What Have I Become?: Yuna's Legacy

Part One: Tragic Entertainment

As I rounded the corner of Spiritual Street, I knew something was wrong, despite all the posters hung up around town and everyone I meet saying "Are you from Y.R.P.?"

I know that deep in my heart, my music should be most important but all I've got on my mind right now is an intense case of paranoia.

"Yunie, our performance is tonight, stop daydreaming and start rehearsing with us!" A firm voice commanded

"Alright, let's hit it." I said looking over at the woman who had spoke, that's Paine, she's the newest member to the band but I'm still having a hard time understanding her, but she's like the big sister I never had.

"The name's YUNA, get it right, Paine!" I shouted, it seemed that my paranoia was getting the best of me, being in an all-girls band doesn't help either.

"Ah, well let's kick things up a notch!" Our guitarist Rikku said, switching from her melancholy starter melody to a metal fused solo.

"Yeah, now that's the stuff." I said as I looked over at Paine, who was on drums, going along with Rikku's energetic solo, banging her head softly.

We spend three months out of the year out on tour, but in only five years I've come to form a family with Rikku and Paine, I joined them at age seventeen when my parents were killed at the hands of a force called Sin.

LATER THAT NIGHT...

"Ladies and gentlemen, rock fans of all ages, are you ready?" Our bodyguard was also our announcer

The crowd of 200,000 fans clapped and cheered as we prepared to take our places on-stage, but as we did, an uneasy feeling washed over me, which grew into fear when I saw dark figures above the spotlights, they seemed to be watching, monitoring our every move.

"It's okay, I'm only nervous." I told myself as we took our positions for the concert.

"Hello Spira, how you doing tonight, I got to tell you, I love touring the world, but it's good to be home where we got our start, so, for all you fans of our early hits, here's a question for you (which was also the title of the song I'd be performing), what can I do for you?"

As Rikku started our first hit, I danced along to the beat until my vocals (which I wrote), "All I see in the empty realms of my heart, never need a key, 'cause I'll never go back, all the things I see in my hazy dreams isn't all of what I'm seeing now but the sound of love, it brings me to my knees, the world's in motion, it's surrounding me and I can't go on 'cause you are there, now I see you everywhere, I hear your voice calling out for me, take my hand and you'll never be alone, what can I do for you, oh yeah baby, what can I do for you?"

With that the song finished but when Paine was in the midst of her own solo, one of the dark figures came up without our acknowledgement and took her into the darkness.

She silently screamed, clawing at the figure to free herself, the grip, she felt, was of a muscle-toned weight lifter who in as little as the next ten seconds would cut off her air circulation permanently.

All Paine had the strength to say was why before she let her body fall to the floor with a thud.

Meanwhile on-stage we closed our set, "Thank you, good night!"

"Where's Paine, it not like her to leave in mid-performance." Rikku wondered

We found Paine backstage, a drug needle and an empty beer bottle at her feet, along with a note.

"Dearest Yuna and Rikku, I know that when you read this, you'll have discovered my harrowing choice to end my life and that you'll be angry with me for it.

But now I must reveal my history of drugs, drinking, leaving parties with the wrong guys again and again. Now these behaviors have caught up with me, I'm very sorry for the decision I've made.

Sincerely, your former drummer Paine.

P.S. There's someone in the audience who'll make a great drummer, ask the crowd, her name is Trinity."

"Okay, so what now?" Rikku asked

"I guess we go back out there and see if this girl really exists , I mean, Paine was known to be insane." What I said had been the truth, in proof were several evaluations Paine received from the doctors at Spira's local sanitarium, located on my home, Besaid Island.