordsman really did think like real guardian. He was always thinking about how to get stronger. She admired his focus, but another side of her wondered if he knew how to have fun.

"Hey, Squall?"

"Hm?"

"Do you remember the things you used to do for fun?"

Confused, he frowned and narrowed his brow. "No…I don't remember much of anything."

Yuna sadly looked away. She thought that maybe it was a bad idea to bring up his memory. She didn't want to make him depressed. Absently, she stared at the weapons in the shop and together they looked at the items quietly until finally he paused.

"I'm not going to beat myself up at what I'm missing, Yuna. I think it's important to think about what I do have. I know I'll remember my past eventually, but it's the present that matter now."

She smiled brightly at his words. She agreed with Squall that the present was important and hoped that his memories would return too. He was just so mature that Yuna discovered that she wished she had that confidence. She wondered were he got it from. It was a shame that it was pointless in asking. He probably didn't remember.

"All right, I'm done here. Let's go look for your friend."

"Oh, right! Uh, I think Rikku might be at the new stage. I know that the Al Bhed are helping to install the new stage equipment, so she might hang around to talk to some friends."

"Whatever," replied the swordsman. "You can lead the way."

Yuna nodded and watched as Squall trail behind her like a guard.

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TBC

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Author's Note: Ok, I finally up dated. I'm bringing back Rikku and maybe some more surprises next chapter. I hope you like the game referrences. I feel like when I played that leveling up was all I really did.

Please review. Thank you.