As they stepped through the portal to leave behind the seaside city of Hargeon, Alex and the girls found themselves instead on a completely different world in the seaside city of Luca. Though the sounds of seagulls around them remained the same, their surroundings were drastically different as the portal closed behind them.
Hargeon had been a relatively normal city with its buildings made of stone and wood with matching docks, however around them was a city that either appeared to be entirely made of stone and some other unique materials that was built on the water itself. Along with that there were numerous ships surrounding the city that looked like an entirely different type than the ones used in Hargeon, while a massive colosseum was visible on the other side of the city.
Then there were the people.
While the vast majority of those around them looked like normal humans, every one of them were dressed in a different style of garb than anything the girls had ever seen before, all of which ranged from outrageous to simple with unique patterns and colorful designs on them. Amongst them however were a number of people that obviously weren't humans, like the blue aquatic Hypellos that had bulging cheeks and webbed hands and feet.
There was also a few of the woodsy looking Guado present, who possessed long limbs, oversized hands, visible veins in their faces, and floral looking hair. And though they were mistaken for normal children wearing bird-like masks at a glance, there were even numerous Pelupelu running around too and fro energetically amongst the people of Luca.
What drew everyone's eyes at some point though was the solitary Ronso in the distance, noticeable by their height that allowed them to tower over everyone else present, blue fur that covered their body, catlike features(like claws, nose, fangs, ears, and long lion-like tail), and the single foot-long horn that protruded from the center of their forehead.
A sudden animalistic cry then took everyone's attention as they separated to make way for a large bird-like creature that was pulling a cart, which was covered in majestic looking yellow feathers and had a thick and short orange beak.
"Make way!" Cried out the man who was guiding the bird-like creature, which was actually a Chocobo that was native to every single Final Fantasy game in some way.
"KWEEEEE!" The Chocobo cried out as it followed the man, who Alex noticed had some leafy Gysahl Greens strapped to his belt that large bird seemed interested in.
"So this is Spira?" Anne asked for confirmation, her eyes sparkling as she looked every direction she could, which the rest of the girls and Alex himself were doing as well. Alex nodded and said,
"Yep, it looks a lot like I remember, though a lot less blocky and with better graphics." As he said that Alex gave a wry smile as his main suspicion about entering a 'video game' world was confirmed, which was that the world itself would be a lot 'bigger' than the games they came from depicted. For example, if you went to Luca in the game there would probably only a few dozen 'npcs' that you would be able to see and talk to while only being able to explore a few streets. Meanwhile Alex was looking at the large expanse of an entire city in its prime, and the thousands of people of all races who called it home.
As this was mostly expected by him though, Alex wasn't really surprised and was fairly curious about what else wasn't properly depicted through the games.
For the moment though he turned to each of the girls and said,
"Alright, are you all ready?" Though many of them wanted to spend more time admiring the new city and people, they all nodded in affirmation before taking flight in groups of twos and threes.
Since they weren't planning to focus on this world nearly as long as they did the others, only for the next month until Alex's cooldown ended, there was a minor sense of urgency to finish anything they needed to do before then.
For Lucy this meant trying to tame as many monsters, or 'fiends' as they were called in Spira, as possible in this time due to how unique some of them were. Lala meanwhile was going to collect as many examples of Spiran technology, or 'Machina', as she could to study and possibly integrate into her own inventions.
Mirajane as well went out to investigate any of the fiends in Spira that possessed demonic natures and abilities, to see if any possessed abilities that she didn't yet. Then Anne went to collect as many Chocobos and another creature called Shoopuffs to try to establish a population in Asora, mostly because both species were considered fairly docile and used for a variety of purposes in Spira, as seen previously.
The rest of the girls went along with them in case they ended up needing help, as many creatures in Spira possessed numerous unique and possibly deadly abilities, or went to fulfill their own tasks. Grayfia, Kuroka, and Erza were one such group that teleported directly to their destination, as compared to everyone else who flew to see more of Spira.
(A.N. Before anyone comments about how strong they all are and don't need help, all it takes is letting your guard down once because of how strong you think you are to receive possibly fatal damage. This is doubly so against opponents in a world full of attacks you've never seen before.)
When they all departed the only ones left in Luca were Alex and the only other person to stay behind, Sun. After watching the others depart until they vanished, Alex held his arm out to the little siren and asked,
"Ready?" Sun blushed lightly as she wrapped her arms around Alex's, allowing him to pull her in close as they then began to make their way down the streets of Luca. There was a certain event Alex wanted to remain in the city for, which he noted was about to start as many of the people around them began to make their way to massive colosseum while chattering excitedly.
Following their lead, Alex and Sun eventually reached a large circular open area at the center of the city where numerous stalls and stands were set, whose owners called out for those headed to the colosseum to buy their wares. Stopping occasionally whenever something caught their eye, both Alex and Sun quickly acquired numerous items and snacks to try as they traveled, which Alex paid for by selling a few gems and such to acquire the currency in this world, Gil.
"Come and see the concert?" A voice suddenly spoke up behind them, making the duo turn around to see someone wearing a costume depicting a rather unique character with a jeweled bauble coming from its head like an anglerfish.
In their hand were several colorful balloons that they were handing out, as indicated when the person offered one to Sun while asking,
"Would you like a souvenir little girl?" Though she wasn't going to refuse the balloon, the moment Sun heard the mascot call her a 'little girl' her tiny frame began to shudder as tears began to form in her eyes. Sensing something was wrong, the mascot was about to ask if it was something they said, when Sun mumbled something that they couldn't hear.
"What was that?" The mascot asked, wanting to repair the damage if possible, before Sun said in a louder but still barely audible voice,
"I'm in my twenties..." The mascot paused when they heard that, as the realization that the 'little girl' before them was older than they were dawned on them, which they wouldn't have guessed since Sun didn't appear to be one of Pelupelu. Before either of them could say anything else though, Alex quickly said,
"We'll both like a balloon please!" Recovering slightly, the mascot replied as they tried to salvage the situation,
"Of course! Here you go!" The mascot then handed Alex the strings to two balloons, one of which he gave to Sun so they both had one before they resumed their trip to the event going on at the colosseum.
The moment they left the mascot behind though, Alex's fingers shimmered slightly with magic right as the mascot suddenly let a cute and girlish yelp, both of her hands going to her rear after feeling something pinch it. The rest of the balloons that they were supposed to give now forgotten as they quickly rose up over the crowds, the mascot looked around for whatever it was that pinched her until an angry voice cried out,
"What do you think you're doing?! Those balloons were supposed to help promote the concert!" Seeing an angry looking man approach her, the mascot quickly turned around and fled the other direction, hoping to use the crowds to lose the man who thought he was her boss.
"How much longer do I need to wear this disguise...?" She muttered to herself dejectedly, the mascot's large head hanging down as she lamented her current situation.
...
Alex and Sun meanwhile had finally reached the base of the colosseum as everyone flooded inside, talking excitedly about how eager they were to see the High Summoner's concert. Overhearing several people mentioning them, Sun asked Alex,
"What's this 'High Summoner'?" Making sure no one was going to ask them for tickets or anything, Alex explained to her,
"For nearly a thousand years Spira was plagued by a powerful being known as 'Sin', which was considered impossible to truly defeat. Instead people known as Summoners would make a pilgrimage to perform a ritual known as the 'Final Summons', which was considered the only thing capable of defeating Sin at the cost of the Summoner's own life. It was never a true victory though, as Sin always returned after a few years, but those times that they wouldn't have to worry about being attacked were known as the 'Calm', while those who successfully managed the summons were known as High Summoners."
Sun looked confused at Alex's explanation as she asked,
"But how's this High Summoner performing a concert if they die while defeating this Sin?" Alex smirked knowingly as he replied while leading Sun to their seats,
"This particular High Summoner defied the tradition when she learned about it, and searched for an alternative way that led to her and her companions defeating Sin for good, giving the people of Spira an Eternal Calm. That's the reason why the people here can do fun things like this now."
Though Sun wanted to ask more, she didn't get the chance as the lights around them suddenly dimmed, and the thousands of people also watching the concert began to cheer deafeningly. In the center of the colosseum, which was completely surrounded by stands for people to sit in, a circular platform began to rise up while numerous Machina floated around them to shine spotlights on them.
The audience was then mostly silenced as more Machina started to fly around over them, except these were small floating platforms that held guitarists who began to cut loose on their instruments. Meanwhile by this point the platform in the center had risen enough that they could see the main support under it, a large metallic Machina that looked like a man as it twirled a set of large drumsticks while the actual drums spun around it.
By this point they could all see a solitary woman standing still in the center of the man platform as a countdown sound. She wore a long purple skirt with a sleeveless white top that had a golden band wrapped around her abdomen, and a pair of separate sleeves hanging on her arms. She had short cut brown hair that only went down to her chin, while a solitary long braid draped down until it was almost touching the ground.
A second later the spotlights focused on her as the audience gave one last roaring cheer before the background music began.
"What can I do for you?"
(A.N. Here's a link for the opening on YouTube if anyone wanted to watch it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oiXcL06P3ko&noapp=1