Lily: We are terrible people.

Conway: I'd sure say.

Anna: Well?

Steph: Oh yeah! Anna had a baby girl! Yeah! Congrats to her! Born on July 2nd was the beautiful girl named Azaylia.

Lily: Most precious child ever. Other than that, there's been school and work. Yeah blah blah excuses. But here ya'll go!

Balthier observed as Daniel clenched his hands into fists, knuckles turning white and veins popping out. "So this is the bastard who is the reason for all this chaos." Daniel grumbled. Nicole placed a hand on his arm as she looked at him with worry.

"Daniel…?"

"And if this person is the reason for all this chaos…" Daniel continued to mutter to no one in particular. It almost looked as if he were in his own little world, taking to himself. "This person must also be the reason that my best friends and sister are gone."

"That's not necessarily true." Fantasy butted-in. "We know that this "K" is the reason for the portals opening, but we do not know if they are the reason for the disappearances."

Erika abruptly stepped forward, pointing a finger at Fantasy. Rage shone in her dark brown eyes. Nicole could tell she was trying to hold herself back. "No. K said that he or she wanted the help from the Fantasy Gamer's. We are "invaluable"."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Fantasy exclaimed. "That doesn't-"

"Stop, please!" Nicole stepped between the two who had stepped closer to each other. "We don't know. We don't know anything except that this "K" wants the Fantasy Gamer's. We know that they want to destroy the human race and that there is an Esper capable of doing this." Nicole sighed heavily, lowering her head. "We need to think about this – together with no arguments."

Daniel furrowed his brows. "You aren't saying to consider this stupid proposition we were given, are you?" he asked Nicole.

"Of course not," Nicole replied. "But we need to think about what to do next."

"Well," the Gamers stopped, turning around to stare at Vaan who stepped forward with a grin. "It's pretty obvious that this is the guy we need to stop. I don't think there is much else to think about. We continue with stopping the portals, yeah? That's what important right now. K said he would see us soon."

Penelo nodded next to him. "Vaan's right. We need to worry about the present instead of the future. First, we need to even see what K exactly wants. K was clear that you guys were needed, but in what way?"

"You guys worry too much. Have a little faith that everything is going to be ok." Vaan's grin disappeared replaced with a much more serious expression. "And we will find the others. Trust me."

Nicole, Erika and Daniel glanced at each other. A moment of silence followed while the three seemed to communicate with only their eyes. Finally, Daniel nodded before the three turned back towards the rest of their companions.

"Right. Sorry, we were getting a little ahead of ourselves." Daniel spoke, gesturing to himself and his two friends. "We know that we most definitely must go to Texas now, not only to close the portal and stop the Esper there, but to also meet this "K" and get Nokha's family back."

The young girl never even glanced at the group while they argued and discussed. She was in her own world, staring at the remains of her family's campsite. She did not even budge when her name was spoken. Penelo felt sympathy for the girl – once lost in the forest but now her family was taken away from her. Why? No one quite knew. K was obviously behind it, but did not give any clear answer as to why.

"Fantasy, you're strength has returned?" Basch inquired as he knelt down next to the creation.

Fantasy gave a brief nod in reply. "Yes, I can make a portal to Texas now."

With a burst of energy and anger, Erika exclaimed, "And make sure it's actually to Texas this time!"

"You cannot blame me for that one! We were meant to come here, after all. My magick just seems to know better than I do!"

Crossing her arms, Erika "hmphed" but said no more.

"Let bygones be bygones and be on our way." Nicole said, slinging an arm around Erika's shoulder and giving Fantasy a reassuring smile.

"Nokha…," the young girl still didn't budge. Vaan proceeded on. "I know all this talk sounds strange -really strange, but we're going to get your family back, ok? I promise you that they are unharmed and that they're waiting for you. So you have to trust us."

Nokha lips twitched, her eye contact with the campsite disrupted. She turned abruptly and walked towards Nicole. "Don't talk to me like I am a child. I am no stranger to bizarre occurrences." Her voice was strained yet cold. Her eyes met with Nicole's who flinched at the sudden contact, but she did not pull away her own gaze. "Explain things to me on the way to Texas. I will help in any possible way I can." Nokha continued with determination.

Balthier shrugged. "The more the merrier. Isn't that right, Vaan?"

"If I recall you didn't even want me, Nicole and the others around at all."

"Humes are strange creatures, Vaan. They are constantly changing and adapting."

"You haven't seem to change a bit, Balthier." Vaan retorted which earned a laugh from his friends.

"Except for his clothes which I suggest that you and Fran follow!" Erika said, pointing an accusing finger at Vaan.

Vaan lifted his hands in the air, waving them side to side with a "Please don't murder me in my sleep" look.

"Anyway, without further ado here is the portal to Texas!" Fantasy gained back the Gang's attention. Behind him was a swirling portal. It was not as colorful as his usual ones. Instead, this one was a simple gray and silver. "It will be a long story Nokha, but we will try to summarize it as much as possible."

"That's fine," Nokha replied with a shrug. She walked towards the portal and hesitantly placed the tips of her fingers in it. She withdrew them immediately, bringing her hand to her chest in a protective gesture. "We go through this?"

"Yes," Fantasy replied.

Nokha shakily sighed.

After a lengthy and thorough explanation, Nokha was the first and only person to really learn about whom the Gamers were, how characters from a game series existed, and how the Gamers were involved and what was sort of occurring now – but they were not even sure on that quite yet. Nokha listened quietly, but intently. By the time they were finished they landed on their asses in Dallas, Texas, which, in fact, was not too good in shape.

The scent of smoke wafted into the noses of the Gang almost immediately. Penelo blinked as she felt something tickle her left cheek. Raising a hand, Penelo brought it up and wiped away the tickling sensation only to pull back and see that her hand was covered in gray-black smudges.

Ash.

"No…" a gasp emitted.

Fran glanced up towards Nokha who was already on her feet. She stared horrified at the scene before her. Complete and utter destruction. Fire consumed most things nearby, making the area a lot hotter than it probably was. Ash fell from the sky like a gentle drizzle of rain. Buildings had cracks in their sides, windows were broken and car alarms sounded.

"Shit, this is bad. Really bad." Nicole uttered aloud as she jumped up to join Nokha by her said.

"Obviously," Daniel muttered as he wiped his hands on his pants. His black, slicked back hair was almost covered in ash.

"I'm sure your family is safe though, Nokha." Vaan tried to assure the young girl.

Nokha's eyes hardened, making Vaan flinch and take a step back. Out of nowhere more fire appeared, but not from the scene before them. It was from Nokha's very own hands. It was immediately distinguished, but the others knew what they saw.

Fantasy stepped forward. "Nokha, how long have you been able to do that?"

Nokha glanced down at her hand which still felt warm. She knew she shouldn't have allowed her emotions to run amok – it made her careless. And she couldn't afford to be careless. She clenched her eyes shut as she allowed herself to take a shaky but clam breath. There was no point in hiding it – besides, they were all bizarre too, in a way. Knowing that made her feel less alone and even a little better about telling them.

But…

Before Nokha could react, a hand was placed gently upon her shoulder. Instantly, Nokha felt at ease. Glancing up, she saw it was the girl with bunny ears – Fran.

Nokha never played any of these games, those being the Final Fantasy ones. However, she had done some research, as she was curious. So she was familiar with them now that she fully recognized them for who they are. Fran's calm attitude gave her some sort of motherly figure with some adventure in there. This made Nokha feel more relaxed and safe.

"Do not fret. You can tell us." Fran spoke with what sounded like to Nokha was some sort of heavy accent. But it was gentle, smooth and deep. Nokha liked it.

Nodding her head, the fifteen-year old turned to the others. "I have been capable of emitting fire since I was little. And also…" her brown eyes shifted to the left and right nervously. She watched the reaction of the Gang's before her – several pairs of eyes widening, a couple of gasps here and there. Erika's jaw dropped to the ground.

"You can levitate?!"

Nokha shrugged. "Actually, it's more like flying."

"Your abilities are great!" Fantasy smiled.

"Is this because she is a Fantasy Gamer?" Nicole asked while she picked up Erika' jaw and closed it.

Still in disbelief, Erika blinked a multitude of times.

Fantasy nodded. "Yes. Sometimes there is a Fantasy Gamer so strong that their powers unleash at such an early age. They unlock it themselves. Unlike with you guys," he motioned to the three Gamers beside him, "I had to unlock your powers for you. It happens."

"Did you unlock Nix's?" Daniel inquired.

Shaking his head, Fantasy replied, "No, actually. She did that in the moment of the battle. I think it was her fear that brought it out. Her will was strong at the time too. She really wanted to help us."

"Fantasy Gamer…" the words rolled off Nokha's tongue with ease. She liked the sound of it. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She was weary with these strange people at first, but now that she knew everything and was even given proof, she felt more relaxed and at ease. They earned her trust.

The ground rumbled. Everyone but Nokha fell to the ground where the Gang held still. Nokha glanced around and watched as a crack formed through the street ahead of them. Fire spat from below to above, hitting a nearby tree. The flames licked upwards, engulfing the tree in an orange blaze.

Nicole watched the tree, her eyes reflecting. "Flames… This Esper… It's Belias."

The way Nicole had spoken – angry, sentimental and sad – made Nokha curious. Belias must've meant something to Nicole once. Her expression looked torn.

"Why," she whispered. "What does K want? These Esper's are in pain here. They're not happy."

Nokha raised her brows. In pain? Not happy? What about the city? Wasn't everyone here dying, in pain, and not happy?

"We'll get Belias home." Vaan spoke with determination, his eyes shining with life. "Erika, your magick specialty is water right?"

The ravened haired adult whipped her head around. "Huh? What? Oh, yeah, why?"

"We're going to need you to put a lot of focus into your magick and help put these fires out. Everyone will help, but you have the most advanced power in that magick." Vaan concluded.

"Ok, sure."

"Good thinking, Vaan." Ashe complimented. She stood up. "Belias can't be far."

"And wherever Belias is, K must be there too, right?" Penelo spoke.

"He's probably watching us." Fantasy stared above.

"Let's give him one hell of a show then, eh?" Balthier smirked.

"Always in the spotlight…" Fran teased lightly.

"Wherever K is, is where my family is…" Nokha mumbled to herself.

"Let's head on out." Basch nodded.

The Gang wandered through the ashes and the rubble of Dallas, Texas. Once a beautiful city now displayed as a war zone. From far above, Nokha was able to see that at least a good portion of the city remained untouched, but she did not know how much longer that would last. They had to find Belias, the Gigas soon or else Dallas could cease to exist. Nokha wondered how many people were already injured or dead. She clenched her eyes shut at the thought, her hands balling into fists. Her city destroyed, her family taken, her friends possibly injured or worse.

"Worrying will only cloud your judgment when the time comes for you to take action." The soft-spoken voice came from Nokha's left side. Narrowing her eyes, she caught a familiar glimpse of Fran, the viera. She strode along in a graceful walk, her ears twitching at the sounds of the city crumbling. Her calm attitude helped de-stress Nokha, but only for a second.

"It's kind of hard not to worry when you know that your family has been kidnapped, your home city is being destroyed, and your friends may be injured or worse." Nokha muttered, crossing her arms and holding them close to her chest in a protective matter.

"Everything will turn out all right in the end."

Nokha raised a brow. "How do you know?"

The corners of Fran's lips lifted slightly as she gestured forward towards the Gang. "Because they have never let us down before, and I don't believe they will now."

Nokha glanced at Erika, Nicole and Daniel. They were still bickering about this "K" fellow. "Things can change."

"If I told you there was a fish staring at me with its beady little, creepy eyes and was telling me to take over the world, would you believe me?" Nicole suddenly inquired.

"Yes, happens to me when I look at Anna's turtle." Erika replied.

"…I think you creeped me out more than I did to myself."

Nokha sighed. Could they really save the day?

A loud roar emitted suddenly causing the Gang to abruptly stop in their tracks. Heads swiveled around, trying to catch the direction of where it could be coming from. They knew it was Belias. And he sounded like he was in pain, much like the previous Espers were. This world was not good for them – it was obvious. They would die here. Vaan did not believe this destruction was truly their fault. They were just scared and wanted to go back home. He would make sure they did.

"This way," Fran pointed to the right side of a four way street.

The Gang made haste. They hurried down the street until the shadow of something large appeared. Before they even realized it, Nicole had taken off in a run towards the shadow. Daniel called after her while Balthier ran after her, his gun poised in his right hand. His left hand reached out for her but missed by just a couple of inches. He grumbled to himself as she picked up more speed. She rounded a corner, the Gang now in full pursuit and found that she stopped, standing only a few feet away. In front of Nicole was a hunched over Belias, rage and hurt discharged from the language of his body. Balthier watched as Nicole threw out her arms and stepped forward. Belias roared.

"Stop, Belias! It's alright now! We're here to take you home!" Nicole shouted her voice straining. Smoke clouded the air heavily here, Belias being the source of the problem. Balthier rushed to Nicole as she bent over, coughing and rubbing her eyes.

Nokha felt an emotion of pure rage. She could not understand why Nicole was being so nice to the creature that effortlessly destroyed Dallas, Nokha's home.

"What about punishing it? It destroyed my city!" Nokha exclaimed, her hand flaring a bit.

Fran placed a hand upon her shoulder. "It is not Belias' fault. It is the one who summoned him."

"But-!" Nokha had no time to finish as Belias took a swing at Nicole and Balthier.

Balthier swooped Nicole up and dodged by running to the side. Basch ran forward, his blade slashing against the Esper's arm. Vaan approached behind him, sword raised with both hands. Basch sidestepped, allowing Vaan a chance to swing his weapon. Belias roared in pain. Vibrations resounded through the air and ground.

Nohka covered her eyes, wincing at the sounds of the creatures howls. He bellowed again, arms thrashing about.

"Stop…"

Nokha whipped her head around, glancing at Nicole who was secured in Balthier's arms. She could tell that the older girl wanted to run forward and again and for some reason protect the beast that was destroying Nokha's once beautiful home. This made rage fill up within her chest. She felt like she was about to explode into her own fiery tantrum.

"Nohka," the sound of Fran's voice and the touch of her small hand upon Nokha's shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts. She felt suddenly very hot. "You're on fire." Fran stated bluntly.

Nohka glanced down to see her skin as red as blood. Slowly it dissipated and her skin went back to her normal light tan skin tone. Fran slid her hand off her shoulder and stepped forward so she could be next to her. "It is not Belias' fault. He is simply in pain. The air here hurts him and the other Espers. They are confused and scared." She said, nodding her head towards the Esper who continued to fight Vaan, Basch and Ashe.

"The one who is at fault is K." Daniel gritted his teeth, knuckles turning white.

Nohka looked away and back at Belias. She watched as he struggled against the Gang. There, as she listened more closely, she could hear the agony coming from his roars. His helmeted faces kept him emotionless, but she was sure she could sense a face twisted with pain and fear. All he wanted was to go home. Back to Ivalice.

To the side of her, Nicole whispered again, "Belias, please…"

An emotional connection had been forged between the two of them, Nokha could tell. When Belias was in pain, so was Nicole. A visible strain on her face was beginning to show.

"What…what do we do to stop him? How do we send him home…?" Nokha spoke, though her voice small and hesitant.

"We must find the portal he came out of." Fran replied.

"And where would that be?"

"That is something we still have yet to find."

"I think it might be wherever K is…" Fantasy spoke aloud as he appeared on the other side of Nokha.

Lips quivering, Nokha never took her eyes off Belias. "With my family… At home. My home."

"Are you sure it's ok to just leave them like that?!" Erika shouted over the sounds of buildings collapsing and car alarms going off.

"Basch, Balthier, Nicole and Vaan will be ok! They can handle Belias. We need to hurry to Nokha's house in order to free her family and find the portal! We'll call them when we have it located and they'll bring Belias to it!" Fantasy shouted back, his feet stumbling over rubble as they continued their run through the remains of the city.

"My house isn't much farther!" Nokha explained, turning a corner abruptly which almost made the Gang lose track of her.

"I. Hate. Running." Erika huffed.

"There!" Nokha pointed her finger to the house ahead. The home was still intact, but it was hard to tell what it looked like through all the smoke that swirled around it like a barrier.

"Is that suppose to keep us out or somethin'?" Erika raised a brow. "How…intimidating."

"I agree. You're more intimidating than that and you can't even put up a good fight enough to save your life." Daniel commented.

"I know, right?" Erika nodded. "…WAIT WHAT!"

"If only we had Anna's holy power… she was the best and most powerful one in the group with that type of magick." Penelo sighed.

"But you're very good at it too, Penelo. Give it a shot." Fantasy encouraged the blond.

Penelo glanced at her staff, gray eyes staring in wonderment. Finally, she raised it outwards and closed her eyes. A ball of light appeared, bright and shined towards the smoke. It hit the center and the smoke soon disappeared.

Nokha stared in amazement. Penelo had been able to produce something that wasn't just used for destroying. Instead she used it for good. Glancing at her hands, Nokha wondered.

With the smoke now gone, the Gang could see that the house didn't look too pretty anymore. What was once a beautiful beige color on the outside was chipped and covered with burn marks. The garden in the front had also perished in the flames that had tried to eat away towards the house and almost succeeded. The front gate was blown off and pieces of debris were stuck in the holes of the metal fence.

Nokha choked up. Tears threatened to fall. Her family, although she had a difficult time with them all her life, was in there. They had to be scared. She almost wondered if they were more scared now than they ever were of her…

"Are you ready?" Penelo asked.

Nokha nodded and the Gang headed inside.

Inside everything looked absolutely perfect. Too perfect. They entered through the front door which was unlocked, and walked down the hall. Nokha was in the lead. She glanced through the open doorway of the living room and saw that everything was exactly in place. Not even the family pictures hanging in the wall were crooked. They checked room after room. Dining room. Kitchen. All the bedrooms. No sign of damage and more importantly, no sign of anyone.

"I thought K said…" Daniel grumbled, shutting his mouth as he turned away from the rest.

"Is there a basement or an attic?" Fantasy inquired.

"No," Nokha replied. "But… we do have a backyard." She motioned for them to follow. They made their way back to the kitchen and took them around a corner. There laid two double glass sliding doors and beyond it, in her own backyard, was the portal. Behind that was Nokha's family lying in the rubble of what was once their fountain.

She rushed out, the other trailing behind her. She sped past portal and to her family, stopping next to her mother and younger brother. Her older brother lay next to her father. Thankfully, her older sister lived in California so Nokha did not have to worry about her experiencing this.

"Mom!" She shook her. "Wake up! Mom!"

Groaning emitted from the older woman who Nokha was practically a splitting image of. Brown eyes opened hesitantly. "No-Nokha?" the woman mumbled.

"It's me mom, it's me. You'll be ok. I promise."

Raising a hand up, Nokha's mother gently touched her daughters cheek. Nokha flinched but soon relaxed.

"You're ok…" her mother smiled.

"Mom…"

"Nokha, look out!" Penelo frantically yelled.

The warning wasn't quick enough. Before she knew it, a man hovered above Nokha and her family. She clung to her mother's shoulders and shuddered. The eyes of this man were cold. So cold. She's felt cold eyes before, from her strained relationship with her father, but nothing ever like these. No. This man didn't care if they lived or died right now because he knew soon that they would all end up dead anyways. He had no sympathy.

Above him was a large boulder, seemingly held by some invisible force. Without warning it began to come forward at a quick speed. It was going to crush her.

Everything around her seem to slow down. Daniel rushing towards her, Nokha's mother screaming for her to run, and her dad waking up, eyes widening at his daughter. A burning sensation filled her veins and before she knew it, something occupied both her hands. A short narrow sword with fire-colored runes and a white staff. She raised the staff, not really sure what was going to happen, when suddenly a light engulfed her and the surrounding area. The boulder hit a force so strong while still in the air it exploded into tiny little pieces that pelted the Gang.

She lowered the staff and the man smirked.

"Strong, but not strong enough. Not like them." He gestured towards Erika and Daniel. A bolt of lightning zapped towards Nokha, but she blocked it with her sword.

"Bastard!" Erika growled. "Firaga!"

Daniel was next with his own magick, but it seemed to have no effect on the man. It only evaporate when it got within a few feet of him.

"He has a shield around him." Fantasy spoke.

"Are you K?" Erika questioned.

The man smiled. "Why yes, that is me. How nice it is to meet you, Erika. Daniel. Were is your other companion?"

"Taking care of some business." Erika spat.

"Perhaps I should pay a visit."

"Don't you dare get anywhere near Nicole." Daniel began to rush forward, but was grabbed by Erika.

K glanced back down at Nohka. "I see you've been training another Fantasy Gamer. Cute. But they're nothing but weak little knock-offs."

"Shut up!" Nokha shouted with her teeth gritted.

K shrugged her off. "Needless to say, you made it to your destination point. Though I am a bit disappointed, Nicole didn't come with you two. You'll have to tell her that I said hello and that I expect an answer to my proposition soon."

"You can take the answer now; fuck no!" Erika snapped.

K grinned. "How enthusiastic you are. Anna was the same way when I first met her."

"You fucking assho-," Daniel began but Penelo grabbed his arm. "What have you done with the others?!"

"Dear Daniel, they're ok. I have put them to sleep. I planned to wake them when you agreed to my plans. However…"

"Please… release them." Penelo stared at Erika whose voice began to break. "Please…"

"Oh Erika. Can't you see? They're part of my plans!" he extended his arms outwards. "All of you are. I cannot simply let them go. No, until you agree to join, then they shall remain my prisoners." By then, his body began to slowly disappear.

"No wait!" but it was too late. Erika's extended hand reached out to nothing as K finally disappeared.

"Goddammit!" Daniel shouted.

Fantasy frowned and pulled out his communicator device. "Guys… we found the portal…"

It took a while but finally the rest of the Gang, Nicole, Balthier, Vaan, Basch and Ashe came back with Belias in tow. They pushed him through the portal, waved their goodbyes and watched as Fantasy closed it up.

He turned to Nokha who stood in front of her family, all now awake and in shock. "Now what I can do is fix some damage, but I cannot fix it all. It will be up to you, yours power and everyone here in this city to fix the rest. Thankfully, I can fix the major stuff."

Nokha glanced away. "Th-thank you… Fantasy."

Fantasy was true to his word. He was able to fix a majority of things and placed an idea into all of the citizens heads that a giant earthquake had happened which resulted in the leftover damage. This took a lot of power out of him, but he still managed to make a portal for the Gang. It was time to move on.

Nicole couldn't believe what Daniel and Erika had told her about K. She teared up but refused to let them fall.

"I guess this is goodbye." Nokha nodded.

"Not quite… We'll see you again. I mean, if you want us to." Nicole said, smiling.

"…I…" Nokha looked back at her family. They stared at her and the others in bewilderment. Then suddenly, her mother smiled. She nodded encouragingly at her daughter. "Yes… you all have helped me so much. I would love to see you again." And with that, Nicole suddenly found herself wrapped in a hug. She wasn't sure if it was her own warmth or the warmth of Nokha's flaming hot body that was being emitted so intensely, but she didn't mind either way. She gave a tight squeeze back before releasing and stepped towards the portal.

"We'll see you soon. I'm sure of it." Those were Nicole's parting words as she and the others stepped through the portal.

"I'm so exhausted." Erika sighed.

"I think we need a rest…" Penelo mumbled.

Fantasy nodded. "I agree. I also need to replenish my powers. We are currently in the middle of the portal, but not really going anywhere." He explained as they all looked around at the swirling colors they were enclosed within. "We shall rest for a few hours and then continue on. The rest of the world needs us."

Safe within the portal, the Gang settled down to sleep and eat. Few words were spoken, exhaustion took over and soon most were asleep.

Daniel lay awake, staring up at the swirls of bright colors.

"Dan, you should get some sleep." Nicole commented, her back turned to him.

"Maybe later, mom." He snickered.

"…We'll see them again, you know."

Daniel frowned. "Nicole… I think things are changing."

He listened to the younger girl shift, now facing him.

"Some of us might not make it out."

"I know… I feel that too, Dan."

"You guys are my family."

"It'll be ok… We're tough."

"I hope so… I really do."

Daniel: Insecurites…ick.

Lily: Yeah, yeah. You got some. So what?

Steph: Anna had to leave to feed Azaylia.

Erika: Well I guess that's it for today folks! Moving onto…where again?

Conway: Not sure BECAUSE NICOLE LOST THE PAPER THAT PLANNED OUT ALL THE NEXT PLACES AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

Lily:… I'll find it… or just create a new one ok!

Rosa: But that one took forever already…

Lily: No faith. None of you have any faith in me!

Fantasy: Well… let's see who is actually reading this still. Next chapter will be more of a focus on the Gang and a bit of a new character. So review! Good night ya'll!