A petite, tan skinned, green eyed woman looked up at the sky. She inhaled the clean, crisp air and stretched her arms out. Her slim body sat in a large bed of sun kissed white tulips. The woman lay back and let her long eyelashes meet. Her soft voice spoke. "So this is what it's like huh? I imagined it to be peaceful...but not like this." She looked over at a short blonde haired woman, "Hey, I'm gonna sleep over here." The woman cocked her head confusingly, "How can you be tired in a place like this?" "I don't know. Somehow I feel if I go to sleep, I'll wake up and it'll all be over...we can have a second chance..."

'I can still remember the first time I met them. They were all so different. Each of them had a different personality. The determined fallen looking for a fresh start...the sedate outcast thinking of nothing but protecting his lord...the jovial foreigner just looking for a way back home. Hell, even I was different...actually I was very different...the apathetic delinquent seeking a purpose. I didn't know it at the time, but our meeting was a blessing. In fact, it changed the course of my entire life. This was no coincidence...it was fate.'

"Venus! Room's 3 and 4 need to be cleaned so do it now!" A short slender woman stood up from her seat. She had long light brown hair. Her eyes were a medium green, and she had a series of earrings in her left ear. She wore a long sleeved cropped shirt and high split long skirt with short boots. The woman sighed, "Oh whatever. How much longer do I gotta work here anyway?" The older man yelled at her, "I'll let you know when your debt is repaid! For now, grab that broom and get to cleaning!" Venus rolled her eyes and just as she was making her way to the back, she heard screams coming from outside the inn. A frightened woman came running in, "A fiend! It's trying to eat the chocobos!" The older man walked over to the short woman, "Alright, change of plans. I'll take care of the rooms. You go protect the chocobos." She growled, "Make up your mind old timer! And why do I have to help the chocobos? I might break a nail." He pushed the girl out the door and she grabbed a large alchemist gun on the side of the entrance.

"Alright boy, no more eating the birdies...Hmm, let's see what kind of ammo I can mix up today." She reached in her tan satchel, "Only one grenade huh? Whelp, it'll have to do." She dismembered the bomb and put the mixture inside of the gun. "Alrighty then. Bye bye fiend!" She pointed the gun at the monster and put her finger on the trigger. As she pulled back, a hand reached on the gun, and made her fire at a wall of snow in the distance. "Don't!" The woman angrily looked back at the person, "Who do you think you are? That was my only shot! The chocobos are gonna die now 'cause of you!" The man was a taller pale skinned blue eyed man. He wore shrouding red and purple clothes with a long headpiece wrapped around his head. He shook his head, "No. If you fired that, the chocobos would have died, and so would you. The blast radius of your weapon is too high. You see the mess it made out of that walldon't you?" She looked over and saw the large melted hole in the distanced snow. Her eyes turned to two other men advancing toward the fiend and beginning to subdue it. The woman pointed at the man, "You didn't answer my question...who are you?" The man bowed before her, "My name is Braska, and I apologize for upsetting you, but the situation just seemed dangerous."

One of the men looked back at the two and laughed. He was a tan shirtless man with a large tattoo on his chest. "Hey Braska, we're kicking its ass! You want in on this?" The man shook his head, "You're doing fine Jecht." The taller man looked back down at the woman, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." He extended a friendly hand and she just stared at it. "What are you doing? I'm not touching you, I don't even know you." He chuckled politely, "I see. Well listen, my guardians and I have had a rough day and we'd like to stay in some of the rooms here."

Venus shrugged, "You sure? I'm gonna be completely honest with you. The rooms are small, the service is poor, and if they dare make me cook your food I wouldn't eat it if I were you." She smiled a cheeky smile as she broke down the dynamics of the inn. Before the man could respond, Jecht ran to the two, "Braska! Auron ain't doing so well. The fiend got him good!" The high summoner looked at the girl, "Hold that thought." He ran to his friend and Venus came as well. The man grunted from the pain, "Jecht, you mess around too much." Braska looked at the man, "What happened?" "Jecht kept toying with the thing and it got enraged." Venus looked at the man, "Let me see your injury." He moved his hand and she sighed, "I can't see it through your shirt, take off your shirt."

She rolled her eyes, "I gotta do everything? Forget it, I don't need to see…though it would have helped. I can get that fixed up in no time." She looked back into her satchel and grabbed a couple items. "Here, drink this and you'll be good. I can't have people dying on the property or the owners will fine me for that too." The woman went back inside and set her gun at the door. She sighed, "Dammit! I just gave that guy my last elixirs! Ughhh! I could have used that!" She sat on an old wooden chair and exhaled, "I need a break." She looked over as she saw the inn door open. It was Braska. He looked around until his eyes met with the woman's. "Yes?" She raised her eyebrows. He bowed at the woman, "We would like a room please. Three of them." The older man came from the back rooms, "Oh, Lord Braska! Venus, why didn't you tell me we had such a magnificent guest? My Lord, please tell me why you have graced my inn with your presence?"

He smiled, "Well, I'm getting ready to start my pilgrimage. Right now we're on our way to the temple in Macalania and I'd like to rest first before we get there." The man nodded, "No problem my lord. Please, have the deluxe rooms. It's on the house." "Thank you sir." The three men made their way to the back, and the old man looked at Venus. "Why are you sitting? There is still work to be done out back!" She rolled her eyes and made her way to the back of the inn. "I hate this damn place!" She walked over to a large wagon and began to fix it up. "So your name is Venus?" She turned around and it was Braska. The man smiled, "It's a very lovely name." The woman sighed, "Thanks. I'm sure you didn't come out here to compliment me." She dropped her tools and turned completely toward the man. "What's your play Braska?" He chuckled at her words, "Am I that obvious? Well I wanted to thank you for healing Auron. He's feeling a lot better already. Your talent with mixing is extraordinary. I think you would be a great asset. Lady Venus, I ask that you join me on my pilgrimage and become my guardian."

She leaned up against the wagon and began to laugh, "A guardian, me? You're barking up the wrong tree. If you hadn't noticed, I don't really like working at this place. I'm not here on my own accord. I owe this inn an outstanding debt, and they aren't going to let me go until I'm done paying them off." She widened her eyes and pointed at them, "Besides, look in my eyes. Lyh oui hud caa E ys Ym Prat? (Can you not see I am Al Bhed) Ain't it against the teachings for my kind to be a guardian?" "I have nothing against the Al Bhed. In fact, I married one...as for your debt, come with me."

He dragged the girl back into the inn, and bowed before the old man. "Excuse me, how much will it cost to free this woman from her debt?" The man frowned, "Lord Braska, you don't want pay her off, do you? This woman is a common thief." He shrugged, "I don't care. I will pay whatever it is as long as she can leave with us tomorrow morning." Venus put her hands on her hips, "Don't I get a say in this? I kinda want to be in control over my own destiny." The old man scoffed, "You lost control over your destiny when you-" "Okay! Okay! I get it, we don't have to talk about this!"

Braska took out a small bag from his sleeve, "How much do I owe you?" The old man smiled, "For you Lord Braska, I will give you a discount...she still owes 250,000 gil, but you will only have to pay half." The woman sighed loudly, "I feel like an object. I'm going outside!" She walked out and sat on a small mound of snow as shelooked out at the fading sky. She pulled a sphere out of her satchel and started recording...

"I think today is the first day of the of the end of my life. A summoner named Braska has just recruited me as his guardian today. I had absolutely no say in it. He just paid off my debt, and now I have to follow him to the end of Spira. Now that I say it out loud, it doesn't really seem so bad. I guess it'll be like one long vacation. It's gonna be kind of weird though. I'm gonna be the only girl traveling around with three guys. So far I don't know how to feel about Braska. He's very persistent...I guess it's kind of endearing. The other guy's name is like Jet or Jecht or something. I don't really remember. And the last one is Auron. I don't have anything to say about those two. We haven't formally met yet...I just wonder if they'll like me though...Uhhhh Fryd ys E cyoehk!? (What am I saying!?) I'm done with this sphere."

She turned off the sphere and looked back at the setting sun. "I can't believe I finally get to leave this inn. It's been 2 years since my debt has started and I'm ready to see the world now." A smile cracked on her face and it soon faded as an upset voice sounded behind her. "Lord Braska paid for your freedom with a large fraction of his travel money. Don't ever take that in vain. I don't agree to you traveling with us. You're a delinquent, and I will keep an eye on you." The woman chuckled at the man's words. She stood up and put her hand on his stomach. "Now, now. Is that any way to thank the woman who healed your injuries?" He moved her hand away and looked deep into her swirled eyes, "Don't you get any ideas. I'm gonna watch you this whole way. My lord see's something in you for whatever reason. We are making it to the end with or without you. Be ready in the morning. We set out at dawn."

He began to walk away and the woman was literally fuming with anger. "How dare he think he can talk to me like that." She clenched her fist and looked around on the ground for something, anything." She found a small rock and threw it at the back of the man's head. She quickly turned around and looked back at the sky. She began to suspiciously whistle as if she hadn't done anything. She picked up the sphere again and turned it on. "And screw Auron!" She turned it back off and put it back in her satchel. "Ugh, this really is the beginning of the end isn't it?"