“It is a very nice replica.”

The zombified Aerith looked over the white materia the purple coated man held out to her.

“And it would complete your ensemble all the better Miss Stranger.”

“I thought you were going to make it yourself,” the Tifa cosplayer piped up.

“Well I was, but this could save me a lot of time” ‘Aerith’ replied “And you gotta admit Tiff; even if we do figure it out, I don’t know if we could make it this nice.”

“I assure you stranger, my trinkets are truly one of a kind…”

‘Yeah, that didn’t sound suspicious at all…’ Tiffany frowned at the vendor, his statement gaving her sudden goose bumps.

“We never buy things we can just make ourselves” Tiffany urged “If this was something we couldn’t make at the workshop then yeah maybe, but I'm sure Jessie could-.”

“Oh but surely such a little piece isn’t going to compromise your work’s integrity or lessen the pride” the coated vendor interrupted.

“This was a personal project too Tiff, so we wouldn’t have to worry about the shop even if using outside props did matter” The Aerith cosplayer agreed “What’s really up?”

“He's sellin’ shit out of his coat Liv!” Tiffany exclaimed “I mean no way is this guy an approved vendor!”

“I’ll have you know I guarantee the quality of every one of my pieces! I’ve yet to hear a single complaint!” the vendor looked appalled.

“Please, the only way to make you any more shady would be with a windowless van and free candy!”

“Well stranger at this price I would say it’d worth it even if it’s just for the day,” the vendor disregarded Tiffany and turned back to Liv, smiling at her from beneath his hood “Wouldn’t you?”

“That’ll work, right Tiff? Just for the day! We can still make ours and have another souvenir from the con!” Liv told her smiling.

“Getting it for the day would be pointless” Tifa stated, Liv’s eyebrow arching in response “What happened to the white materia when Aerith died?”

Liv’s eyes went wide with her mouth forming the ‘O’ of comprehension. The salesman realized it too, an anxious scowl peeking through his mask at Tiffany’s victorious smirk as she gave him a silent 'Ha-ha'.

“That’s right! It fell out of her ribbon, didn't it?! She wouldn’t have it as a zombie!” Liv realized and turned back to the vendor with an apologetic smile. “Oh I’m afraid she’s right. I'm sorry but I won’t be needing it. It is very nice work though, you should be proud.”

“Hey, How about a discount then?” he persisted, reaching out at Liv as the pair began to move away.

“Whoa!” the cosplayer quickly jumped back, turning hostile “I know you're disappointed but hands to yourself there pally!”

“But I think you're passing up-”

“You’ve lost the sale creep! Deal with it!” Tiffany snapped.

“For free then! You can just take-”

“FUCK OFF!” the two cosplayers yelled simultaneously. The nearby attendees stopped and stared at the display, a few even calling out for security before the man threw his hands up dismissively.

“Fine! Fine… have it your way,” he finally relented, losing the 'stranger' act “I was just trying to make your life more interesting.”

The two girls glared after the man as he disappeared back into the crowds grumbling obscenities. Scowls remained on their faces until they were sure he was gone, finally letting the tension drop as the crowd began to move along again.

“Prick,” the heavily padded cosplayer muttered “You alright Liv?”

“Yeah I’m fine, he never actually touched me” she answered, rubbing her arms “Good call on him though… You okay?”

“Other than being pissed off? Yeah I’m good...” Tiffany replied, trying to shake off the anger “Now then! Let’s see if we can’t find some more pleasent vendors shall we?”

The rest of the day continued on as pleasantly as before, their little incident practically forgotten. One of the security guards did take a report but ‘The Merchant’ was apparently a pretty popular costume that day and the masked nature of it left them with little hope of any resolution. Still, they carried on not letting the shady vendor ruin their geeky acquisitions.

“That was damn good find” Liv comment before a sly grin graced her face “Though it’s yet another thing from Final Fantasy. You know there are lots of other properties that have merchandise right?”

“They’re not all from the same game!” Tiffany defended herself jokingly as she readjusted the bag holding her new replica “And Kingdom Hearts doesn’t really count either!”

“Sure it doesn’t.” Liv giggled.

“I have bought other things! Besides, you’re hardly one to talk!” she said, shaking the bag she was holding up.

“I’m only teasing Tiff” Liv consoled, readjusting her own bag of convention buys. They were eventually stopped when someone starting calling out to their ‘names’.

“Tifa! Aeris!” a young man with his phone out smiled next to his friend “You mind if we get a couple pictures?”

‘AeriS? Ugh…’ Tiffany groaned internally.

“As long as you don’t plan on doing anything weird with them, sure” Liv joked.

“Mind the hole” Tiffany warned as they took turns standing between the pair for the last couple shots. One of their elbows had nearly brushed against the fake sword wound they had painstakingly applied around the red splotches stained on Liv’s dress.

The pair gave the women a sincere thank you and began to go their own way when a purple coat abruptly barreled into the two cosplayers, knocking them both to the ground.

“Hey what the hell man!?” one of the young men shouted after the masked figure stalking off back into the crowds “You could at least say sorry!”

The other helped Tiffany up and went to check on her friend, now slumped awkwardly as she sat on the ground. Worry suddenly creased the trio’s brows as they saw the girl sway slightly, unable to properly right herself even sitting down.

“Hey you alright Liv?” the Tifa cosplayer asked as she hefted the zombie guised girl off the ground, eliciting a weak groan from the young woman “Come on now girl, we’ve taken harder knocks than that…”

She draped the unbalanced girl’s arm over her shoulder before noticing that her hand felt sticky against her friend’s abdomen. Sighing, she realized she just messed up the fake wound. She pulled her hand away to find it covered in red… a wet and warm re-

“OH GOD LIV YOU’RE BLEEDING!” she panicked as she realized it was real. Her head snapped to the two men as she screamed “GO GET HELP! PLEASE!”

“HEY! HEY WE NEED SOME HELP! SOMEONE’S HURT OVER HERE!” one began shouting over the crowds and trying to wave down convention staff as the other called for an ambulance.

“Hold on Liv,” Tiffany began, holding her friend closer as tears began welling in her eyes “Just hold-”

Tiffany didn’t get to finish as her throat was suddenly torn out.

She managed to shove her blood soaked friend off of her, the surrounding crowd screaming and gasping as Tiffany fell back. She clasped her hands fruitlessly against the heavily bleeding tear before her friend lunged at her again with flat, white eyes.

Then Liv suddenly stopped, everything suddenly stopped. The crowds frozen mid-panic when a well dressed, bespectacled man in a a long white lab coat stepped between the two women.

“I must admit, I do find myself impressed” the balding fellow said calmly in a familiar voice, the exaggerated rasping now replaced with a far more cultured, German accent. He adjusted his glasses and summoned a stool from nothing to take a seat next to her, wrapping his hands around a lifted knee.

“Nearly all of zee others have just taken zee bait vithout question; hell most of them practically jump in zee boat for me!” he chuckled, glancing down are her rapidly paling face “Even zose who grow suspicious still juzt try to get the exchange over vith as quickly as possible.”

Tiffany gave a choking chough, misting the air with red.

“But You! You vould have nothing of it!” he announced boisterously, a flamboyant hand shooting upward “You knew something vas afoot and helped your little friend wriggle avay from mine hook.”

Tears streamed down Tiffany’s face, the edges of her vision already beginning to fray as the suited man’s voice started growing further away.

“You even told me to fuck off! I horribly bad decision had I actually been who I vas impersonating, but fortunate for you I am a gud bit more understanding than... zat man, if he can even be called zat” he stated, standing from his stool to examine the vacant Liv. Tiffany found it difficult to track his pace, her reactions feeling slower the more blood she lost “But that von’t stop what’s going to happen. I’ve prepared an experiment for zis girl and she iz going to partizipate.”

He affixed the white materia to the ribbon in Liv’s wig, its effect instantaneous. Dancing golden sparkles coursed down her form as she rapidly dissolved into white and green hued streams of light.

“Looks just like the Life Stream, doesn’t it?!” he asked with a grin as they watched the dissipating swirls of energy. He glanced over to see one of the dying woman’s hands weakly reaching out to her dissolving friend, her eyelids struggling to stay open as her face filled with despair. Both their eyes flared open however at what they saw next.

The blood on her hands began to glow.

“Oh! OH!-OH!-OH! Vhat is ZIS now?!” he cried excited, rushing over and lifting the woman to sit against the base of the stool “I can make it contagious?! Oh I do so love surprises; zey often have such interesting data...”

The enthralled time stopper tilted Tiffany’s head up to examine the wound, now glowing bright gold and letting off sparkles matching those from earlier. He ignored her pained groans of protest as the heat of the light grew ever warmer in her veins.

“Zis opens up so many more options! Heh, eet looks like I have a full day ahead of me at zee next zombie valk no?” he giggled, cheerful smile still plastered on his face “But before you are gone tell me, vhat are you feeling right now?”

Tiffany scowled at him; summoning what little of her strength was left, she focused everything into raising a shaking fist in front of his face and extended a single finger. He blinked at the unexpected sight and let out a boisterous and thoroughly amused laugh.

“Oh, I really do have some moxie don't you girl!?” he chuckled, his mirthful grin meeting her sight as he became the only thing she could see among the black “You vill make an excellent subject...”

He reached out to flick her in the forehead but the darkness already swallowed her whole.

She bolted straight up in the bed, clothes and sheets sticking to her in a cold sweat. Practically wheezing she brought a hand up, forcing herself to calm down.

’It was a dream, calm down… it was just a dream’ her breath evened out and she let her hand fall-

‘Wait. What?’

She let her gaze drop to what blocked the hand's path and, despite the dark only allowing a vague silhouette, she found a lot more than what had been there before. She stared down wide eyed for a moment, trying to register if the sudden ‘increase’ was even real or if she was still dreaming.

She slowly brought her hands up to soon find a very real and very significant weight meeting them. She lifted slightly and even gave a tentative squeeze, earning a small ‘eep’ from herself in confirmation.

‘Yeah, they’re real alright’ she thought, baffled of how it could have happened. She quickly rolled over to hit her light only find herself headed toward the floor, falling off the side of what should have been a lot more bed.

“What the hell?!” She exclaimed. She untangled herself from the sheets and clumsily groped along the bed until she found a night stand.

‘Oh right, the con… I’m just in the hotel room with Liv’ She remembered as she fumbled for a switch on the unfamiliar lamp, feeling silly over her reaction ‘And geez, was that my voice? Do I always sound so different in the morning?’

“Sorry Liv, but I need to see what I’m-”

Her voice caught in her throat, seeing the room as it blazed into view. This wasn’t the Hotel and Liv was nowhere to be seen.

“Where the fuck am I?” she whispered in the only vaguely familiar voice, eyes wide and pupils tiny. The single bed dominated the small room, the only other furniture a simple desk and chair next to an open door leading into a small bathroom. She moved across the small space to look in the full length mirror blotted to the back of the door-

“AH!”

The short yelp echoed through the room, the chair clattering loudly against the desk as she fell back into it. It tumbled to the floor with her as it failed to stop her momentum, both falling back against the bed and slamming it hard into the wall.

She stared in awe at the very real sight of none other than a frightened Tifa Lockhart staring right back at her. She shakily pulled herself up and took a few slow, weary steps back towards the mirror. With quite an audible swallow, she began taking her new self in.

She started at the feet, bare beneath a pair of long legs that led up to a very decent set of hips hugged by a comfortable, if rather plain pair of panties. She then saw she actually had a bit of a six pack, in fact she was pretty toned all over. It wasn’t terribly obtrusive, her form was still rather smooth and soft looking but there was still some very clear definition of a woman in very good shape.

‘And my MaGuppies have become Bazongas…’

Yes, then there were of course, the breasts; to many, Tifa’s most defining physical trait. Now they weren’t Gigantic as a lot of artists like to portray her with but no would ever be calling her small again, that’s for damn sure. She was now easily in the D to Doubles range.

Finally, she brought her head up, seeing a very pretty face under dark locks. The red eyes of the video game vixen looked into her own, deeply concerned under a frightened brow. They were familiar and unfamiliar all at once, not right but somehow not feeling entirely wrong either.

She tentatively began to bring a trembling hand to the face when a soft knock broke her focus.

“Miss Lockhart?” a feminine voice asked softly, slightly muffled by the door “Is everything okay in there?”

She opened the door very slowly, peering out to see a young woman peeking back through curiously.

“Is anything the matter Miss Lockhart? We’ve been hearing a bit of a clatter” the girl carrying a clipboard asked nicely as the rooms occupant stared at her with wide eyes.

‘Why is her skin yellow? Why are her eyes purple?! WHY DOES SHE HAVE A HORN?!’ thoughts screamed though Tiffany’s head.

“…Miss Lockhart?” the girl repeated, her genuine concern breaking through her shock.

“I… I tripped over the chair” she managed dully.

“Oh, I hope you didn’t hurt yourself. I think we may have something in the first aid kit if you need” the blue haired girl offered.

“No, I’m not hurt…” she answered still in a bit of a daze, but the girl certainly seemed nice enough “Where am I?”

Her brow shot up in surprise, the horned girl taken a bit aback by the abrupt and confusing question.

“Well, you’re at the Out of the Way Inn in Sector Six Miss Lockhart” she answered “Room Seven to be exact.”

“And why do you keep calling me that?”

“Oh, that’s what it says in the ledger” she flips through a few pages on her clipboard “Miss Teefa Lockhart, Room Seven; the note says you arrived earlier tonight after calling ahead to reserve the room for the rest of the week. Payed in full up front too. Did we get your name wrong?”

‘Paid in full earlier tonight? But how could I… What the hell is going on?’ her mind reeled.

“Uh, yeah my name’s not Tifa, it’s Tifa. Wait, what? No, sorry; it’s Tifa Lockhart” she sputtered “Errr no… I mean -mmnnnn!”

She slapped her now aching head, the horned employee’s brow wrinkling at her.

“Um... That’s what we have you down as Ma’am” she said, looking at the notes “T-E-E-F-A and L-O-C-K-H-A-R-T?”

“No, T-I-F-whoooa…” She stumbled, clutching the door frame as she fought for balance until the room stopped spinning.

“Whoa easy there… Are you sure you’re okay Ma’am?” the girl asked as she reached out to help steady the teetering woman.

“Yeah” she responded as she was already recovering “Yeah I’m-”

“I mean I think we may have some medicine in the office, or one of us could run down to the pharmacy over on the Wall Market’s main strip for you” she offered “We may even have an esuna materi-”

“No, no really; I think I just have to lie back down for a while” Tifa stopped her.

“Well if you’re sure… I’ll just go make the spelling correction to the ledger then; at least we got the pronunciation right huh?” the girl relented, giving her a consoling smile “If there’s anything else you need we’ll be just down stairs at the front. I hope you feel better Miss Lockhart, and have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too” she said as she walked away. She started slowly closing the door until she called down the hall to the girl “Th-Thank you!”

The girl turned and gave her a quick smile and nod before continuing on her way. Tifa closed the door and stood the chair back before sitting on the bed, staring once again at her reflection.

‘Ok, let’s try that again' she repeated internally.

“My name is Tifa-UGH! My name is TiffffffffaaaaannnnnNA!” Her vision swam again, almost sending her tilting off the bed “Why can’t I say it? I couldn’t even spell it…”

‘Tiffany? Ok… I can still think it’

“Tiffany.”

‘Okay I can say it too, I just can’t seem to say it’s my name’ she took a deep breath ‘Ok, once more- My name is Tiffan-!’

Thousands of voices screamed nonsense throughout her mind on a tidal wave of pain, far worse than any of the former attempts’ dizzy spells. A sharp gasp escaped her as she fell back onto the bed, hands clutching at her scalp.

‘OKAY! OKAY! I’M TIFA! MY NAME IS TIFA NOW!’ the voices ceased even faster than they had started. She pulled herself back up, looking into red, watery eyes.

“I guess I’m Tifa then… I suppose it’s not that different” she sighed before standing back up and moving to the window. She pulled open the curtains to maybe get a better idea of just where this ‘Out of the Way Inn’ was.

“Hello slums-ville” she muttered. It actually wasn’t that bad and it certainly seemed a lot cleaner and brighter the word slum would suggest; a ‘higher class of slums’ if there was such a thing. The dirt paths were bordered with surprisingly healthy grass and based on the room she was in now she was guessing the buildings’ interiors were nicer than the exteriors, which were still far more coherent and solid than what most would picture for slums. A few blocks down she could see what looked like a heavier concentration of buildings and neon “That must be the main strip she was talking about.”

Then she saw the people, and all the different kinds of them. Most looked human but like the girl who checked on her they all had very colorful skin and hair, and a handful of them had horns or-

“Wings?” she asked rhetorically. From this view alone she could see half a dozen pairs of big, feathery wings; most matched the person’s skin color but there were a few exceptions. Yet, as weird as they seemed, they were nothing compared to the standouts; what look like a minotaur and a glimmering-

“That guy’s made of crystal… That’s a crystal man” She stated bluntly.

Along with seeing a man made of shiny minerals walk below the window another realization suddenly hit her; the lighting was off. It wasn’t harsh or anything but it was an ever so subtle artificial yellow blended with a fainter industrial white. It also looked like it was coming from multiple sources. She looked up to indeed see a multitude of large hanging lights over the slums, and far above them even larger lights set into…

‘WHERE THE FUCK IS THE SKY?!’ her mind screamed before she began to hyperventilate. She followed the metal ceiling high above to a massive pillar beyond the slums and large piles of scrap metal. She could just barely see the thin moving lines of trains circling the massive support.

‘Oh… Ooooohhhhhhhh… aw crap…’

“I think I know where I am now…” she bemoaned, head thumping against the glass. All the pieces clicked together; The Wall Market, Sector Six, Esuna and all as she was standing there in the body of Tifa Lockhart herself. She backed away from the window and fell face first onto the bed before rolling over with tears pooling in her eyes.

She wasn’t dreaming, and she now knew that wasn’t a dream before either. Did she die and this was some kind of afterlife? Did that magic guy in the suit send her here?

She didn’t know. All she knew is that she was alone in an entirely new world that she knew for a fact was dangerous and with only a week of somewhere that was maybe safe to stay. She had no idea where Liv was or if she was even still alive… or undead. She knew she had just lost her entire life,

‘I’m not even me anymore…’

The tears began to flow freely with choked sobs forcing themselves from her. She weakly cried the only thought she felt she could express at the moment,

“Well… fuck…”

Author's Notes:

So here we are at the beginning of my second published story! Much like my first story, while I DO have an outline of several plot points and resolutions, everything else will just be me flying by the seat of my pants! It’s been working pretty well so far, so let’s hope it’ll be as effective (and fun!) for this one!

Another small note, like any who have read my other story know: I DO NOT have an editor currently. I do however review chapters several times before publishing. Small things have and almost certainly will slip by but thankfully, from what I’ve gathered, they have yet to make anything illegible or terribly distracting. Still, I apologize in advance for any it may end up bothering and if you feel inclined to correct me or point out errors then please feel free to do so- I would be more than happy to correct things!

Now as always (or what will be always to any new readers)- Thank you all so much for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!