Better To Have Loved and Lost

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee and Final Fantasy X

Authors Note: This story is based very closely on the storyline of Final Fantasy X a JRPG.

Pairing: Rachel/Quinn

Rating: M

Chapter One

Sin

The stars sprinkled the black sky, below them lies a beautiful city with towering buildings with bright lights and electronic billboards and television screens all over their exterior walls. Cars fly through the air, and people roam the high roads. In the center of the large city there is a group that is gathering by a houseboat, waiting for someone to come out. They are all cheering and screaming her name, holding up signs, and blitzballs, and carrying cameras in order to take pictures with and of her.

Suddenly the large electronic doors parted and a young brunette stepped out onto the stairway. She had dark hair that flowed down her back, bangs that cut across her forehead, large brown eyes that were hidden behind remarkably long eyelashes, beautiful naturally tan skin, full lips, and a small body type. She was beautiful. Dressed up in popular attire for the time period.

She had on a leather-like material, the shirt was long and went nearly down to her knees, zipping up in the center and just covering her shoulders. She had on a large belt around her tiny waist, and pants that one leg was short and ended above her knee and the other went just below her knee. Along with this she was wearing boots.

A woman ran up to the brunette as she made her way confidently down the stairs. "I've been a big fan of yours from the very beginning!" She shouted out.

The brunette grinned, wide lips spreading from one ear to the other as she heard this. She loved the praise, she lived for the praise actually, she was a star and that was all that she had ever longed to be. "I am grateful for your support and I do not intend to let you down."

"Thanks." The woman said.

Another shouted out. "Good luck!"

"Can I have your autograph?" A woman asked, holding up the blitzball that she was carrying and a marker for the brunette to sign it with.

"Most definitely." She said and with that, she took the marker and signed on the ball 'Rachel Berry' before pulling out a roll of stickers and adding a small gold star beside her name. It was her trademark. She was a brighter star than all of the beautiful stars glowing in the sky that night.

"Thank you so much! Good luck tonight!"

Rachel smiled and continued talking to the fans, posing for the pictures making sure to show them her over the shoulder pose, and signing the autographs, until her manager came in and told her that the game was about to begin and to hurry up and meet her in the locker room.

She told her fans that she had to go and flashed them one last smile before making her way down the empty street toward the game. On the way, she looked up and saw a large screen that was flashing images of a man she recognized, her father, Hiram. Rachel rolled her large brown eyes at him and ran hastily down the street.

She could hear the announcer from the sports dome speaking over the intercom as she approached. "I was in a coffee shop, running away from home when I heard the news. Our hero, Hiram Berry, gone. Vanished into thin air! My dad must have been his biggest fan. I knew how sad he'd be. Heck we all were that day. I went running straight back home. We sat up talking about Hiram all night. My dad and I never talked so much. Anyway, Ten years later, the Hiram memorial Cup tournament is today! In just one year, she's become the number one player of her team. She's Hiram's blood, and the new hop for blitzball!"

As Rachel arrived at the stadium, a mob of people crowded around her once more. "Coming through, coming through, I am going to be late!" She told them, still putting on her show smile and being polite as she tried to break the sea of people.

O

The roof of the stadium retracts and the game starts up. The crowd roars for Rachel who is easily outmatching everyone. She never was an underachiever. Rachel finds the ball and gets ready to score a goal, but as she did a flip through the air and aimed to kick the ball, her brown eyes widened as she watched missiles coming straight for the city and straight for her. She watched as the buildings combusted in flames and fell from the high streets right before her eyes. She watched as a man in red with curly brown hair, stared out at a giant monster from a tower, and then she fell to the ground.

It took her a moment to gather her senses as her eyes fluttered open, she could hear people's feet on the pavement and screams, and she quickly recalled all that had happened. Pushing herself to her feet she looked around the stadium, before making her way to the exit. In front of the stadium stood the man she had seen previously.

He had long curly brown hair and a charming smile; he was wearing a red trench coat that went down to his knees, black pants, and black boots. Rachel recognized him and ran up to him. "Jesse! What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you." He said.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion at his statement and her mouth fell open before closing again. "What are you talking about, Jessie?"

"It begins." Suddenly everyone who was running around the two of them froze in place and Rachel looked around frantically. "Don't cry." Time started up again and the street went chaotic with people running and screaming in fear. Rachel was extremely confused.

"Wait, what was that? What is going on? Hey, wait for me!" She shouted running after Jesse who was actually walking toward the large monster. "You are going the wrong way!"

"Look, Rach." He nodded toward the creature that was now flying through the air. "We call it 'sin'."

"Sin?"

A building façade exploded as a monster tentacle ripped out of it. It shot tiny scales onto the highway, which turned into smaller mobile monsters. Rachel tried to fend them off with her bare hands, but she was doing little damage. Jesse laughed at his friend before pulling out a sword and handing it to the small brunette. It was nearly as tall as her and she struggled to hold it for a moment. "A gift from Hiram."

"My father?"

Jesse nodded and wielded his own sword. "I hope that you remember how to use it."

It took Rachel a moment to get used to using her sword but after killing a few of the monsters she started to get the hang of it, and the two of them easily moved through the enemies along the highway. At the top of the street was a large tentacle-like monster embedded into the ground, waving it's tentacles around and sending out scales that turned into smaller monsters. It was disgusting.

They readied to battle the creature.

O

"Come on Jesse, we have to get out of here, it isn't safe!" The small diva shouted out to her friend who was still going closer to the being that he had entitled 'sin'.

"We are expected." He responded, running his free hand through his curls and looking up into the sky.

"Are you kidding me, this thing is going to kill us if we get any closer!"

"Just trust me."

She knew that she could trust him, even if he had betrayed her in the past and so she did as she was told and followed the young man. The two ran along the collapsing highway, Jessie making it to the other side easily.

Rachel was not quite as lucky and she tripped as the high rode crumbled beneath her feet, she held onto the ledge with her small hands, just barely capable of holding on. The large creature in the sky hovered overhead, sucking in debris and pieces of the highway that seemed to easily levitate up toward it. "Jesse! Jesse help me!"

He looked up to the monster, curls whipping around his face as he seemed to speak to the monster. "You are sure?" After a moment he looked back down at Rachel who was still holding on for her dear life, large brown eyes filled with terror. "This is it. This is your story. It all begins here."

A flash of light blinded Rachel and she screamed out. No longer able to hold on, her finger slipped and she plummeted toward the ground below. Her eyes were closed tightly and she continued to scream, waiting for her inevitable death to come. But, it never came. When she opened her eyes she realized that she was underwater, looking around and breathing easily. In the distance she could hear her father's voice.

"Hey!"

"Father?" Rachel spoke up; surprised that she could speak despite being underwater. Her lungs were not filling. She swam down to the stadium, where she believed that she could see Hiram, but as she reaches the stadium she was met with a young version of herself. Dressed in a red sweater and a skirt with a headband, she wondered momentarily if she were dead.

'Where am I…?' She wondered to herself as she started to feel light-headed and then sleepy.

O

Rachel woke up on a small island near the exterior of an old temple that has fallen into ruins. The brick walls falling to pieces and corroded. She forced herself to her feet, realizing that her pants had been tattered along the edges, but she knew that was not important currently. What was important was finding out what happened to the city, to her friends, her family, her life. "Anybody out there? Jesse!"

There was no response aside from her echo which yelled back at her. Tugging her full bottom lip between her teeth she looked around at her surroundings, noticing that the temple opened up. So, she slowly and cautiously walked toward the temple's middle section, but as she approached, the walkway caved in and she tumbled back into the water.

Looking through the water she could see a strange door and she dived under the surface making her way into an underwater corridor.

Inside of the temple was even more terrifying. "It looks like I made it out of the frying pan and directly into the freezer." Rachel truly believed that she was going to die as she walked around the temple, looking for any source of heat as she ran her hands over her freezing arms. She could see her breath, and could feel goose bumps along her tan skin.

After wandering around for a while, Rachel found a room that was intact with a bunch of large hideous statues. The roof was open and there was water falling inside, it was still freezing.

"It is so cold in here; I need to find a source of heat." She muttered out, voice shaking as she searched around the temple. Finally she found a withered bouquet and a piece of flint and was able to start a small fire that she sat down in front of and used to warm her hands.

Rachel's eyes closed and she started to fall asleep beside the warm fire that had nearly died out. She opened her eyes and silently pleaded with the fire to not go out, but it was to no avail and she sat up looking around for anything she could add to the fire. Suddenly, something moved out of the corner of her eye and she glanced up seeing one of the statues staring down at her, moving toward her.

Just as the monster jumped down in front of the small brunette and she screamed out covering her face, the door blew off and strange people made their way into the temple wielding strange weapons. A tall blonde woman who was wearing a mask and swimming gear stepped forward and fought off the demon while the other armed men watched.

The monster fell to the ground dead, but that was not the end of it, the strange men stepped forward one grabbing ahold of Rachel by her long dark hair.

"Ow!" She screamed out in pain. "Let me go this instant!"

One of them spoke up, but Rachel could not understand them. "Fryd ec drec?" (What is this?)

"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca!" (A fiend! In human disguise!)

"Oac! Ed ec cu!" (Yes! It is so!)

"Fa gem med?" (We kill it?)

"Fyed! Fryd eve d ec risyh?" (Wait! What if it is human?)

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." (They are the same in death.)

The blonde woman turned around, her blue eyes connecting with Rachel's brown as she thought over the situation. The petite brunette was writhing around, attempting to escape but having no luck; she did not seem like a threat. "E yunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic!" (I forbid it! We bring it with us!)

She approached Rachel, slowly and hesitantly. "Cunno." (Sorry.)

Rachel's face contorted in confusion as her eyebrows knit together and her full lips parted, she had no idea what the other woman had said, and she did not have a chance to dwell on it for long, because in a moment all that she saw was darkness.

O

Rachel's eyes fluttered open and she groaned out softly in pain, her head was throbbing. She looked around to see where she was located and quickly realized that she was on a ship, lying face down on the deck, surrounded by a few armed guards who turned to look down at her. She attempted to stand to her feet only to be shouted at.

"Ced, lybdeja!" (Sit, captive!)

The soldier slammed the butt of his weapon into her head and she screamed out in pain, falling back onto her backside. "Hey, that hurts!"

"Hu sujehk, rayn?" (No moving, hear?)

Rachel could not comprehend what they were saying but their body language was enough to understand that they did not want her to stand up or confront them, so she nodded her head and remained still. Wondering what it was that they wanted with her, wondering where she was, and wondering what happened to her home.

"Caynir res!" (Search her!)

"Tu oui hud cbayq?" (Do you not speak?)

"I apologize, but I do not understand the language that you are speaking." She tried.

"Ehcumahla!" (Insolence!)

The tall blonde masked woman jumped in front of the armed man who looked like he was preparing to strike the small diva again. "Fyed!" (Stop!) Looking down to Rachel, she spoke in English which astonished the other woman. "He said you can stay if you make yourself useful."

"You understand me?" Rachel asked. She nodded her head in answer and the star recalled what she had said. "Alright, I am fully capable of working."

"Good. We found some ruins right beneath us. We're going down there to see if we can get inside and get the big prize. Okay. We need your help, so let's get to work." The woman spoke in an almost monotone voice, but she was obviously excited about the adventure.

"Alright, I will help in any way that I am capable."

O

They had completed the mission successfully, and collected the "big prize" as the blonde would call it, now they were back on board. Rachel was trying to decipher their language but it did not seem to make much sense.

"Fa yuiht dra airship!" (We found the airship!)

"Dra naluntc fana nekrd." (The records were right.)

"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib?" (Now, how to drag it up?)

Rachel started to drown out their conversation, giving up on trying to understand what they were saying as her stomach grumbled and ached. Needing to be fed. "Goodness, I am so hungry. What I would not give for some vegan—"

Just then her thoughts were cut off as the blonde girl reappeared, bearing a tray of food.

Brown eyes widened and Rachel sat up, excited smile on her face as her stomach growled once more in anticipation. "Thank you so much, I was terrified that I was going to starve to death!" She announced reaching out and eating the food quickly, so quickly in fact that she started to choke on some of it. Finally she swallowed it down and blushed a little as the blonde woman cocked her head inspecting her closely.

"It's 'cause you eat too fast."

Rachel looked up into blue eyes. "What is your name?" She wondered curiously.

"Brittany."

"So, you truly do understand what I am saying then, Brittany?" She laughed softly. "Why did you not say something earlier?"

"I didn't really get a chance to; everyone thought you were a fiend."

Rachel stared at the blonde for a moment, blinking a few times. She could understand how they could have been scared of her, but honestly, she was almost certain she had been more scared of them. "Well, I am certainly not a fiend, I promise you that. Who are you guys, anyway?"

"We're Al Bhed." Brittany said with a shrug of her shoulders, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Can't you tell? Wait! You aren't an Al Bhed hater, are you?"

"I am unaware of what an Al Bhed is so it seems absurd that I would hate it."

Brittany looked dumbfounded. "Where are you from exactly?"

"Zanarkand." Rachel answered easily. "I am a famous blitzball player, the star player of my team back home." She spoke with confidence and a raised chin, her pride something that she loved to indulge in.

"Did you like hit your head when we brought you here?"

"Well, one of your men did actually hit me, but—"

"—Sorry 'bout that, but do you remember anything before that?"

Rachel told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand. About life there, blitzball, and of course Sin's attack, and also about how Jesse one of her closest friends and herself had been engulfed in this light. She didn't really think through what she was saying, she just rambled on and on, but then she grew curious.

"Did I say something strange?"

"No. Now that I know you were near Sin I understand. Don't worry, you'll be feeling better in no time." Brittany said with a smile. "They say your head gets funny when Sin is around, maybe you just had some kind of dream?"

"Wait? Are you trying to tell me that all of that was a dream, that I am ill?"

"Yeah, 'cause of Sin's toxins."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked her eyebrows furrowing together as she thought it over. "I am fairly certain that that is what happened, it did not feel like an illusion at all."

"Well, it musta been, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So, no one plays blitzball there anymore."

Rachel stood up at this and started to pace, placing her hands on her head as she tried to understand what was going on, but how could she? How could her home be gone? Had she gone to the future? Had she never lived in Zanarkand? Maybe her quest for stardom had caused her to delude herself to the reality? "What do you mean, a thousand years go? I just witnessed Sin attack Zanarkand! You are informing me that did not just happen, but it happened a thousand years ago?"

Brittany nodded.

"There is no way."

"You said you play blitzball?" She asked absentmindedly, ignoring Rachel's panic. "You should like go to Luca; someone there might know who you are. If you really are famous they might recognize you."

"Luca?" Rachel questioned, never having heard of it.

"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise! Wait here." Brittany stood to her feet, fluidly before turning to add. "Oh, and please just don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone." With that she skipped off leaving the petite diva to her thoughts.

Zanarkand was the least religious place that she had ever visited; the streets were lined with drug-addicts, thugs, and people selling their bodies for money. The only reason that anyone ever visited or moved there, was if they were hoping to make it somewhere in show business, if they were going to be a star. Rachel was confused; she had thought that Sin had simply taken her to some faraway place, that she would be capable of returning home in a few days. But a thousand years into the future?

Rachel stopped her pacing in order to kick one of the crates on board, just as her foot connected with the box, the entire ship started to rumble beneath her. She rolled across the deck into the railing, holding on tightly. She could see a large monster in the water and her brown eyes widened.

The armed men ran out on deck. "Sin!" One shouted.

"Sin ec lusa!"

"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!"

O

When Rachel woke up she felt water surrounding her body, she was floating. Brown eyes opened and she stared up into the bright sun. Quickly she realized that she was floating around in what seemed to be an ocean or large body of water. "What, where am I? Brittany!" She shouted out, trying to find the blonde. "Brittany!"

There was a thud sound and then a throbbing pain in her head, she turned to see what had hit her and realized that it was a blitzball. "A blitzball?" She wondered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched the blue and white ball floating in the water, rising with the waves.

"Dude, you okay?" A voice called to her from the shore. She cast her gaze to the man and saw that he was a young man with blonde shaggy hair, bright green eyes, and a dorky full-lipped smile. He had on a headband and was shirtless, showcasing his perfectly toned body. He was also wearing some strange yellow pants that looked different than what they wore where she came from, and some sandals. 'Wait… did he just call me dude? Is he not aware that I am a woman?'

Rachel ignored him for a moment as she refocused her brown eyes on the blitzball. Counting to ten she jumped up out of the water and did a flip, kicking the ball with her foot and sending it flying back toward the beach. She heard the blonde man shout out in congratulations.

Smiling proudly, she turned and started to swim toward the beach in order to speak with the mystery man and find out where she was located, and what had happened with Brittany and her followers.

Approaching the beach the blonde grinned. "Hey, you wanna try that move one more time?" He lifted up the ball and handed it back to Rachel who took it and easily replicated the move, perfectly. She made sure that she always did everything she attempted perfectly.

"Damn, good job! You're no amateur, who you play for?"

"The Zanarkand Abes." She told him, excitedly. Things were finally looking up.

"What team did you say again?" He asked.

Rachel abruptly recalled being told by Brittany not to tell anyone where she was from, the last thing that she needed was to start some conspiracy. "I mean—forget that." She said laughing uncomfortably as she pushed her wet bangs out of her face and tried to think up an answer. "I actually got too close to Sin and my head seems to have gotten confused, so I am unsure where I am currently located or even where it is that I came from."

His bright green eyes widened in understanding and a smile formed on his face as he wrapped an arm around her small shoulders. "Sin's toxins got to you eh?"

Rachel nodded.

"Well at least you're still alive. Praise be to Yevon!" Again that strange name was mentioned and Rachel wondered what 'Yevon' was, it sounded like some form of God. "Well, I'm Sam Evans, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs. Dude, you must be starving, come on let's get back to the village! I'll get you somethin' to munch on."

Rachel felt that she could trust this Sam, so as he led her toward the village she decided to ask him about what had happened in Zanarkand. "It is true that Zanarkand was destroyed, correct? A thousand years prior to now?"

Sam looked down at her and nodded his head.

"In that case, what has become of it? Is it just a pile of ruins now?"

"Well, it's said that a long time ago, there were a whole lotta cities in Spira. Big cities with machina machines to run 'em. People played all day and let the machines do all the work. And then, well, take a look. Sin came, and destroyed the machina cities and Zanarkand along with 'em. Yeah, that was about a thousand years ago, just like you said. If you ask me, Sin's our punishment for letting things get outta hand. What gets me, though, is that we gotta suffer, 'cause of what some people did way back then! "Course, we must always repent for our sins! It's just hard to keep at it sometimes, you know?"

Rachel felt her heart clench and her stomach twist in knots at his words, they were similar to Brittany's and that only solidified them in the star's mind. She was definitely no longer in her time, why would they both lie to her?

"But you—" He paused nudging her side with his own and laughing. "From the Zanarkand Abes—that was a good one!"

She looked up at him with a hurt expression.

"Hey, I'm not saying the team never existed, dude, but you gotta figure a team livin' in luxury like that'd be pretty soft, eh?"

Rachel appreciated the fact that Sam was trying to cheer her up, but all that she could think about was everything that had happened to her. She had come to the conclusion that it all began when she ran into Sin and that if she could find Sin again than she would be able to return home. For now though she had little choice in the matter and Rachel knew she would have to live in the current time, not worry about where or when. It was hard not to think of home, but she had started to feel a little better now.

They walked in silence along the cliffs for a moment and then Sam spoke up again, he did not seem to enjoy silence. Usually Rachel was the one who would talk so much that people would grow annoyed with her, but currently she was lost in her thoughts.

"Hey, I got a favor to ask ya."

"You wish for me to join your blitz team, correct?" She questioned.

"Well, we got a major blitz tournament coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there! It's like so huge man, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right? It'll be fun! What do you say?"

Rachel tugged her full bottom lip between her teeth as she thought it over, logically it made sense. Even illogically it made sense, because if she could not find her way home it would be a fun experience and give her a place in this new world doing something that she loved, perhaps she could become a star player? She would be the first star player to be famous in two time periods. The thought made her laugh a little.

"Alright, I suppose that I will join your team." She smiled.

"Dude! Our team is gonna rock!" Sam shouted out excitedly.

O

The two came to a cliff that rose up over a small village. It was nothing fancy, nothing like Zanarkand; there were no machines only temples and tents.

"This is where I was born." Sam announced, nodding toward the village below. "I started blitz when I was five. I joined the Aurochas at thirteen, ten years ago. Ten years and we never won a game. Well, after last year's tournament I quit. The time seemed right. After quitting I got a new job, but every time my mind wandered, I thought about the game." With that he paused and started down the path of rocks, jumping from one to the other.

Rachel watched the blonde make his way down the path and she followed closely behind, doing exactly as he did. "Ten years without a single win? I can completely understand why you would quit." She muttered out honestly, her record was perfect, of course.

"Yeah, my first match last year was like my big chance, you know? But something else was on my mind and I couldn't focus."

"Sounds like an excuse to me. A good player should have the ability to turn off their mind and focus completely on the game during a performance."

"Dude, that's not cool!"

"Will you please stop addressing me as a dude? I am a female."

Sam laughed at her diva-like personality and shook his head, jumping down to the next rock. "Wow, you actually do sound like you're from Zanarkand, used to having everything you ask done for you or something?"

"I prefer to call it respect, and I would appreciate it if you would respect me enough to do so. Alright, so this is what I gather, you want to win the next tournament in order to go out with a bang, so to speak?"

"Yeah, I don't care how we do though, just as long as we play our best. If we give it our all, I can walk away happy." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"No, I will never play with someone who thinks like that." Rachel informed, jumping to the next rock. "If I ask you what our goal is your only response should always be victory, when you do anything you should do it to your best ability, you should always do whatever it takes in order to win."

"Victory? You serious?" He asked, green eyes focused on intense brown. The small girl was almost comical with how she showed her emotions, they seemed so powerful.

They continued walking toward the village when a blonde man who looked a lot like Sam called out to them, a shorter man with him. "Ah, the one from the sea!"

The other man spoke. "Be on guard. There're fiends on the road today!"

"After surviving your run-in with Sin, 'twould be a shame if something happened now." With that the men left, Rachel looked after them curious as to how they already were aware of what had happened with her. Had others been on the beach with them? She had not noticed anyone.

"Who were those two?" She wondered.

"Oh, just some crusaders."

"Crusaders?"

"What, you forgot that, too? Don't worry about it, I'll help you out."

"Thank you." She smiled brightly at him. "In return, come tournament time I will make sure that we take the cup."

"Awesome. And you can talk to the crusaders yourself if you want. They've got a lodge in the village."

O

Rachel had wandered around the village for some time, talking with people and exploring all of the buildings and shops. It was strange that she came from the past and yet the future was so less developed. When she was young they had all joked around about how in twenty years technology would advance, how one day they would all be flying around without vehicles at all, and yet the future did not even have cars.

Somehow it had retained blitzball and religion.

She was currently looking up at the largest building in the village; it was a brick temple that towered over her head. It was a beautiful structure and most definitely a religious facility, perhaps like the churches who worshiped God in her time. Rachel climbed the stairs into the temple and she could see people kneeling down on risers in front of statues, she did not recognize the characters though.

It was then, standing in this place that she started to realize just how different this world was in comparison to her own.

Slowly and quietly Rachel walked toward one of the towering statues. She had this feeling that she should remain silent and respect the people paying dues to their gods. The statue was of a man carrying a staff.

"Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became high summoner, and finally we receive a statue for our temple." A voice said behind her. Rachel snapped her head in the direction of the sound, brown eyes wide as they came into contact with the green eyes of a young bald man. After close inspection she realized that he was dressed in monks' robes.

"What is a high summoner?" She asked, eyebrows knit together and full lips slightly pouting.

She could hear gasps come from all of the people who were currently in the temple and a light blush painted its way across her naturally tan cheeks and down over her neck and shoulders, apparently it was something she should have known.

Rachel hastily tried to cover her slip of the tongue. "I—I apologize, I got too close to Sin's toxins." It was funny for her to hear herself using the same excuse over and over. Funny, and a little sad.

The monk nodded his head in understanding. "The summoners are practitioners of a sacred art, sworn to protect the people of Yevon. Only a chosen few become summoners, who call forth entities of greater power: the aeons. The aeons hear our prayers and come down to us. They are the blessing of Yevon."

She assumed that his words meant that they were supposed to respect these great men who could use this power, almost as if they were gods themselves.

"Thank you for the explination."

O

'Rachel was ten years old. She had a bright full lipped smile, her ears stuck out of her brown hair, and her large brown eyes looked even larger on her tiny face. She was at her houseboat, and people had gathered around as usual. Her father was popular and there were always men and women at her household.

"It's been nearly a day already…" One of the men said.

"Perhaps you could go look for us." A woman said.

"People are searching for him now."

"Thank you…"

Rachel looked up at her other father and she clenched her hands at her sides, ruffling up her dress as she stomped her foot on the ground. "Who cares whether he comes back or not?"

"But he might die!"

"Fine, let him die!"

"Do you hate him so much Rachel? If he dies, you'll never be able to tell him how much you hate him…" Rachel turned her back to him and pouted even more as tears filled her large brown eyes and she sobbed silently.'

Rachel took in a breath as she sat up in the bed that Sam had provided for her in his tent, her chest was heaving and there was sweat coating her tan flesh as tears rolled down her face. She felt a mixture of complicated and confusing feelings brought on by the same dream she had been having since age ten. She was angry, terrified, sad, and relieved.

She sat up in the bed and looked around in the tent, realizing that Sam was nowhere to be found.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood to her feet and stretched out her body before heading out of the tent in search of the young blonde boy. She searched the majority of the town before again coming up to that tall temple. Rachel assumed that he was probably inside and so she headed up the stone steps and into the large doors.

Inside, the petite brunette found Sam talking with a monk.

She approached him. "Is there something the matter?"

He turned to look at her, running a hand through his shaggy blonde hair and nodding his head. "Yeah, the summoner hasn't returned from the trial." Rachel looked completely dumbfounded. She still did not comprehend what was going on in this time period with these summoners. "Well, apprentice summoner, really…"

When Rachel still appeared confused he laughed a little and decided to explain more in depth. "There's a room in there called the Cloister of Trials. Beyond is where the apprentice summoner prays. If the prayer is heard, the apprentice becomes a full-fledged summoner, remember now?"

The star tried her best to keep up with what he was saying. "So, you are telling me that someone is inside of there and they have yet to come back out? Got it."

"A day's already gone by." Sam said.

"Is it particularly dangerous in there?" Rachel asked, worry growing on her face.

"Well yeah, sometimes." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why do you not go inside and help them?"

"There are already guards in there, besides, it's forbidden."

"But what if the summoner dies?" Rachel was never the most rational thinker. If she saw something that she wanted she took it at whatever cost, even if it caused harm to others. When she was attracted to someone she announced that she would kiss them, and then she did it, without much thought or worry. Now was a similar case. She was worried, this person could have been murdered and they were just to stand by and watch them die? So, without thinking she rushed up the stairs toward the door at the top of them, pushing it open.

A monk shouted out at her. "The precepts must be obeyed!"

Rachel ignored his warnings and ran into the Cloister quickly. It took her a moment of running to run out of breath, because of the daily workout routine that she used to abide by before this chaos, but once she was worn out she slowed down and started to truly look around at the temple. It was terrifying and cold and she was starting to doubt her choice. "Perhaps this was not a good idea after all…"

"Hey!" She heard a shout from behind her and turned quickly to look at the origin of the voice, screaming out in surprise as her heart leapt in her chest. "What's gotten into you?" Sam asked as he approached her. "Only summoners, apprentice summoners, and their guardians can enter here, it's a tradition and it is very important."

Rachel cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her chin confidently. "So what about you, then?"

"Me? I'm a guardian!" He laughed, a dorky full-lipped smile spreading across his face.

"A guardian?"

"Yeah, come on, I'll show you the way and explain at the same time." With that he linked arms with the short woman and led the way through the temple. "Okay, so summoners go on a pilgrimage to pray at every temple in Spira. Guardians protect them. The guardians in there right now, one of 'em's got a short fuse, and who knows what the other is thinking. But, I guess that now that we've come this far we might as well go all the way!"

The two walked into a room, inside was a large cat-like creature that had spiked up his black main into a Mohawk and had his blue furry arms crossed over his chest, he was extremely tall and had a well-toned body as well as a broken horn in the center of his forehead. Next to him was a Latina woman who was dressed in all black, she had on a tight dress that showed off her cleavage and was made out of belts at the bottom that showed off her toned legs. She was gorgeous.

There was another set of stairs in the room that led up to another door at the top that was closed.

The woman approached the two of them, staring to Rachel before looking over at Sam with annoyance in her voice. "What the hell are you doin' here? Didn't think we'd be able to handle it without you?"

"No, it's uh—it's just…" Sam tried, but the Latina was intimidating. "See, I told you she gets mad easily."

Rachel ignored both of their petty comments and focused on what was the most important, at least to her. Looking directly into black eyes she asked her. "Is the summoner alright?"

"Who the hell is the dwarf?" She spat back.

Just then, their conversation was halted as the door at the top of the stairs opened up. A beautiful woman stepped out. Rachel noticed that she had gorgeous blonde hair and pale skin and that she was wearing a white and blue dress that fit her form perfectly. She did not have long to look her over though, as the blonde stumbled down the stairs, almost falling completely, but the large cat-like being quickly ran up the stairs catching her in his arms. Running faster than Rachel could ever dream.

The blonde forced herself into a standing position, obviously exhausted, and her hazel eyes connected with Rachel's large brown. She was stunned by how perfect they were, how perfect she was. "I have done it. I have become a summoner."

O

Authors Note

If you all enjoy reading this and want me to add the next chapter, leave me a review.

Thank you all for reading and for all of the support.