Title: The Key of Dreams

Author: Elisiss Aurora

    "Where are we?" Gippal asked. "How am I supposed to know?" Nooj asked. "It's the Farplane Glen, "I said. I looked at them, my new guardians. Gippal grinned, "Well that takes care of that."

"Elisiss, can I ask u something?" Nooj said, turning to me. I nodded. "How do you know Tidus, Shuyin, & Lenne?" I stopped in my tracks. My heart sank. I knew they would ask me eventually. "When I was little, I lived in a place far away from Spira. I was the heir to the throne in that land but I was too young to be the ruler. So when the temporary King died, an evil man came to take the land for himself. My guardian, Auron, immediately took me away. We rode for days until we came to Zanarkand. When we arrived & were going down the street, a ball rolled over to me. A boy came over to me & asked me if he could have his Blitzball back. He found out I didn’t know what Blitzball was & immediately took it upon himself to teach me. That was Tidus. I eventually met his twin brother, Shuyin & their other friend Lenne. We grew up together as very best friends. But when news that the monster Sin was heading towards us, they called all the summoners up to fight it. Shuyin hated the thought of the two of us putting our lives in danger for the scum of Zanarkand. He went to try & get Vegnagun. Lenne found out & went alone to stop him. As you know, they were found & killed. Tidus & I were barely able to hold onto our sanity. Anyways, when Sin knocked him into the portal, I fell with him. But when I woke up, I was alone here in the Farplane.”

Gippal & Nooj just looked at me. I stared at the ground. Nooj turned around & continued walking. I expected Gippal to follow him. But he walked over to me & put a hand on my shoulder, “You ok?” I felt a tear run down my cheek. I wanted to just walk on like I was fine but I couldn’t. Instead of walking towards Nooj, I threw my arms around Gippal. I laid my head against his chest, tears cascading down my face. “The three of them were the closest thing to family I had. Now they’re all gone. It’s not fair!” I said as he put his arms around my back.  “Shh…it’s ok. Just cry it out,” he said softly. Nooj looked at me with what could be interpreted as sympathy.

I was fine after a minute. I kept on walking, my eyes dry. Gippal occasionally looked back at me, a worried look in his eyes. He looked at me again for the thousandth time. I looked away. I clenched my right hand & placed it over my heart. I longed for him to hold me again. It felt so good to have his arms around me. “What am I doing?” I asked myself. “Betraying Baralai,” a voice in the back of my head answered. It was true. I had promised myself to Baralai. “But that was before I met Gippal,” I reasoned with myself.

“Elisiss?” I looked up at the sound of Nooj’s voice. I stared in amazement at the large stone door. It was covered in ancient Al Bhed writing. “Elisiss, you’re a Celestial Al Bhed. What does it say?” Gippal asked me. I walked slowly up to it & ran over the carved words with my fingers. “Behind this gateway lies the Land of Cherry Blossoms. Let only the Key of Dreams reveal the way to this wondrous realm & blanket the world in the glow of beauty,” I said in amazement. Gippal crossed his arms, “What in the world is the Key of…” The sound of footsteps drew near us. Gippal & Nooj stepped in front of me. More than a hundred fiends came into the room. The two men began fighting them as I was forced to uselessly stand behind them. I couldn’t fight without my cards.

Suddenly, Baralai came in with a group of men holding guns. “Kill the men. But, shoot the girl & I’ll slaughter you!” he said. I screamed as the bang of bullets came that way. Nooj immediately fell to the ground in a pool of blood. But Gippal staggered back for a second before falling. I got immediately to my knees & laid his head in my lap. I began crying again & I saw he was too. He reached weakly up & wiped the tears from my face. I grabbed his hand & held it to my cheek. “You can’t die like this! You just can’t!” I said hysterically. He grinned, “It’s ok. I don’t care what happens to me now. I’m just glad I was able to protect you for the last few months. After all, you mean more to me than my life ever did.” His grin faded & his eyes closed. I was left there, helplessly holding his cold, lifeless body in my arms.

Baralai walked up & grabbed the collar of his shirt. He threw him to the side & grabbed me by the arm to pull me to my feet. I collapsed with my weak legs beneath me. He pulled me up again & held me up. “How could you do that?!?” I screamed at him. “I didn’t plan on losing you to the likes of him & now I’m not going to,” he said cruelly. So when I felt like nothing else could be worse, I let out a long, shrill scream. The ground immediately began quaking beneath me. The walls & ceiling began crumbling. The sphere in the center of the stone door let out beams of light that cut through everything. Before I knew it, Baralai & I were the only things left standing. The door slowly creaked open to reveal a dark, black space with nothing but a cherry blossom tree & a field of lunar flowers & black petaled roses. It was then I remembered my true identity. The Princess of light, created by the faith to deliver Spira from it’s pain. I was the Key of Dreams.