Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Life of Erin Tribal ❯ Chapter 34

The Life of Erin Tribal Chapter 34

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A/N: Long chapter alert! I helped my mom finish .hack//Mutation a little bit ago. It's weird now! I won't say what happened, except it's weird. (Maybe that's why they call it `Mutation' and the next one `Outbreak'. Hmm...)

Anyways, on with the story!

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"Wait a minute!" shouted a soldier.

"Yes?" Erin asked calmly.

"Emperor Gestahl asked me to give these to you," the soldier explained, handing them two items.

"A Tincture and a Charm Bangle. Thank you so much," Erin replied, putting the two items in her bag.

The soldier saluted and walked off. The group left Vector, and started heading for Albrook.

"Just like the old days," Erin stated, as she killed a monster.

"What do you mean?" Terra asked.

"When we were first heading for Figaro Castle, it was just us three," Erin explained, picking up her bag.

She pulled the one strap the bag had through her belt on the opposite side of her sword. `It should be easier to carry this way.'

"Hey, it's starting to get dark, and I see Albrook in the distance," Locke stated several hours and several fights later.

"Let's go then!" Erin yelled, and started running towards the town.

They made it to the town in less than a half an hour. They headed for the docks to find Leo already there on a boat, talking with a soldier.

"Ah yes, you're here. We will also be joined by another general and a man I hired in town here," Leo explained, just as the two people walked on.

"Mom!" Erin exclaimed, suddenly joyed at the sight of Celes.

Celes just looked at Erin and nodded her head. Terra walked over to her.

"Celes."

Again, Celes didn't reply.

"Right then, I got a room prepared you. Go get a good nights sleep," Leo explained.

Locke over to Celes, and she walked off.

"Celes," Locke whispered.

They headed for the inn, and told the man there that they already had a room. He nodded his head, and showed them to their room. Erin lay down on her bed, not really wanting to go to bed. She knew what would happen if she did.

`I'll have another nightmare,' she thought.

As the sky grew dark through the window, she saw Terra and Locke fall asleep. Erin quietly got up and crept out of the room, and then out of the inn.

"Mom," she whispered, seeing Celes leaning over a railing.

"Hello Erin," she finally said.

Erin walked over to her mom and looked at her. "What happened back there?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Celes replied.

The two heard a door open. Erin looked over to see who it was, and saw Locke walking over to them.

"Celes..." he said.

Erin stepped back, and watched the two. They didn't say anything, and finally Celes just walked off.

"Celes..." Locke said. "Erin, let's head in."

`Mom, what happened to you?' Erin thought, getting worried.

Locke picked up the 6-year-old and carried her back into the room. Erin started to fight, back gave up when they entered the room. He set the young girl down on the bed, and went back to his own. Erin finally fell asleep, hoping that she wouldn't have another dream.

Thankfully enough, she didn't. Erin was able to get up that morning before the rest of them, and headed out to the boat Erin.

"Well, look at whos up early," Leo exclaimed.

"Hi Leo," Erin stated.

"Why are you up so early?" he asked the girl.

Erin walked over to the railing and looked down at the water below. "Just wanted too, that's all. I like to watch the sunrise in the morning."

"That's nice," Leo replied.

There were footsteps and Erin looked up to see Locke and Terra boarding the ship again.

"Shall we set sail then?" Leo asked.

"Yes, that sounds good," Terra replied.

The soldier that had standing next to General Leo saluted and left for the engine room.

`Guess now would be a good time to write in my journal,' Erin thought, sitting down, leaning against the railing. She opened her bag and grabbed her journal and pen.

`I think today's the 13th of February,' Erin thought, opening the journal.

She had an entry there from her mom, along with her started entry. She uncapped the pen and started thinking, not even listening to what was going on.

`February 13, 1995,

Wow, so much has happened since I left home. Where to begin? At the beginning should be the right answer, but that would be too long ago. I guess I'll start at when I first met him.

Who's him, might you ask? `Him' is Harry, a very good friend to me now. The first time I met him was when he actually took me from this Opera mom and I had been chosen to do.

I'm not going to explain everything, as that would take too long. Right now, we're heading to this town called Thamasa to find about espers. See, the espers are running free, and Emperor Gestahl said we should go there.

Another thing, something's wrong with mom. A few days ago, three to be exact, we were able to get into the `Magitek Research Faculty'. That's where we got the espers Shiva and Ifrit as magicite. As we were escaping, Kefka stopped us, and he did something to mom. Oh, by the way, mom's name is Celes Chere. She's a ex-general of the empire. Back to the story.

Well, Kefka did something to her, and made her go over to him, leaving our group of Locke, Sabin, Cyan, Harry, and myself behind. We were able to escape, and just recently did we find her again.

Also, we found out that another friend of mine, Terra, is half esper. Well, got to go, I think they want to talk to me.

I'll put down a list of everyone I've met so far on the front cover of this journal.

Erin M. Tribal'

Erin sighed, almost closely the journal, but then remembered that she was going to put on the list. `May as well put everyone.'

She folded the journal so that only the inside cover was showing. Under the part that said: `To Princess Shiva til Alexandros 18th, aka Erin Marie Tribal. From Princess Garnet til Alexandros 17th' she started the list.

`My friends,

Terra: Half-Esper, first friend after Garnet

Celes: My adoptive mother. Second person I've met that will listen to me

Locke: A thief, err, treasure hunter. Gave me a bandana February 2, 1995

Edgar: The king of Figaro. Loves to flirt with girls

Sabin: Edgar's brother. He absolutely loves training

Cyan: An aging knight of Doma Castle. Has really weird speech

Gau: A `wild boy' from the Veldt

Setzer: A traveling gambler

Harry: Setzer's friend, slowly becoming my friend'

Erin closed her journal and set it back in her bag, along with her pen. She finally got up.

"About time Erin! We'll be there tomorrow," Leo exclaimed.

"Okay, sounds good," Erin replied.

Several hours later, Erin knew it was getting late. She didn't dare go below deck. Something just told her not too. Erin looked out at the sea, wondering how late it really was. She saw the sun setting in the distance.

"Well, I'd say get some sleep for tonight. We'll be there tomorrow," Leo explained.

Everyone but Erin, Terra, and Leo headed below deck. Erin did head towards the back of the ship, far enough so she couldn't hear them talking, but close enough so that she could get back easily.

Erin saw a man standing nearby, dressed in black. He had a dog standing next to him. `Shouldn't that dog be barking at me?' she wondered when she looked at the calm dog.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Erin asked the man.

He looked down at her, his eyes looking her over. He seemed to have gasped, but shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. Now, if you don't mind me, I like to sleep out under the stars. Interceptor, stay boy."

`Interceptor, that's the dog's name. But what's his...?' Erin thought.

"Excuse me, but what's your name?" Erin asked him.

"Many call me Shadow. You may do the same if you wish," he stated, and walked off.

She frowned, but decided to follow him anyways. She found herself back where Terra was still standing.

"Hey, did you hear everything?" Terra asked them.

"Yeah, we did," Erin replied, speaking for Shadow as well. "We promise not to tell anyone."

"Thank you, Erin," Terra said.

She walked off, and Erin headed back over to the railing. She saw some movement from where she had just been talking with Shadow. Erin looked over and saw Locke slowly walking towards her, stop, and then lean over the railing.

`Great, he's sea sick...' Erin thought, starting to get sickened out.

"I think I'm gonna..." Locke mumbled.

He leaned back over the railing. When he dropped down again, he looked at Shadow.

"Not a word of this to anyone, o' shrouded one."

Shadow just walked off. Locke looked over at Erin.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," Erin told him, walking over to the bow of the ship.

`But I didn't say I won't write it down in the morning,' Erin thought, smiling to herself.

She didn't get a single wink of sleep that night. When morning came, she sat back down after watching the sunset today. She saw Leo come out. He smiled at her.

Erin opened up her journal, thought, and then started writing again.

`February 14, 1995

I met this strange guy last night. He calls himself Shadow. He also has this dog-named Interceptor.

But, the true reason I'm writing: Locke gets seasick! Last night he had to lean over the railing just in case. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but I didn't say I wouldn't write it. Good thing that this is a private journal too!

I'm going to add Shadow to my list, even though I don't know him that well.

Erin M. Tribal'

Erin turned to the front-cover again. She looked at her list, smiled, and then wrote.

`Shadow: I don't know much about him. Has a dog that's named Interceptor'

She closed her journal, put that and her pen back in her bag, and got back up. By this time, the deck was crowded with Celes, Shadow, Interceptor, Locke, Terra, Leo, and several soldiers that were accompanying them.

"We'll be there in a few minutes. Locke, Terra, Erin, and Shadow will head there first," Leo shouted to everyone on board.

At that moment, the ship stopped, and they hit land.

"Good luck all of you," Leo said.

Erin walked over to Celes and looked up at her.

"Mom."

Celes looked at her, and then walked off. Erin sighed, and then followed the rest of the group off of the ship.

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A/N: Like I said, long chapter! This note is on the 7th page! Anyway:

Please review!