Chapter Three: Treacherous Waters

"Well, here we are, wherever here is." Rydia peered out the window of the skimmer. "Anything look familiar?"

The small group gathered around the window. Outside they could see a vast forest on the continent, and possibly a city. They had landed on the water. It was a clear day, and the sunlight sparkled on the surface.

"Nothing I've seen before," Schala said.

"Nay," Frog replied.

"Not familiar at all," Magus answered.

"Not to me, either," Lucca said. "Rydia?"

"Nope." Rydia shook her head. "Obviously, we're in some other world. Let's get out and begin our mission."

They flew the skimmer a short distance and landed in the forest. They then walked through the trees to the city they had seen.

"See any familiar faces?" Rydia asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.

Lucca shook her head. "Nope, not a --"

"Lucca!"

Lucca turned to see Celes and Sabin hurrying towards them.

"Lucca! Magus! Frog! It's good to see you!" Celes said breathlessly as they ran up. "But how did you get here? And who's this?" she asked, indicating Rydia and Schala.

"This is a relative of mine, Rydia," Lucca answered.

"Same name as the one we met in Cecil's world? Odd," Sabin commented.

"You met someone with the same name as me from another world?" Rydia laughed. "Odd, indeed."

"And, this," Lucca continued, "is Schala, Magus's sister."

"Nice to meet you two," Celes said. "Now, how did you get here? Oh right, the device. I almost forgot you had that."

"Sort of," Rydia said. "We refitted a vehicle from my time so that it could travel through time, dimensions, and search out everyone." She rolled her eyes. "Instead of working like we intended, it just gave us a list of coordinates for places where it said that people were." She shrugged. "Oh, well. At least it works right otherwise, and when we find everyone, it'll fit everyone in."

"It's that big?" Celes's eyes were wide. "There WERE a lot of us."

Rydia nodded. "So I hear. But it will. It's very spacious." She smiled. "Speaking of which, why don't we get going now? We do have other group members to pick up."

"Um.... could it possibly wait?" Celes looked nervous.

Magus scowled. "No, it can't," he said darkly.

"Why do you want to wait?" Lucca asked curiously.

"Well, we sorta promised these people that we'd help out with something," Sabin replied. "It'd be kinda rude to just leave and break our promise."

"Oh, can't they just fend for themselves?" Magus asked irritably. Schala elbowed him. "What?" he hissed. "Aren't you worried about Bleu?"

"Of course," Schala whispered. "Of course I am. But she does know how to take care of herself, and I do think it would be mean to just break the promise these two made. Don't you?" Magus just sighed and scowled.

"What kind of help?" Lucca inquired.

"They say there's a sea monster that's wrecking ships and causing all kinds of trouble, so we agreed to get rid of it."

"Oh, they've probably just been sniffing the wrong herbs," Magus said irritably. "Let's just go."

"No. I don't think it's just a story." Celes shook her head. "What we've heard sounds like it's a very familiar octopus from our world. If it is, then it's something Ankara or Katra left for us. We can't take something like that lightly." Everyone else nodded their agreement. Magus just frowned and grumbled something under his breath.

"So, how do you propose we go about this?" Rydia asked. "Or do you already have a plan?"

"Sort of," Celes answered. "A ship is currently being armored up, and as soon as it's done, we were going to set sail and try to defeat it. Now, of course, we have some help!" She smiled at them.

"By the way, what world is this?" Lucca inquired.

"It's definitely Skye's world," Celes replied. "Several people have made mention of something called Mana, which I recall her mentioning."

"Miss Chere! Mr. Figaro!" The group turned to see a man hurrying towards Celes and Sabin. "Your ship is ready."

"Good!" Sabin said. He handed the man several gold pieces. "For your trouble. Now then, everyone, let's set sail!"

It was a good day for sailing. The wind was blowing and the sun was shining. However, not all of them were happy about it.

"It's been a while since I've sailed," Sabin remarked as he stood looking over the edge of the ship. "It's good to be out here."

"That's debatable," Rydia managed as she rushed to the edge and lost her meal.

"Hey! Watch where you're puking!" Ultros appeared before her. Rydia let out a startled gasp and stumbled back.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "Where did you come from?!"

"From our world," Celes answered as she stepped closer.

"Looks like we have our sea monster," Lucca said as she took her Wonder Shot out and aimed it at Ultros. "Take 5, squidball!" She fired.

"Ouch!" Ultros exclaimed. He jumped up onto the ship. "Don't tease the octopus, kiddies!" He slapped Schala with a tentacle and she fell back onto the deck with a cry.

"That's quite enough," Magus said angrily. He cast Dark Matter on Ultros.

"Let me follow that up with a Blitz!" Sabin hit Ultros with his Bum Rush.

"And it is once again my turn!" Lucca cast Flare, then threw a Mega Bomb.

"That's it!" Ultros yelled. "Never again!" He started to jump into the sea, but suddenly a black portal opened up and he was swallowed up by it. It closed quickly around him and he vanished. They all stared, not knowing what to make of it.

"Nice work!" Someone started clapping behind them. They all turned to see Ankara standing there. Her hair had been let down and was blowing freely in the sea breeze. "Very nice. I must thank you. That was one of Katra's stupid pets, and I've been meaning to get rid of it. Again, nicely done! Maybe I should keep you around as pest control after I take over."

"Keep us around? You mean you were planning on killing us?" Lucca asked.

Ankara sighed. "Honestly, weren't you listening earlier? I don't like killing. I'd rather mess with your minds. I meant I would put you to work as pest control instead of just driving you insane. But that's later; I'll cross THAT bridge when I come to it. For now, bye!" She waved a hand, and vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

"Now what?" Celes asked.