A short while later, the three of them had made it back onto yet another boat, this time heading for Luca. This city did not have a temple in it, but it was a place of importance for Shannon. The contest would be held here and she wanted to make everyone here that she knew of in her new world proud.

For some reason, she felt...calm. Ever since Auron hugged her, a wave of calm washed over her. Could it be something that he did? Or was it the fact that she trusted him?

She shook those thoughts out of her head as the boat approached Luca. She knew that she would have to focus on the contest for now on, from her routine to how she wanted to introduce herself to the crowds of Spira. So, she started to move her feet a little bit more by dancing with her spirits, mainly Nash. Jecht, Auron, and Braska watched her, smiles on their faces.

It seemed like an eternity until the boat landed at Luca. Shannon rushed off of the boat, amazed at the beauty of the modern city. She looked behind her and saw Jecht rubbing his hands like a mad man. She looked at him, confused, "What are you thinking?"

He smirked at her, "There's a Blitzball tournament. I'm signing up for a team to see if I can play."

"Oh, so is this your form of a contest?"

Jecht scratched his head, "Not really, but we can consider it one. What about this: whoever does better in their respective contest can make the other say and do what the winner wants? Sounds friendly enough to you?"

Braska and Auron's jaws dropped, shocked at Jecht's wager. Who knows what he would do to the poor girl! Shannon smiled confidently at him and shook his outstretched hand, "Deal! Good luck in your Blitzball tournament!"

A group of people started to surround the boat, hoping to get a glimpse at the summoner and his party that just arrived. Or, that's what the four thought.

At a closer glance, they were all dressed up fancy, just like the guy who got Shannon to sign up for the contest. They were all looking around, muttering, "Which one is she? I don't see her here!"

Shannon smiled back at the trio and said, "I guess we part here for now. Good luck to all of you and see you on the other side. Thank you for all that you have done." She then stepped towards the crowd of people and politely asked a lady, "Are you looking for Miss Shannon?"

"Yes, do you know her?"

"Actually...I am her. Nice to meet you Ma'am."

The lady looked shocked, "He wasn't kidding when he said you were traveling with hooligans!!! A lady like you shouldn't be traveling with them and being a guardian!"

"I am not going to step away from guarding Lord Braska. I owe him, Sir Jecht, and Sir Auron my life because they have saved me countless times. I like performing and that, but I really like guarding more. There's nothing quite like a battle to get you hyped up."

The lady stuck her nose up, "We never let the likes of you in here, but I suppose we can make an exception. Follow me, we'll have to glamorize you."

Shannon smiled, "Thank you so much!" As she walked away from her friends, she waved back to them, her light purple guild mark facing them. She looked behind her and smiled at them, wanting to win the contest for them. She also wanted to prove herself to the world that she could be a performer and a guardian at the same time.

The three men watched her walk away from them and Braska asked, "Will she be okay? Or will she end up being used?"

Jecht shrugged, "Who knows? All I know is that there is a Blitzball tournament and I've gotta get ready for it. Will you two be watching?"

"Of course."

"Auron, do you mind filming the match? It's for my son in Zanarkand."

He looked at Jecht and quickly nodded, "Of course!"

"Were you thinking about Shannon again?"

Auron sighed, "Yes because I don't want her to get hurt by those people. Something seems off about them, but I don't know what."

Braska calmly smiled at Auron and sighed, "I was thinking the same thing, but for now, let's go to the game."

The three men made it to the stadium and broke off from there. Jecht managed to sign up for a team, the Besaid Aurochs, who really couldn't believe that such a great Blitzball player was standing right in front of them. Jecht went to the locker rooms, while Auron and Braska headed into the stadium, looking for a seat.

Meanwhile, Shannon was getting ready for this contest. She was now in a black dress with a white ribbon at the top. Her skirt was white and black and matched with white sandals. 

She smiled as she brushed her hair out, "I'm looking good today!" She turned towards the lady that was over her shoulder, "Thank you so much for all of your help, Miss Kristina!"

Miss Kristina smiled, "No problem, I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier. Rules are rules, but your speech made me look the other way."

"Thanks! I truly said what was in my heart though. I used to do stuff like this all the time and I'm glad to be able to do this again." Suddenly, Shannon saw a tentacle of darkness sneak toward Miss Kristina and she screamed, "LOOK OUT!!!"

Miss Kristina dodged it and ran toward Shannon, "What is that thing?"

"Whatever it is, something bad. Go check on the other contestants, I'll figure it out!"

Miss Kristina ran off outside of Shannon's room and gasped, this thing was pure darkness and fear. She tried getting to the priest's daughter's room, but she got swept away by a tentacle of darkness. She landed harshly and looked up at it, a foul mistake. The creature turned her to stone.

Shannon, meanwhile, took out a golden key and spoke, "Open, gate of the Twins! Gemini!"

Two spirits that were almost mere duplicates of each other appeared, minus that one had on orange pants while the other one had on blue pants, and the sashes were each going opposite ways. They spoke to Shannon, in sync, "What can we do for you?"

"Thank goodness you two trust me! I need you to go find Sir Auron, Sir Jecht, and Lord Braska and tell them something bad is brewing here! Just turn into me so no one suspects anything, okay?"

"No problem!" A cloud appeared around them and after it disappeared, a duplicate of Shannon was there, except that she was in her old clothes. The ones Gerald made her wear. Shannon gasped at the sight while Gemini spoke, "This is when we were last summoned by Gerald when you looked like this. We're sorry if this brings back memories that are bad."

Shannon smiled at them, "Don't worry about it, just please go find my friends, okay?"

"No problem!" Gemini then disappeared into thin air, off to find the people Shannon had grown close to.

Shannon then grabbed her keys and star whip and walked out, seeing stone people. She turned towards the creature, "Hey ugly! Why are you praying on the innocents? Fight someone your own size!"

The creature turned to her and Shannon knew why she saw stone people. Someone was causing this...well, thing to turn people into stone! Shannon sensed it was doing the same thing to her, but she had to resist it. As she took in a deep breath of air, preparing for the fight, she hoped that Gemini would find her friends so then she could get help. If anything can defeat this thing, it's the bonds that bring us together!

On the other side of Luca, it was halftime at the blitzball game. Thanks to an amazing shot by Jecht, the Aurochs were up 1-0 on the hometown Luca Goers. Braska and Auron were sitting in awe at the game, amazed at how well Jecht could play.

Braska smiled and said, "Wow, no wonder why people like this game! It's full of amazing stuff!"

Auron shrugged it off and sighed, "I don't get it."

"You're not a sports person at all?"

"Not really. I never got into it at all."

"I Understand why, Blitzball involves a lot of knowledge and speed about the-" Braska was cut off by someone tapping his shoulder. Both men turned around to see who it was and they saw...Shannon. She was wearing an archaic pink dress that covered up her shoulders. Her bright blonde hair was tied up in a bun and she had on white gloves to hide her guild mark. The outfit was almost like the one she was wearing when they first met her.

Braska smiled and said, "Shannon, aren't you supposed to be getting ready for the contest?"

'Shannon' replied, "Yes, she is getting ready for the contest, but there's a problem. Something happened to the contestants and the people helping. A big darkness thing came and attacked everyone."

Auron looked at 'Shannon' and frowned, "Why are you speaking about yourself in third person?"

Suddenly, Gemini appeared in front of the two men and they spoke in sync, "We're not really Shannon. We're two of her spirits." They transformed back into Shannon and they spoke in her voice, "Now are you coming or not?"

Braska and Auron stood up and nodded at each other, "Let's go!"

The three of them were about to run out of the stadium when they looked over and saw someone fall into the blitzball sphere, followed shortly by a darkness storm, with three heads, each with a set of purple glowing eyes. Gemini gasped, "Our master is hurt!"

Auron and Braska saw the person in the sphere take out another golden key and summon a blue-haired mermaid holding an urn. The only person in all of Spira that could do that was...Shannon.

Braska turned to Auron and said, "We need to let Jecht know!"

Auron pointed at a man who had jumped into the sphere of water along with Shannon, "I think he already knows. Let's fight!"

Gemini jumped up and down, excited, "Gerald never let us fight like this! We'll help too!"

Braska smiled at them, "Welcome to the team then, let's take down this monster!" He summoned Kilika's aeon, while Auron pulled out his sword. Gemini took a deep breath of air and started roaring. Shannon and Jecht fought the creature from the water, but nothing was happening to it.

Little did they know that there was a person causing this all to happen, and this was why they couldn't damage the darkness storm.

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A/N: The photo is not mine at all!  I just wanted you all to see a concept of what the creature looks like.  

Until Next Time!