Kyra needed to be alone. She had too much on her mind. Mainly of the world she’d just left behind. She pushed through her thoughts as she took off her boots and went up the stairs to her study. She walked in and noticed it was just the same way she left it. Well kept, too. The room was kept clean with only a few pictures on the wall. An empty vase by the window. Her desk was full of her research papers still scattered across it, untouched. The rest of the room was kept sparse. There was a chair by the window where she’d done a lot of thinking. She remembered all of the endless nights she'd spent drawing the monsters she's encountered and listing their weaknesses so she wouldn’t forget. Part of her wished the space station hadn't been pushed off course so she could have brought more research back, but, then she wouldn't have met everyone...
Thankfully she was able to keep her beloved Gunblade and her magic bag. She piled her scattered papers neatly to the side of her desk, then unpacked her inventory. She found the process calming: sorting through what she had, making a list of what she needed. Something she wasn't able to do at all while in Spira. She used her magic, but didn't gain anything back. It was strange to her because she hadn’t felt she’d really ‘lost’ anything while she was there. Now that she was home, the feeling of loss crept up on her. She really did miss everyone.
As she sifted through her bag, she noticed an extra piece of paper that wasn’t there before, at least as far as she could remember. She still had Aiko and Akio’s letters, but there was a small sheet of paper. Not folded or creased in any way. It must have been put in her bag recently. She pulled it out and immediately recognized the drawing. Suki’s drawing skill was unmistakable and remarkable. She was a talented girl. She looked at the picture and tears started to fill her eyes. It was a picture of Nikki and herself in Nikki’s garden. She remembered that night clearly. It was a drawing of the night they’d finally opened up to each other thus sprouting their interesting relationship. She placed the picture on her desk and all her emotions came out at once. She didn’t want to be home! As much as she cared about Akio… she didn’t complete her mission! Their mission! She missed Gideon and his snide remarks. Joseph, Yuki and Yuubou, Mishka and Cyan, Val and…. Nikki. The kids from Kyley’s house. Rhyse and Raine... She spent two years in Spira trying to find a way home when she found a real purpose and place for herself. Anger swelled up inside as she remembered Sanika’s arrogance. The look on her face as she finally had Kyra in her grasp and sent her away. She then felt extremely helpless as the reality sunk in. There was no way she could go back. This picture was all she had. Spira was just a mere memory. She sobbed more at the thought.
Kyra got out a pen and paper and started to write. All of her emotions began to spill as she was able to put her thoughts into words. She wrote out everything on her mind. From the crazy nuances about the Via Infinito to the Al Bhed language. She wrote about how the magic was different on Spira. How confused she was when she was still able to use magic. She wrote about all of the people she met, all of the things she remembered. The different types of monsters, or fiends, as they were called. The mystery about the pyreflies and the concept of ‘unsent’. She still had questions about everything. A lot of them she would never get the answers to. So long as she was able to write, she was able to calm herself down.
After a while, she looked out the window and noticed the sun was well below the horizon. She found a frame for the picture so she wouldn’t ruin it. She placed it on her bedside table beside a picture of Aiko. Exhaustion hasn’t quite made an appearance yet. She exited her study and walked down to the kitchen. Everything was still basically the same as she remembered it. There were a few additions here and there, but none she would disapprove of.
“Hey, everything okay?” Akio said as he entered the house from the back garden.
”Yeah, mostly. It’s just…” Kyra’s memory flooded again. She couldn’t hold back the tears that started to form in her eyes.
Akio went to comfort the distraught Kyra. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
He had said that to her many times before. She had forgotten all the times Akio had comforted her during all of her struggles. His embrace always calmed her.
”I wasn’t meant to come back yet…” she started. She told him everything. It was nice to be able to talk to him again. She explained her two year journey in Spira. He listened, laughed, nodded, and tried to understand everything she was explaining. He would also explain that he was looking for her as well. He had searched all over, but when she suddenly appeared by the front door, he was glad. He gave her Diablos back, and exchanged the small amount of magic he had left. It seemed as though he wanted to say something more, like there was something on his mind, but Kyra didn’t press further.
A wave of exhaustion hit the both of them. They decided it was best to rest for the night. She changed into more comfortable clothes. It wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep.
"No, I don't want this I'm bringing her back!" a little girl’s voice could be heard.
"It's not working." Asuka’s voice.
"Please come back!" The voice was getting more and more desperate.
"No, try again!" and then the surprising thought of a scared girl a gasp and then…
"Nikki, you're hurting me!"
Kyra woke abruptly and noticed she was sweating and breathing heavily. She looked out the window and noticed the sun was just about to rise. She knew she was rested, but the feeling of exhaustion was still prevalent. ”I must be stressed… Might as well start my day anyway.” she thought.
As she walked down to the kitchen for breakfast, she went over the events from the evening prior in her mind.
"Hello Akio I'm coming in!"
Kyra’s thoughts were disrupted by a slightly familiar voice and person entering her home. The girl took off her shoes and immediately went into the kitchen opening Kyra’s fridge, walking right passed her.
"Ah, jeez again? What are you like? I swear you just live on noodles. If Aiko was here she would stop you from eating so many noodles." she mumbled to herself and closed the fridge. She looked on the fridge to see Aiko's photo there. She sighed, "Aiko, I think I'm on a losing battle with your brother. Oh well!" she took a piece of paper off the side and began to write a shopping list.
Kyra moved from the doorway since she realized the girl hasn’t seen her at all. She recognised the girl as Akio’s younger cousin, Koemi. The last time Kyra had seen her was shortly after Aiko died. This was the girl that blamed Kyra for Aiko’s death.
“Oh so you are home, did you- AHHHHHHH!!!”
"Uh, Hey..."
In her fright the chair rocked, slipped and she fell backwards.”Ow, ow, ow”
"Hey, sorry to scare you. Are you okay?"
She managed to get up while she held her back. “Ow, I'm alright just a little bruised. Where have you been for two years? My cousin was worried sick we heard only a few days ago from Ellone that you were okay and happy. He looked for you everywhere!”
"It's a long story.. I guess. Was that only a few days ago?" Kyra remembered the day. She cringed as she remembered exactly what took place. The feeling of her bones breaking slowly crept into her mind, but the young girl continued.
“Yeah, Ellone had been looking for you too but had no luck. We were with her when she was looking this time. She said another power connected with hers; A desperate child looking for help and then she found you. Then it went weird cause Diablos just disappeared. Akio was looking after him for you and he said he just went for a few moments. Kinda freaky really.” she explained.
"Ah, right. I do suppose Aeon's tend to worry. Maybe I should connect with him soon. I was teleported back somehow. Someone with even greater power than Ellone sent me back from a place called Spira. I really miss it actually. I was in the middle of a mission..." she trailed off. Her thoughts had been wandering since she got back.
“Aeon?” Koemi blinked at her "What are you talking about?"
"Diablos. Aeon. Oh! That's what they called them on Spira. Guardian force always had a weird ring to it. Don't you think?"
“Aeon seems pretty weird.... Did you say Spira? I’ve heard that somewhere before can’t remember where though”
"Did Akio ever mention it?" Kyra questioned.
“I don’t think so hmmm....” She paused, then looked down at the shopping list in front of her. “Wanna help me shop? He has only got noodles again.”
"Sure! I've been wondering who's been getting food for him! He works so hard he only has time for noodles! I swear he only has noodles for brains..." Kyra said jokingly. "Thanks for looking after him.."
"Of course he is my cousin it's my responsibility!"
The walk to the shops brought back some good memories. It was better than sitting in the house brooding. The air was warm and refreshing. There was no temple or Via Infinito to worry about. There was only one thing missing.
As they were picking out different fruits and vegetables, something had caught the corner of Kyra’s eye. A blonde woman with long hair and a familiar physique had just walked past the shop. Kyra couldn’t believe her eyes. She put down the apple she was holding and immediately left the shop in a rush. Every step she took told her it couldn’t be true, but she had to be sure.
"Hey Kyra?!" Koemi chased after her. Finding out if this person was Nikki was much more important. Kyra quickened her pace until she finally caught up to the woman.
The long blonde haired woman turned around, "Yes?" She was seemingly annoyed.
She was taken aback. Her heart skipped a beat as the realization hit. It wasn’t Nikki. "Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else..." She said softly.
"Okay?" the stranger walks off.
"Someone you know?" Koemi said as she caught up to Kyra.
"It wasn't her..." Kyra was disappointed. It looked so much like her. “I must be losing my mind.”
Koemi watched the girl walk away for a moment to ponder on what she said "You okay?"
"Not really, but I also don't want to talk about it. Can we go?"
"Yeah I think we got everything, at least he doesn't have just noodles for at least a week now!"
"Ok…Hmm. Anything interesting happen while I was away?"
“The Lunar Cry happened shortly after you disappeared, it brought down a monster called the Slayer. It was…” She sighed.
“Was what?” Kyra encouraged.
“It was awful it completely nearly destroyed a whole army of SeeD, I don’t know if I believe it but apparently it only stopped when a ghost appeared. I was… In that battle.”
“That would have been about two years ago…” Kyra thought aloud. She silently cursed at SeeD for their lack of consideration for young people at times of war… “Are there any rumours of what the ghost looked like? What the Slayer looked like? Where this happened?”
“Apparently it was a girl with a sword. That’s all I know though, I do know that the Slayer was huge, it towered over everyone, people were afraid it would come towards the cities. It disappeared shortly after.” She paused and looked and smiled and waved. “Oh hey Aiko!”
“You back for the weekend?”
“Yep, I’ll just put this food away.”
After Koemi went inside Kyra saw that his face dropped in sadness as she skipped away.
“Akio, did something happen?”
“You could say that. Shortly after you did Koemi disappeared two years ago, she was only found outside of Trabia three months ago. I thought she had died Kyra just when I thought I wouldn’t see her again, she just pops up again out of nowhere. Her and her friends were sent out on a mission to find out what these lights were all about and they never came back except for Koemi. This was before we knew what the lights did to our junction system.”
“What happened to our junction system?” Kyra said with concern.
“It’s only when you get too near them, but you can’t cast magic and you can no longer hear your GF, you’re completely cut off and left defenseless. Koemi was only found by accident, No one is allowed to go out and search for missing people because of the danger it poses.”
“But they’re not dead…” she whispered while kicking the dirt on the path and looking down. Akio turned to her, she had obviously come outside while they weren’t looking and heard the conversation.
“Koemi, your friends were nowhere near you when you were found, they haven’t been seen for two years. I think sooner or later you are going to have to realise that they are not coming back. You don’t even remember the last two years.”
“I know but… I just feel it, I know they are not dead, they are out there somewhere.”
Kyra felt sympathetic for the girl. She had no idea what she’d been through. Kyra also figured this was what was on Akio’s mind.
Later that day Kyra heard some noises as she passed by Koemi’s room. She was staring down at her radio, it looked old and battered. Her brows were furrowed in confusion.
“Are you okay?” asked Kyra. Koemi looked up startled.
“Oh yeah, I was just looking at this, apparently they found me with it. I’m not quite sure why I had it. I can’t really remember, it just looks familiar.”
“Do you remember anything?”
Koemi shook her head. “Nothing, I mean sometimes I think I’m remembering something when a blurred picture hits me but I couldn’t tell you what it is about. I think it might be my friends, but then again it might not be.”
“Tell me about your friends. What were they like?”
She beamed a bright smile, “Well there was… No but then there was… Maybe it was… I know, Tross! He was always goofy like, sort of like annoying big brother. But I can’t remember the others maybe because I met them in those two years I don’t know…Can you tell me about your friends on Spira? Maybe it will help me if there is someone who is like one of your friends it might help me.”
Kyra’s face lit up, “Sure! Where do I even start? Yuki and Yuubou, Joseph, Mishka, Cyan, Gideon, Rhyse, Raine, Kai that little bugger. And Nikki. Oh, and Asuka! Yuki and Yuubou were twins. Probably has enough energy for the whole team twice over. Joseph was the samurai. He was like a brother to me more than anything. Got himself into trouble, then we’d go in and save him. Mishka was a Guado. Not sure how to explain species her here, but she was-”
“A fairy?”
“No, not a fairy. More like a forest dweller, but she was a warrior.”
“Wow!”
“Cyan was a stoic warrior too. She used a massive sword to protect everyone. Especially from some nasty cactuars. Gideon was the one with all the snide remarks, but he was a good fighter, too.”
“All these weapons sound old fashioned.”
“They were. Things were a little primitive there from what I saw. It was difficult to find a way to fix my gunblade at times.”
“I bet,” Koemi said nodding. “What about Asuka and Nikki?”
“Asuka was an 8 year old who saved my life on more than one occasion. She was a psychic.”
“A what? Did she like read your future?”
“Sort of. Since she was only 8 her powers were only still developing. I believe she was mostly wrong about the future, but I was say she’s more like a sorceress.”
“Wait… Isn’t that bad?”
“No. Not Asuka anyway. She was just an innocent child.”
Koemi raised her eyebrow at that. “Uh huh and I still think that power is bad no matter who wields it. But if she saved your life… Hmm.” Koemi went into a deep thought. “I guess it’s fine.”
“Sorceress here are under the influence of Ultimecia or Adel. There was nothing like that on Spira.”
“Okay, so… What about Nikki?”
Kyra’s heart skipped a beat every time her name was mentioned “Nikki was sort of our leader. She’d hate being called that though. She was amazing. Thoughtful. An ace with a bow. She… I…” Kyra cast her eyes down trying to hide the tears falling from her eyes.
Kyra felt Koemi shift closer and felt a pair of arms wrap around her. “It’s okay, was she like Aiko?” she whispered gently.
Kyra nodded. “To me….yes.” She said through her sobs.
“I’m sorry you came back, but don’t lose hope. We’ll get Ellone to find her.”
“That’s not possible..She’s on a whole different timeline… I only got there through time compression, and I was sent back by someone who is stronger than any sorceress I’ve ever seen!”
Koemi made a noise with her lips. “Pfft, we found you using Ellone a few days ago, I’m pretty sure Ellone would know where to look now since she’s done it once now.”
“Maybe.”
“And you know what, I bet that little girl that Ellone was talking to is searching for you right now, at this very minute, all Ellone needs to do is connect with her again.”
Kyra was starting to feel slightly better, “Do you know where Ellone is?”
“Balamb most likely, heard she was going to see Squall Leonhart, the big saviour, blah blah blah.”
“Really? His name makes me cringe. He did ‘save the world’ then?” Kyra said sarcastically. She really wasn’t a fan of Squall.
“Oh yes along with Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas. And you know what? I’m sick of seeing magazines plastered in articles about Rinoa and Squall’s relationship, it’s boring.”
“No kidding. Although, I suppose I should be thankful. Without time compression I wouldn’t have met everyone from Spira.”
“Yeah, We’ll make our own time compression and kidnap Nikki!”
“Yes! I’d really like that.” She smiled, still wondering if it was even possible. At this point, Kyra was beginning to think anything was possible. She was back home, afterall.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks