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Chapter 3

Catherine screamed for the fifth time as Larsa deftly struck the zombie with his sword twice in a row then watched it collapse in a heap and whither away before turning to Catherine and saying, "Oh come on, we've only a bit farther to go and we'll be out in no time." Larsa said as he took Catherine's hand again and lead her on as they followed closely behind Kira as she cleared a path for them, cutting down any enemies that came before her. Larsa would've gladly been the one to clear a path for the ladies, but Catherine had insisted on clinging to his arm like a leech and only ever letting go when he'd harshly wrenched it from her in order to protect her from any zombie that may have crawled out of the ground behind Kira.

Catherine was not enjoying herself at all. On top of having to have to walk the whole way, she had to walk through this place, where all her worst nightmares came true. There were zombies and multi-coloured cockatrices with scary faces and Headless Soldiers with huge axes and some with swirling balls of ice for heads. Catherine clung to Larsa for dear life. She was frightened into silence most of the time and only managed a weak hearted screech whenever a zombie would crawl out of the floor directly beside or in front of her. She had also been crying the whole time and now had a flowing river of tears running from her eyes that she hardly even noticed as she carefully watched her surroundings, her actions and movements identical to that of a skittish rabbit trying to find its way out the wolf's den.

Larsa was right however, and before long, they were outside the Sochen Cave Palace and finally out in the warm sun light and among the grassy planes of the Tchita Uplands. Catherine collapsed to her knees as she felt the warm sun hit her pale face and felt the exhaustion spread throughout her entire body. "Oh...I can't...go on like this." Catherine moaned as Larsa knelt down beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Larsa bit his bottom lip and looked up at Kira who had just killed a Serpent and was stuffing the loot into her bag, as if begging her for help. Kira sighed and smiled a bit before she said, "You know, we could always just teleport to Rabanastre."

Catherine looked up sharply and glared at Kira, the first thing running through her mind was, Why didn't you say that before?! She was about to voice her thoughts, but Larsa beat her to it. "Kira, the closet teleport crystal is half way through the Tchita Uplands..." he held an exasperated look on his face as he glanced at Catherine before turning back to Kira. But then, realization him after he caught the mischievous glint in her eyes, "you're not thinking to..." Larsa seemed very reluctant as he stood up slowly. Catherine was lost as she watched Kira smirk and place both hands on her hips before replying.

"And what if I am? If things go well then we'll be there in no time and in one piece." She grinned and Larsa grimaced.

"And if things don't go well?" Larsa sounded worried.

"Everything will be fine! Done worry! I've got teleport stones galore! We'll be fine! Trust me." The last sentence was tacted on as Larsa seemed to be completely unconvinced. She gave him one last grin before he finally sighed and looked down at Catherine, in her rather pathetic state and knew that there would be absolutely no way she'd be able to make it to the teleport crystal and that if Kira were to really be able to pull it off then that would be best.

Larsa sighed heavily and turned to Kira and said, "...fine" She jumped up and cheered like a silly little school girl before pulling a teleport stone out of her pocket and seemingly gearing up for something. It almost seemed as if she were gearing up for a fight as she stretched her arms and kicked up her knees to warm up her legs.

Catherine was beyond lost once again. She hated when Larsa and Kira were talking. She never understood anything they said to one another, it was like they had a secret bond that she couldn't touch or emulate between herself and Larsa. She was really envious of Kira for that. "Larsa...?"

Larsa turned to her and smiled, "Oh, sorry. Kira...Kira is a bit, odd so to speak,"

"Special!!" Kira cut in upon hearing Larsa call her 'odd'.

He smiled at her and sarcastically corrected himself, "So sorry, Kira is a bit special in that, she can use magicks more efficiently than most other humes. While you and I may only be able to keep up a protective barrier for say half an hour, Kira here would be able to keep it up all day without much effort, also, she can teleport without a teleport Crystal, of course she still needs a teleport stone but..."

"Actually, I can teleport with just a teleport crystal and no teleport stone too. That's how I got to Archadia today." She grinned as she cracked her knuckles loudly and stretched her fingers.

"Ah really? Wow, that's fantastic!" Larsa smiled widely at Kira and then turned back to Catherine and continued, "And so, Kira should be able to teleport us straight to Rabanastre from here," He recognized the delight in her eyes and cut her off before she began, "But, there's a catch. Kira's not exactly...proficient at it just yet and so things might not..."

"Listen Larsa!! I can't take this negative energy that I'm getting from you! You're just raining on my parade man!" Kira was obviously joking around, but she really was getting slightly annoyed with Larsa's negativity. She knew he was worried about Catherine, because other wise, he would've agreed in an instant.

"Ah! But Kira, come on, this is dang..."

"Shush!!" She held up a hand to silence him, "I must concentrate..." She said half jokingly as she closed her eyes and held the teleport stone close to her chest. Catherine and Larsa watched in silence as she stood there, holding the teleport stone to her chest. Catherine was beginning to believe that this was all a joke during the first couple seconds of the silence among them, but then a soft myst began to swirl out of the stone. Catherine watched in awe as the myst from the stone swirled around them, forming a perfect circle around each of them, and before she knew it, everything brightened to a blinding white and she felt the familiar pressure around her entire body, like an orange being squeezed for its juices, as she was teleported away from the Tchita Uplands.

When Kira opened her eyes and noted her surroundings, the first word that came to mind was, 'Oops'. There was a moment of silence before Catherine spoke, "Is this Rabanastre?" She stood akimbo and looked around with a grimace at the dusty ruins of an ancient Colosseum of sorts with no sign of live anywhere, as though she weren't cowering in a huddle a mere minute ago.

"No, it's not." Larsa said sounding very annoyed and turned to Kira before, "The Ridorana Cataract?! How in heaven's name did we end up at the Ridorana Cataract? It's on the complete opposite side of Ivalice!!!!"

Kira cringed slightly and fired back, "I'm sorry alright! I was thinking about the hunt at the time and so we ended up here! This is where the mark is supposed to be! I didn't do it on purpose!" Kira said animatedly.

"The Mark? This is where it is?! Good lord Kira, couldn't you have mentioned that before?!" Larsa said, the tone of annoyance steadily increasing in volume.

"Oh geez Larsa just give it a...rest..." Kira's speech drastically slowed to a stop as she seemed to be staring at something behind Larsa and Catherine, her eyes wide and her head tilted upwards.

"...What?" Larsa asked after a long moment of silence.

"Uhm...Larsa...I think you should just slowly..." Kira had begun to slowly take a few steps backwards while she spoke but then suddenly, "DUCK!!!!!" she lunged forward and grabbed both Larsa and Catherine dragging them to the floor.

"What the...! Kira the he-..." Larsa was just about to inquire about Kira's questionable acts when he finally saw what had been behind him and Catherine. "Holy Dynast King..." Larsa breathed softly before he and Kira shot up of the floor, dragging Kira with them just in time to dodge a huge sharp taloned forelimb as it struck the earth where they once lay with such a force that it shook the very foundations of the Colosseum.

Catherine screamed loudly and clung to Larsa in such a fashion that it impaired his movement and caused him to topple over. "Catherine!!" He mustered all the strength he could in half a second in order to roll out of the way for yet another potentially fatal strike as the earth beneath them shook once more. Larsa tried desperately to pry Catherine's arms and legs from around him while Kira charged in and struck the beast once, her blade bouncing off its magically hardened hide like a piece of rubber off a thick plate of steel.

"Physical attacks don't work!!!" Kira screamed back at Larsa as she rolled to the side out of the way as the giant swiped at her with his claws. "And it's got reflect on!!"

"What the hell is that thing?!!" Larsa shouted as he managed to stand up and got Catherine to stand with him as she shook in his hold, her terror showing in her features like a huge red stop sign.

"I think its a rare type of wyrm!" Kira shouted back as she cast dispell on the huge wyrm before casting thundaga.

"This is NOT a Rank III Mark!!!" Larsa shouted as he saw the tiny amount of damage that Kira's magic had on the creature. And if Kira's magic had no affect on you, then nothing would.

Kira turned to him with a sharp expression, "YOU THINK?!" by the time she had turned back to the Wyrm, his claw was already in her side.

"KIRA!!!" Larsa shouted as he watched her tumble to the floor, her life bar reduced significantly. He threw an X-potion in her direction, running on his gambits before he finally shed Catherine off him and turned her shaking frame to face him. "Catherine! Catherine listen to me! You stay here, I'm going to help Kira and we are going to get out of here as soon as we get the chance. If we try to run now, we'll have no chance of escaping. Please just stay here." Larsa said softly to her, holding her face in his hands before turning to leave her for Kira while she stretched out and just barely managed to scrape at his arm, her fingers making a desperate attempt to hold on, while she constantly pleaded for him not to leave her, but he was too fast.

Before she knew it, Larsa and Kira were fighting the gigantic Wyrm, it's long tail barbed at the end, its wings with sharpened edges and its talons like that of a pedigree hawk, only bigger, much, much bigger. Flaming rings of magical fumes circled around its snout, ankles and tail, its cuffs that chained it to the ground while it should've been up in the heavens like most other celestial beings, or so it seemed. Catherine sank to the floor as she watched them fight. The fight was, futile to say the least. For every hit they landed, it only took off maybe half an inch of his life bar, which had five different levels to it, they were hit and half their life, at least, was eroded, forcing them to spend valuable time constantly healing themselves and casting protective spells.

Catherine watched with teary eyes as Larsa just barely dodged a potentially fatal blow from its tail while Kira cast a strong blizzaga at it, assuming that ice was its weakness since its rings were flaming and none of those flames seemed to be harming it, that was also the reason for her not casting any fire magicks. The ice magick however, dealt no more damage than all the others.

"Shit!! This isn't working!!!!" Kira screamed in frustration as she just barely dodged another swipe from its huge claws.

"Kira, we can't do this!!! We're not ready!!" Larsa shouted out as he attempted to stab the Wyrm once more, only to have his sword bounce right back off, nearly stabbing himself in the process.

"No Shit Einstein!!!" Kira grunted as his tail hit her full force in the side and sent her flying straight into Larsa. The two of them skidded across the dusty floor and Larsa instantly cast Cura on them and gave Kira an X-potion to full her life bar again.

They struggled to stand up again, the fatigue of the futile fight beginning to wear down on them. By time they got back to their feet, the Wyrm was no longer focusing on them, it was charging up some sort of spell and was aiming straight for Catherine. Larsa found his strength within milliseconds and was shooting across the Colosseum before Kira could even begin to jog.

Catherine sat huddled in a corner, her eyes shut tight, her arms covering her face and wrapped around her head while she brought her knees close up to her chest. Larsa ran the fastest he'd ever run in his life, in that moment he may have even beaten Bolt for that two or three seconds it took him to reach Catherine. As Larsa dived forward, ready to grab Catherine and go, the Wyrm released its spell and Catherine's eyes snapped open as she heard Larsa scream and she watched in terror as the spell hit his back full force, catching him just above the ground, his arms already half way around her as it shook him violently, his screams of pain and agony tearing her apart inside out.

The magick disappeared as instantly as it had come, but the effects were still quite effective. Catherine was so shocked by what had happened that she could even register what Kira was saying while she tried desperately to sooth Larsa, holding him in her lap and wrapping her arms around him tightly as he shook, the biting pain everywhere in and around his body.

"SHIT!!! Catherine!!! The Hell do you think," She paused to cast immobilize on the Wyrm, praying that it would work, but she couldn't even breath a say of relief when it did as it cast firaga at her. She was faster however and cast reflectga before it could've reached them. "You're doing?!?!? We're going!! NOW!!!" Kira grabbed Catherine roughly under the arms and lifted her up into a standing position, letting Larsa drop to the ground before she picked him up and threw him over her shoulder and ran, using magick to help her carry him as they carefully dodged the occasional trap around the Colosseum.

Kira and ran while Catherine tried desperately to keep up. Even though, the Wyrm was immobilized, it could still cast magicks and they seriously needed to get out of its range. They simply weren't ready to fight something like that.

Kira made for the neighbouring area called the City of Other Days at top speed to get away from the Wyrm, grabbing Catherine's hand before she had the chance to trip and fall like Kira predicted she would. As they made it out of the Colosseum Larsa's moaning and grunting through the pain was beginning to decrease. Kira glanced at him and found that his HP was near zero. She gasped and muttered a swear as she rummaged around for a X-potion only to shout out when he 'KO'ed on her before she could give him the X-potion. Kira decided it was best he stayed unconscious until they got somewhere safe anyway, so she left him. "What...What's wrong with him?! Will Larsa be alright?" Catherine breathed out between pants as they continued to run at a slightly slowed pace.

"It's called the Curse of Ridorana. There have only ever been about..." Kira, however, was unable to finish her sentence as she felt the ground beneath her suddenly give way. Both Kira and Catherine screamed as they fell into the darkness below.

Kira could've sworn they wouldn't survive the fall considering they hadn't hit the ground yet and Catherine was screaming so loudly she thought her eardrums would be the first of her body parts to be injured, but instead of them speeding up as they fell to their deaths, they began to slow down. Kira blinked as she felt as if some invisible force was cushioning her fall as she, Catherine and Larsa were slowly deposited on the floor far below ground level.

Kira blinked as she lay on her back, completely unharmed and whole. Kira stared up at the hole from which they had fallen and took note of far they had really fallen; if she were to hold her thumb up to it, then the whole could've been completely covered by it. Kira looked around at Catherine and Larsa first as Catherine crawled over to him hastily and began to check him for any serious wounds, or, at least, any more that might've been inflected on him due to the fall. Kira decided she'd leave Larsa's care in Catherine...hopefully capable hands until she could find a way out of here.

Kira stood up slowly and looked around. They were in a hall, a long, wide hall with a high arched ceiling and design that was nearly identical to that found in the Subterra of the Pharos. Kira also noted that there was a lot of Myst in this place. Kira looked to her right and found that the way down that side of the corridor was blocked by the rubble that had fallen along with them and that only the left path was open to her. She took a tentative step forward and continued to walk slowly down the corridor, noting that there seemed to be a steady increase of the amount of myst inside the corridor as she went deeper and deeper.

Suddenly Kira noticed that she was no longer looking for a way out. Something was calling to her. The myst was thick and warm and she loved the feeling of it, the way it passed through her and brushed over her skin, the way it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, it was exciting and alluring, she wanted to find the source. Kira continued to walk until, finally, where the myst was thick enough to be like a dim fog about her, she reached a door. The door was humongous and ancient with ornate designs similar to that of the Pharos yet still slightly different.

Kira examined the door and found that it had no key hole, no door knob, nothing to open it with and she could not even make the two doors out from each, if it was two doors and not just one due to the flawlessness of the design. The only indication that this was in fact a door and not simply a dead was a small blank rectangle shape to the far left of the door that had no design on it except for the faintest print of a hand. Kira walked over to it and examined it carefully before curiosity got the best of her and she placed her hand over the print on the wall.

Kira gasped and jumped back slightly when a bright light flashed under her palm and a solid click was heard from the other side of the door. Kira stood back and watched as the double door opened slowly, awe struck by the simple yet unprecedented mechanism that the door used.

Kira waited with baited breath for the door to open enough so that she may see what was on the other side. As she leaned forward to get a better look, she instantly leaned away as a man suddenly appeared before her standing in front of the slowly opening door.

He had long, straight white hair that hung loosely around him down to the middle of his thigh, his eyes were a breath taking ice blue with dark linings that exaggerated their purpose, His skin was moon pale and his loose fitting white shirt and blue grey pants were of a design she'd never seen in her life. Never had she seen anyone with clothes that looked even remotely like those so there was no way she could guess where he was from, neither could she guess his age as his face portrayed to image of him being timeless, or immortal.

The man entranced her as the door opened ever slower to reveal more detail about his appearance little by little. Kira was just about ready to ask him who he was, but suddenly a strong breeze blew from the other side of the door and Kira screamed as it picked her clean off her feet and sent her soaring into the air for a split second before she felt the familiar felting of being squeezed like an orange before being roughly deposited on solid concrete.

Kira blinked twice, before she could take note of her surroundings and what had just happened. She didn't bother to listen to Catherine as she screamed and began to cry, rambling on about how she didn't know where she was and she soon began to beg poor unconscious Larsa to wake up. Kira sat open and looked around to find that they were in one of the store rooms in Low Town, Rabanastre.

Kira stood up slowly and tried desperately to collect her thoughts. 'Just what was that place under the Ridorana? It's certainly not a part of the Pharos, I've explored almost everywhere, albait nearly dieing during each excursion, the beasts down there are just unimaginably strong, but anyway, it wasn't a part of Pharos as far as I'm concerned, and the myst around it, it felt strangely calm and soothing, unlike most times when I'm in the Pharos it usually feels hostile, but this time it was like, I was being pulled in, and then that door. I've never seen anything like it, not to mention that guy...just who was he...?'

"HELLOOOOO!!!! What is wrong with you!! Larsa is dieing and you're just standing there staring into space!! How could you!! This is all your fault!! I'll never let you near my Larsa again!!" Catherine screamed as she cradled Larsa's unconscious form.

Kira glance back at her and sighed. Catherine was right, she didn't have time to be dwelling on these things. Kira turned to Larsa and gave him a Phoenix Down and watched him struggle to regain his consciousness before casting curaga to get his HP back up before it dwindled again and also cast Regen on him, putting some extra 'uhmph' to it in order to allow it to work faster and longer so she didn't have to come back every two minutes to heal him.

"Alright, we'll take him to the empty house in the north sprawl and then you can stay with him while I deal with some other urgent matters. OK Princess Peach?" Kira glanced back at Catherine to see the dumbfounded expression on her face and chuckled, "No need to worry, Larsa'll be right as corn in two days tops." She smiled brightly and lifted Larsa up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and helping him to limp along.

"What? But all you did was..."

"Don't worry about it Catherine..." Larsa wheezed out, the pain in his chest so great that it impaired his ability to breathe properly. "I'll be fine soon, you'll see." He gave her a week smile before returning his focus on putting on foot before the other.

Catherine pouted angrily. She didn't understand what was going on at all. First they appear at some strange dusty ruins and are attacked by this gigantic monster, then Larsa gets hit by some curse while protecting her, then they fallen through the floor into some weird hall and Kira walks off like nothing happened, and then they just pop up here! She didn't even know where here was!

As Kira and Larsa reached the door of the store room, Catherine said, "Where are we anyway? We should be heading back to Archadia, or to Rossaria where he can get proper medical assistance from people that are trained to do this sort of thing! We have to send word to Judge Magister Basch! He'll need to know that their Prince is ill!"

Kira glanced back at her and laughed. She laughed out loud and almost caused Larsa to topple over as she laughed harder and harder. Catherine's jaw dropped as she watched Kira double over with laughter and turned to Larsa for assistance only to find that he too had a smile on his face.

"Hah! Ah boy...trained you say?" Kira turned to Catherine slightly, ensuring she did not disturb Larsa's balance any further. "Listen munch-kin, you see all those certified doctors and those PHD holders and all that crap, they all do the same thing. Cast Curaga, cast Regen or equip with Renewing Moron and wait til the symptoms disappear. That's the only known method of curing Curse of Ridorana, that is if the person is strong enough to begin with, but the bottom line is, if it can be done for free, then why bother getting a 'doctor' to do it, right? Plus, you already know that my magick is better than anyone else's." Kira said with a shrug before she faced forward again.

"What!? But...but that preposterous!! They should lose their liscence for pulling stunts like that if anyone can do it then!" Catherine said following closely behind Kira as they continued on toward the north sprawl.

"Ah, but you see, they don't. So all in all the poor common folk who can't afford all that doctor bullshit come to me, and so, that is why I am leaving Larsa, in your capable hands." Kira said turning to Catherine just before there was a blinding light and they all felt the familiar crushing sensation of teleportation. Catherine blinked and found that she and Larsa were in an old house with nothing but a bed to one side, which Larsa was currently occupying, and a desk and chair set on the other side.

Catherine looked around for any sign of Kira and realized that she had only teleported Larsa and herself to this house where she would take care of Larsa. How, or with what, she wasn't entirely sure. Catherine walked over to Larsa as he lay in the bed and found that he was asleep. His sleep was so deep that it almost seemed as if she had cast sleep on him before teleporting them. Catherine gently brushed his cheeks with her fingers and smiled at the smoothness of his evenly tanned skin, she bent low and place a feather soft kiss on his forehead. "Don't you worry, I'll take good care of you Larsa, now and forever."

OoOoO

To be continued