On February 14th, Valentine's Day, on a beach during a sunny day, Vanessa ran through and kicked up the sand. Benji was right behind her, ready to board the boat. As were Nana and Mimi. As opposed to overcrowding Carter's squad, Kiki made the decision to allow Nana's team to travel with them, bringing only Benji.
Vanessa boarded the ship, "This is perhaps the most special theme I've played".
Logan came up behind her, "Yup. It's based on Director Larz's favorite Final Fantasy. Hence we'll be watching Blitzball and visiting a temple before going to Zanarkand".
"Wow," Vanessa stared at him, "I never knew that. For me it's special because everyone is playing it".
Dani sported what appeared to be a red bikini with long braids hanging over her breast, "Look at you Vanessa, looking good".
Vanessa spun around a few times, "Yes. I don't wear yellow a lot, but I feel with this green and this whole dress, I am Love Live Idol".
The boat whistled as it departed. Vanessa broke away to interact with everybody and learn about Carter's squad breakdown. It was comprised of three teams, similar to Kiki's squad. She'd already known of the first team, being the security element. Pattie, the leader, was a warrior and skilled monk. Logan was a blue mage and Steven was a barbarian that followed the sun pathway.
The second team, support, was led by Andres. He was a knight undergoing a Paladin pathway in honor of his dead grandmother. Though there was a long way to go before he became a holy knight, his girlfriend, Iku had faith in him despite his history of infidelity. Next on his team was Faith, the trickster, who'd admitted that she spent years crushing on Logan. But with the help of Carter and her ghost, she was able to overcome her obsession and live for herself. Hakken, the spy who was an efficient assassin, was bullied for years for being different until she mustered the courage to stand up for herself in the face of adversity. It led her to join Carter's squad in her early days despite two of her adversaries, Logan and Pattie, being in the same squad. However, over the years, it had proven to be the best decision she had made. In fact, she considered the two to be among her closest friends.
Team three, led by Chad the lightning warrior from the U.K., was the assault team for the squad. Iku was the geomancer who had helped to create the boat they were on. In contrary to most beliefs, Iku confirmed that geomancers had in fact a lot of skills regarding technology. In fact, they specialized in many technologies that were friendly to the earth and used renewable energies. Next was Mike, the multi-classer. It didn't take long for Vanessa to see, but he was best friends with Andres and Logan.
By the time Vanessa finished properly meeting the squad, they came to a stadium where players were playing blitzball. It was late to enter, but everyone was able to eat and watch other players compete. It was a nice show. The dome of water wasn't real, but it looked like it. The rock music had her banging her head, whereas the action had her shouting just like the rest of Carter's squad. The athletes inside were dripping in god knows what, hurling a ball across the dome and beating into each other by the second.
Benji pointed up, "That's your Watson guy on defense".
Vanessa watched one team take the offensive and approached their goal. Watson kicked the rib cage of the man carrying the ball and took it from him. Before he could throw it to a teammate, three other men swarmed him. He dashed and ran while subsequently kicking the men away. It was a tough bout, but he managed to stomp one of them down and escape. The announcer praised his determination and called it nothing short of a pro player. Evidently, Watson picked up pro status as an individual during the last June event. It was a feat that made even Logan frustrated and Benji jealous.
As Watson fought against his two opponents, his team spread further out on the dome. Nobody was coming to his aid. Vanessa bit her lip and stared heavily at him. The crowd was cheering for the other players to win as opposed to him regardless of his record as an outstanding player. But the negativity never seemed to get to him. Instead, Watson managed to beat one of the players and escape the last to kick the ball to one of his teammates.
Vanessa nearly cheered when Watson's team won the game. She felt the excitement shared by the winners. Except, Watson didn't seem to be happy at all. He casually walked behind his team while staring at the ground. Not even the cheers of the crowd lifted his spirits. It was as though he was in a depressing world of his own.
Logan grabbed Vanessa's hand and walked her out with the rest of Carter's squad, "Come on. We don't have much time".
"Yes," Vanessa rose a finger, "We need to finish this theme before it's too late for me," she looked back and worried what it may have been that had Watson depressed in such a great time like that one.
Upon boarding the boat again and setting sail, Vanessa noticed Logan was practically staying by her side. He was charming and protective of her. Whenever their eyes locked onto one another, they would stare for what felt like a lifetime. Yet, whenever it was broken, the romance felt to have been a mere snap.
The two wouldn't stop talking about anime, video games, silly social games online, and crazy stories about their time playing the game. Her time with Logan was so convincing that she nearly forgot something important. In spite of this, Vanessa ignored her two senses and continued romanticizing her time with Logan until they arrived at a port in a tundra.
There wasn't much for them to do. There was only an empty trail with wonderful sights of ice and snow around. At first, Logan made jokes and kept Vanessa entertained with his more silly side. But once Carter was ready to step off, the entire squad, Dani, and Nana's team got into two columns in team order. Carter stood at the left side to lead and marched them down the trail.
From one song to another, they sang in harmony and danced to their hearts' content. There weren't any minor enemies popping out. Nor was anybody out of sync. Except for Dani, who was taking pictures of everybody along the way.
About 30 minutes into the hike, they had crossed Oaka who was offering snowmobiles at a discount for Valentine's day. Carter had a hard time deciding if he wanted to take the offer or not. There wasn't that much money to spend, but he was also aware that Vanessa had a time limit. He left the decision to her.
It didn't take long for her to decide to take the snowmobile. But when Oaka charged her for the rent, nothing was deducted. He claimed it had already been paid for.
Hearing that, left Vanessa feeling down. She thought about her savings and how it was going to impact her time playing. It wasn't Oaka until waved a board at her that she took her mind off the dilemma. Upon asking him what it was, Oaka explained that it was a special item that she paid for previously before entering the game.
Vanessa's eyes grew big, "Yes. I remember that one," she held her cheeks, "It tells me my soulmate".
All the girls rushed to her side, gossiping among each other who it may be. Most, including Dani, swore it was going to be Logan. Pattie declared that the boys need to all stand back to give Vanessa her privacy.
"Okay," Vanessa whispered to herself before taking the board from Oaka, "Tell me who is my soulmate here".
Logan's name appeared with an image of his face centered behind it, causing the girls to congratulate her and wish her the best of luck. Vanessa blushed into the board and kneeled down.
"I can't believe it," she wept, "All this time, there was really a possibility for us two to be happy together".
Nana placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's true. You two would make a good couple. But you should look at all of your possibilities".
Vanessa rubbed at the image of Logan's face and stared at it for a few minutes, "Okay..." she sobbed, "Tell me out of everyone, who is my soulmate".
The name changed to "Weasel," sending a shiver down Vanessa's back. She swore she never met the man until an image of Watson's face appeared behind the name. It had finally occurred to her that the entire time, Watson was in fact Weasel and chose to introduce himself by his real name as opposed to his player tag. She dropped the board and huddled herself into her friends. They were each supportive and allowed her to run back to Logan's side. Instead of riding on her own, she rode with Logan.
Not a sight could break her hold of him, much less raise her head. Even the wind felt empty as Vanessa tried to gather her thoughts. Her entire world might as well have been blank. There was one thing she had to admit to herself that Watson was right about. No matter how she felt, the world kept moving.
Having arrived at the temple, the squad was informed by the guards that they were too late. Whereas the squad argued wether it was acceptable to turn them away, Vanessa took the blame and vouched to end the journey at Zanarkand. Logan for one was against the idea. He felt she should at least get her money's worth. However, Vanessa was set on finishing her day on a positive note. She requested that they go straight to Zanarkand and promised that next month she'll have more time to play. It didn't take long before Carter ordered everyone to move out at full speed.
It wasn't long before they reached the end of the tundra and had to walk alongside a mountain range to reach Zanarkand. The sun was setting. Pyre flies were flying around their heads. Vanessa noticed carving in the mountain side of different adventures adventurers had gone through. Soon, a hooded boy appeared in front of her. Nobody else could hear nor see him.
"Come to Zanarkand," the boy spoke, "And you will have the answers you are looking for".
Likewise, nobody heard Vanessa when she spoke, "I just wanted to have fun today. Is there really an answer to that or do I just need more money"?
The boy faded into pyreflies, leaving the squad to approach the city of dark ruins. Logan announced that it was Zanarkand and that soon they'll be able to help Vanessa make her wish. Some wanted to help her wish to play longer or for a better way to deal with her current problems. Carter was the only one who was full willing to let Vanessa to make the wish on her own before she left the stadium. However, not even she knew what to wish for.
As the squad walked through Zanarkand, pyreflies formed old memories. Some were sweet. Others were bitter. Everybody disappeared, starting with Carter, Logan, then Mike. There bodies would reappear dead on the ground with an old memory playing above their bodies.
"Stop," Vanessa begged, "Please stop doing this to me," she shouted, "Watson! Stop doing this to me-e-e-e!" she fell to her knee
Once every one was dead, the Jester walked past her, "Get running, before I slice you down next".
Vanessa looked up into his light brown eyes which resembled Watson's right eye, "Why can't you just leave me alone?" seeing the Jester was now fixating on her, she sprinted away for the dungeon ahead and activated its large stone sliding door.
In a large room, a beautiful half naked woman stood up, "So, how may I help you".
Vanessa looked around but couldn't find a wall, "Sorry," she fell to her knees, "I just want to be happy with my friends".
The woman came and held Vanessa's hand to guide her up, "Look across the stars. Your reach is limitless. The only one holding you back today is yourself. Is it true you cannot see this"?
"I," Vanessa rubbed her eyes, "I don't know. I'm trying my best to do what makes me happy, but I can't get it right".
The woman smiled, "Please, walk forward," she lightly pushed on Vanessa's shoulder, "I have a visitor that wishes to speak to you".
At the edge of the room, Vanessa stared at the stars until a downward stairway appeared in front of her. The smoke at the bottom cleared away, revealing another platform below. Pyreflies gathered together to form a man who stood at the bottom of the stairway.
Looking down at the man in his combat gear, Vanessa gasped, "Watson... Disconnect communications"!
He turned to look at her, "Vanessa," his eyes remained lock on her, "Sorry," he spoke in a tone softer than she had ever heard him speak before.
"Why-" Vanessa sobbed with tears falling down her cheeks, "Why do you keep doing this for me"?
Watson's face twitched to a frown, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with you," he slowly walked up the steps, "But ever since I set out on this mission for you, I found myself feeling kind of warm in a way that I never felt," he stepped to her and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, And I'm sorry I'm not that good. I'm sorry I haven't been much help. I'm sorry for anything I've done to push you away," he cried in her shoulder, "And, I know I'm wrong. Everything I do is wrong by every standard. But, I don't know what right is".
"I think," Vanessa latched her hands onto his back, "I think you should really try to find more friends".
Watson's crying got worse, "I can't. They all hate me. No matter what, they all hate me. I did so much for people and they keep finding ways to make me feel bad".
With her watery eyes, Vanessa stared at Watson's glowing body, "There's nothing I can do. I can't be there for you physically... I'm useless".
Watson shook his head into her, "No... Somehow, you're one of the only two women ever in my life who can make me feel like I can be somebody great".
"I promise," Vanessa tucked her head in, "I'm not special. I have no way of helping you".
Watson rubbed his cheek against hers, "But at least you can help my friends somehow. Even if I'm not there to see you, if you could at least help them and live out your life, it would make me happy".
Despite trying her best to smile, Vanessa could only break further into crying, "I can't make those promises".
Hearing that made Watson raise up and chuckle for a second before looking into her eyes, "Look, everybody is trying their best. But, there's only so much time left before it's over for you. Please rethink this. It doesn't have to be with me, but rethink all of this. And if you want, I can still give you my gift".
Vanessa shook her head and stepped away, "I will. But, promise me, you won't keep waiting on me".
Watson stood in place and shook his head, "I'll always be here for you. No matter what".
Vanessa looked around at the stars before staring back at him, "Sorry, I have to go now".