Chapter Two.

Jr.'s eyes reluctantly shot open at the overhead sound of the Captain's voice. He couldn't yet make out what was being said, but it was loud enough to disturb him from his delightful slumber. Luckily, the lights were out in the cabin, so his groggy eyes were not burned by bulbs. As his vision focused, he decided to lay there for a moment and stare at the ceiling, letting his body catch up with his mind which began to race. Thoughts of Monica rushed his brain, memories pouring back in. It was both pleasant and torturous at the same time. He was hoping the amount which he missed her would have decreased by speaking of her, letting some of his resolve out at last, but it seemed to only have made it worse.

Sighing, he pulled the weight of his torso to an upright position, slightly hunched over as he stared at his hands in his lap. His thoughts—his own voice in his head—was silent. All that remained in his mind were silent images, movies almost, of his happiest memories, which tore at every heart-string he had. Everything he'd gone through in the past two years had kept him just busy enough to where these thoughts weren't overwhelming his every moment of every day. Now that it had slowed down, even for a little while, they resumed their previous positions. Every time Jr. had a silent moment, a calm in his life, they returned to crush his heart. He always stayed busy to avoid it. Now he couldn't. He felt helpless.

Jr. clenched his fist, the skin turned white almost instantly at his strength, and threw it at the bed. "Dammit," he whispered to himself. I have to stop this, he vowed. I have to put an end to this. I can't live like this. I can't.

Very sluggishly, Jr. made his bed and dressed himself, trying to move fast but not finding the will to do so. His body was acting as if it had just given up already on it's own. He felt trapped in a body that wished to die to avoid the continuous heartbreak, with a mind that was driven by the resolve to fix it.

Slow feet led him to the bridge, where everyone was already gathered. There seemed to be talk about something, but Jr. didn't really care enough to pay that much attention until he was addressed.

"My," Shion said as she looked Jr. over a few times. His hair seemed like he hadn't bothered to tame it much, his eyes slightly swollen with sleep, as if they were scared to fully open. The clothes he wore were wrinkled, did he sleep in them, she wondered, or...on them? Either way this carelessness wasn't usual for him. She quietly—and quickly—took a mental note of that. "You're up rather early. Did you not sleep well?"

"I slept fine," Jr. mumbled. Realizing the hostility in his voice, he cleared his throat and pulled at his collar. "The Captain's little announcement over the intercom woke me up."

Shion frowned. Allen did as well, knowing he needed a good night's sleep. "I'm sorry to hear that," answered Allen.

"Me too," Jr. said as he scratch his unkempt hair into further disarray. "Thanks for that by the way, Captain Matthews, I was finally dreaming a good dream for once."

"Huh?" Matthews called down. "Oh, Little Master! You're up a little early, aren't ya?"

Jr. rolled his eyes impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, so I hear. What was so important you figured you could disturb me for? It better be good or—"

Matthews chuckled and crossed his arms. While he did fear Jr. as his boss, he knew better than to be threaten by his words in the early morning. He'd forget it by breakfast. "Heh, why don't I let Hammer tell you the good news? Hammer!" Matthews called down to get his associates attention. "Tell the Little Master the good news!"

"Captain, I don't know if it even is good news, but—but it is news..."

"Well, spit it out, Hammer!"

"R-Right," Hammer cleared his throat. "The Elsa is picking up signals of a large spaceport approximately 6 hours from our current location. It's one we're not familiar with...seems to me to be like a...a purgatory of sorts. Gives me that vibe anyway," he shrugged.

"Gives you a vibe," the Captain scuffed lowly, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his muscular chest. "I'll give you a damn vibe!"

A purgatory space port...Jr. furrowed his brow. Could he use such a place to locate Monica? Something in him, something deep inside him, knew that if they found her, they could find chaos and KOS-MOS and Lost Jerusalem. Dad did call her a lost key or whatever...maybe that's what he meant. Jr. chuckled once. Who the hell knows? That son of a bitch was so batshit insane...

"What's funny?" Shion blinked at Jr., beginning to worry about his unusual behavior. Sometimes she wished she wasn't as observant as she was, but it always came in handy like cases such as this.

Jr. shook his head, still grinning. "Nothing, nothing. Just daydreaming."

Pursing her lips, Shion place a hand on her hips—a threatening stance for someone like Shion. It was accusing in nature and nearly slapped the grin right off of Jr.'s face. "No, it's something. What was it? You don't just chuckle at things, Jr., I know you better than that. What could it be that you wouldn't want to say it? You're one to hard to stop from sharing usually."

"Nah, nah, it's—I'm still half asleep, don't mind me."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, that's your problem," he scoffed as his grin returned.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. This is definitely not like Jr. We're friends, he's said so many times...he'd never act this way towards me or any of his friends. "What did you say...?"

Allen swiftly put an arm around Shion, letting out a nervous chuckle himself. A wave of heat washed over every inch of his body, and not just because he was touching the woman who had unknowingly held his lustful heart for years; he'd promised Jr. he'd keep his secret between just them. Being the loyal gentleman he is, his word is something someone can always trust. "H-Hey, don't pick on Jr. this early, hon. He's still groggy, I'm sure he's just...erm...slaphappy."

"Slaphappy?" Shion turned to throw a questioning look at her lover. Usually Allen would always be on her side of everything. "No. No, I've seen Jr. slaphappy. I've also seen him happy, sad, tired, drunk—all of which don't seem to apply right now," turning back to Jr., she leaned in close to him with squinting eyes full of arrest.

Jr. stuck out his tongue. "I'm not a set-in-stone person, Shion. I'm all over the map. I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm perfectly fine. Honestly!"

Shion straightened herself back up, shoving her chin up in the air. "Well I still don't believe you."

In defeat, Jr. threw his arms up above his head and walked back to the cabin. Women...he thought. "Call me when we're about to dock. I'm going back to bed."

Shion couldn't help but giggle.

The cabin door slid open and Allen entered the dark room. He could hear a small thwup every now and again. Once he turned the corner he saw Jr. laying in bed, tossing a ball up and down as he lay flat on his back. Loosening his shoulders, Allen smiled the faintest smile. He didn't have to wake him. Everyone knew waking Jr. from a slumber was very dangerous if you were in his vicinity.

"I thought you were going back to sleep," he said as he approached Jr.'s beside.

At first it seemed as though he didn't even realize Allen was there, even after he spoke. Focused but aware, he heard him walking, speaking, waiting. "Couldn't sleep."

"How come? If...if you don't mind me asking."

Catching the ball one last time, he held it in his hand close to his heart. "Her," he breathed out in an almost heartbroken tone.

"Shion?"

"No. Monica."

"Oh," Allen looked down at the floor in both embarrassment and...pity. "Right...what's on your mind? You can tell me. As you can see, I'm capable of not blabbing to Shion."

One side of Jr.'s mouth pulled up into a grin. "I appreciate that, Allen. But...I want to find her. I feel like—like—like I'm somehow gonna find her there. And I know—okay, this may sound crazy but bear with me," Jr. babbled on, wondering if he actually did sound crazy, "I know that if we find her, we can find chaos and KOS-MOS and Lost Jerusalem and bring Albedo back. I just know it. I'm not just saying that so we can make that our primary objective. When we were first introduced to her, dad called her "the missing key" or something. I didn't really pay much mind to it then...but maybe she's the key to bringing it all back. Her past is so mysterious, full of interconnecting wires...she must know of a way! She has to know something!"

Allen's mouth sat agape, trying to find words. What Jr. was saying did seem a little farfetched, insane almost. Maybe he was being driven mad by desire and heartbreak...Allen certainly knew what that felt like. He could clearly remember the little "date" he and Shion had when she brought up eating with Kevin, when she walked over to Kevin's side to abandon her friends, everything they'd fought so hard for...so he decided Jr. wasn't so crazy. He was just driven. "O-okay. We should let the others know then."

"What? No!"

He raised a hand, calmly place it in front of Jr.'s face. "Yes. If it can help with our mission that's already in play, everyone should know. They could help, even keep a look out for her, Hammer could search the star cluster to see if she's anywhere nearby. Besides, I think Shion could use an explanation as to why you were so rude to her earlier."

"What? Rude?"

"You know what I mean," Allen gave a tight-faced head shake. "We should get going. We're in docking range. If you really want to do this, you need to go in there and tell everyone."

"Allen, I—I..."

"Hey, don't worry. I'll help you."

A bright, hopeful look flushed Jr.'s face. His heart fluttered with warmth. He felt alive, almost as if she was in reach, just barely out of grasp... "Thanks, Allen."

Everyone was silent. Not a good feeling in the air for Jr. Oh god, he said with clenched teeth, wide eyes and clammy palms. Oh god, Allen was wrong. God. Shit, why did I listen to him? That bumbling idiot just made me look like a madman—like my father. Oh...god...

"Ehhhhhh," Captain Matthews was the first to speak. As usual, his arms were over his chest, his face looked displeased and his muscles were tense. Jr. didn't know what to make of what he might say next. "Hell, it's not like we have any other leads. chaos didn't really leave us with much of instructions on how to find an entire damn planet that's been extinct for god knows how long. I say why the hell not?"

Jr. was taken aback by his words. While grateful and a little shocked, Matthews only agreed because they literally had nothing else to go on. But he'd take it. Any inch he could take, he would, and he'd turn it into miles.

Nodding heads filling the bridge, Hammer began giving precaution instructions to everyone. "This is an unfamiliar place, everyone. We don't even know if this is part of our universe. There may be all kinds of freaks and weirdos here..."

"Just keep Jr.'s description of the girl in the front of your mind and you should be fine," Tony said. "You don't need to baby them, Hammer, they've been through worse. I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves."

"No doubt," Jr. added. "We know what to do. We're prepared for battle at anytime."

"Alright then, kids! Pull up your big-boy pants and get in there then!"

"Roger!" Jr. excitedly took off for the exit, leaving Shion and Allen in his dust to catch up with him. His heart was already pounding.

It felt like hours had passed. There was no information desk, there were to recognizable faces, not even clothing that could tell them when or where they were even close to. The crowds just seemed to be wandering aimlessly, often some would stop and look around, as if they were searching for something, or even someone. After a time, they couldn't even tell if it was the same faces they were seeing. It was huge, but with the crowd it felt cramped, like everyone was shoulder to shoulder.

No one stood out. No one with fiery hair to match Jr.'s, no one whose waves felt even remotely familiar to Jr.'s, it was almost as if these weren't even people. Like none of this was real, it was just like a skipping tape, happening over and over and over and over again...

They had to fight some here and there, most of which was taken care of by Jr's. pistols. They moved with quick determination. He saw every battle as a roadblock, a burden getting in his way. It almost sent him into a rage, but he kept it cool by getting it all over with quickly so he could return to his search.

"This is hopeless," Shion said as they stood together in the center of the crowd, their presence not even bothering anyone for a moment. Nothing stopped because they were in the way, the people seemed to just adjust to them being there. It's as if they were on their own missions, just as determined as Jr. was. "We've been here for hours and we haven't found her. Now I can't be certain but I'm sure no one besides us is coming or going. It looks like they're all on a set path, like they can't be broken from their concentration unless they bump into us by mistake or find whatever it is they're looking for."

Allen sighed, saying what Shion was dancing around. "She's not here, Jr."

Closing his eyes, his grip on his pistols tightened, almost pulling the trigger. "No," he argued through gritted teeth. "We are not giving up."

"Jr.—"

"I said NO!" He whirled around on his heels, shooting his guns off into the distance. The bangs echoed off the walls and back to them. For a second he could feel himself losing it, the Red Dragon that sleeps inside him awakening. He suppressed it of course, but he could still feel it trying to creep out to his fingertips...to caress his guns and unleash such beautiful destruction...

He felt a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Huh?" He snapped around, hoping it was Monica. Instead he was face to face with a withered, bony finger, that came from a dark hooded figure, very small in stature and hunched. "Oh, ah—yeah?"

"I saw you with your little guns, you are very gifted. I am impressed with your gunman ship, young man."

Jr. timidly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh...thank you."

"You know," the old woman kept going to keep his attention. "My sister used to pull moves just like that when I was younger. She was skilled with her guns as well, always showing me this and that. The stunts you pulled were no doubt an exact match to hers."

He squinted one of his eyes. "That's...not...possible, ma'am. There's only two people who know those tricks and I'm one of them." He politely smiled at the woman to hide his pain. The other was Monica.

"Oh, yes," the hood nodded at him. "I know, young man. And I also very well who the other person is. She taught you everything you know a long time ago."

"Ah—what?"

"I was just wondering if you had found her yet..." The old woman hesitated for a second, as if she had to momentarily search in her mind for something, something that put Jr. on edge. "If you had found Monica."

"What?" Jr. backed up a little bit, raising his guns slightly. He didn't really care if this was a wilting elderly woman, she knew something that was impossible for her to know. It must be a lie, someone messing with him. Albedo? No. He'd be much more vulgar about it...Nigredo? But it can't be... "Tell me, how do you know about her? About Monica?"

The fragile being held up the same finger that had taped his shoulder, that looked like it was nothing but skin and bone, and reached into her cloak, into a pocket that lay on her chest. Her hands searched ever so gently around until she found her way to what she was looking for, and pulled it out with delicate movements—not too quick, not closing her hand too tightly. When her skeletal hand unrolled, it revealed what looked to be an ancient match to the earring dangling from Jr.'s ear, threatening to crumble at any second.

"Ngh!" That was the earring he gave Monica nearly two decades ago. They were a one of a kind match, none others like it. They were a gift from his father, saying they possessed the same "calming" abilities of his brother, Nigredo, and were to be used keep his Red Dragon calmed by insignificant agitations. He paid no mind to their purpose, and gave one to Monica as a way to keep them close, so she'd always think of him. There's no way this strange old woman could get a hold of one... "Are...you...?"

"No," the woman almost chuckled but still kept her serious tone. "I am not her. I come from a different world. I have been waiting centuries for you to possibly appear here in hopes of finding her."

"Centuries?" Allen gawked. He and Shion had been observing—eavesdropping, rather—silently in the background. "What exactly is this place?"

"Purgatory," Shion stated blatantly. "Correct? You said you'd been waiting here for centuries, who know how long others have been here? They wander and wait to complete a sole purpose before they can move on."

The mysterious elder shrugged. "Eh, something like that. You know we were never given an information pamphlet upon arrival—but listen, about Monica—"

"Is she okay? Is she hurt? Why hasn't she come looking for me? Has she forgotten me?"

"Nck, would ya calm down, boy? I'm an old woman, bombarding me with questions isn't going to get you anywhere faster than asking them slowly!"

An embarrassed Jr. looked down at his feet. He couldn't help but get excitable about things. He was still a child at heart in most ways. "S-sorry..."

"You'll have to excuse him," Shion moved forward, getting a little suspicious of the situation. "Who are you exactly? We never quite caught your name or how you know Monica—did I hear you say you were her sister?"

The woman pulled back her hood slightly. It gave a view to a very faded blue iris, and an iris of gray. "My name is Meena, you should know my mother, Yuna."

Jr. nodded softly. He remembered the soft woman whose face had faded for years in the past, but he still remembered her eyes; one blue, one green with the kindest voice and warmest presence. He recalled at one point being filled with envy and wishing someone like Yuna could be his mother. He never forgot those deep eyes. "I do, she was introduced to us as Monica's adoptive mother back on Miltia when we first met her. We never really saw much of her, but I could never forget her."

"I am the biological daughter of Yuna. I grew up with Monica as my adoptive sister. It was never official, we lived on an island where we didn't need papers to make someone our family, but she was my sister nonetheless. I have been waiting here for so long so you can go back and bring her with you to be with her. She must have a purpose with you. I've come with just enough black magic left in me to transport you to the past of our world."

Jr.'s heart sank. Something didn't add up. "Why not just bring her with you? She's immortal, she could've waited here—why not just come here alone? Did she not want to see me herself?"

"I...don't know where she is."

"You don't know where she is?" Shion interjected once again, raising a brow to the old woman. "How do you just lose a person on a tiny island? Especially one with as obnoxious hair as Jr."

"Long ago, a man in white appeared on our island one day. He wore a mask which he never removed, but he spoke to Monica alone. I have a feeling he came to deliver bad news to her about you. He vanished and left her devastated on the beach shore one sunny afternoon and she was never the same. Her days always seemed to be gloomy and full of sadness. Monica never really smiled much after that, she would wander around deep in thought or just stay at home and not leave her bed. I believe he told her you were dead—when, where and why, I cannot be sure of—but that could only be bad news enough to break her spirit."

"A man...in white?" Jr. felt a tinge in his right chest, like someone had gently swiped a glade across the empty space where his brothers heart once was. Albedo...that must have been Albedo...once I killed him and he became a Testament...he must have traveled there to play a trick on Monica. He must have known she could...be the key...sick bastard... He felt like he was losing control, he started struggling to see straight.

"I'm not sure if my dear sister is alive or dead. She disappeared a few weeks after the cloaked man came and went. We never saw her again. I knew growing up that something bad had happened to her, that she had not fulfilled an important purpose elsewhere. Under the island's black mage I studied so I could take you to a time before that man appeared and destroyed our hearts. We would rather see her go to you than to...just..."

His eyes had unfocused. Monica had disappeared. She could be anywhere, she could be forever away from her, she could have...He shuddered. If Albedo still had a physical body, he would kiss his ass even if he wasn't mentally there to endure it. Jr. thought they were all friends—when they were younger, Monica played a maternal figure to Albedo when he started to lose himself. He just couldn't see why he would do that to her, to his own brother.

The woman held out the matching earring again. "I've been enchanting this relic with the power to take you to Old Spira for many moons. Once you are there, this one in my hand will perish, as well as the me that has existed in this place for so long. Hopefully you will correct the past for the better and save my sister. You have but one chance—do you wish to go?"

Of course he did, but he looked at his two friends behind him for guidance. They both nodded at him, shooing him away with their hands. "Go. I'm sure Albedo would want to see her, despite this being his doing...if we find him, he can explain himself with her present. We'll wait for you on the Elsa, it shouldn't take you too long, right? Even if it does, take as long as you did. This is important for you. For all of us."

His grin spread from ear to ear and nodded with one hard shake before turning to the old woman, to Meena. "Okay. I'm ready. I'll go."

"Make sure she sees the earring you're wearing, Rubedo. It may get misplaced in translation, but it's the key to getting her to believe it's you."

"Gotcha."

Unfurling her hand at a greater length, it began to glow in her hand, waiting for Jr.'s touch. He was hesitant only at first before laying his fingertips gingerly atop the earring before his body began to tingle, glow and feel as if it were liquid. Before he could blink again, everything went black.

He was gone.

And then he saw white...

The earring in Meena's hand dissolved after his disappearance. With a sigh, the old woman vanished as well.

HI HELLO THREE OR MORE GIVE OR TAKE YEARS LATER

Wow, I haven't written anything in 3 or so years. I feel like I'm back to sucky-mode again, oh well! Also I have no idea why my thirteen-year-old self decided to completely abandon Monica's orignal backstory from DC2 and tie in some far fetched FFX type shit. I apologize, but I just went with it. I hope you think it was worth the wait anyway!

You look nice today and I think you're very neat. Enjoy!