The Lost Stars: (The Discontinued Stories of Sky Writers in Perspective)

Version 4 Chapter 5

 Originally Published (Approx): Jan 8th - April 4th, 2015

"Seriously, where are we going now?" You asked Yuffie. Everyone decided that it was best to split up since they all had different things that they wanted to check out. Vanille, Noel, Marlene, Denzel, and Hope all wanted to check out the accessories store with Tifa. Leon, Zack, and Cloud wanted to look at the weapons store. Aerith wanted to go to the garden to check out the different plants.

Yuffie somehow coerced you into coming with her, saying that she'd cover the most grounds and you'd be able to see the most things with her. She had been truthful at least. You followed her all around the majority of Traverse Town. The First District? Been there done that. The Second District? Old news. The Third District? Even popped your heads into the restricted sections once or twice. You didn't even want to think about how many times you'd ran through the Fourth District. The Fifth District was the only one you didn't go to, and that's only because Yuffie said she didn't want to see the flowers right now.

"FINALLY! Now we can get to the Materia!!!" Yuffie claimed that she couldn't stop at the Materia Stand since she had to save the best for last. "Come on! You've got to see this!" Yuffie enthused. Even if I didn't want to see it, you would have dragged me over here anyways.

"Look!" Yuffie shoved a glowing yellow orb in your face when she finally released your hand from her death grip. "Isn't it beautiful?" Yuffie sniffled, nuzzling the strange orb against her cheek. You watched as her hair slowly stood on end. You took a step back- just in case Yuffie's new hairstyle was contagious.

It was the first time Yuffie gave you a minute to yourself since she'd grabbed your arm and dragged you away from everyone else. Then again, it was because she was too busy squealing over all the new Materia in the front of the stand. You saw the shopkeeper, who was constantly getting called to Yuffie's side to answer questions about the Materia. 'How new is this Materia? Did this Materia really come from Gaia? One hundred percent Mako base, right?'

Then again... Better him than me. I wish you the best of luck you poor shopkeeper. You're going to need it. I guess I can just look around at the Materia while Yuffie is erm... occupied. We might be here for a while.

Unlike the clothing store that just presented the holographic versions of clothes, the Materia stand's stock of Materia was completely physical and tangible. Everything you saw was everything they had. Materia was always spherical, but the spheres were different sizes and different colors that ranged from blue to yellow to red to purple to green.

So these little things are what Yuffie's been going crazy over all day? Your curiosity got the best of you as you picked up one of the orbs and turned it around in your hand. The Materia you picked up was about the size of a marble, and it was a bright blue color. Warmth filled you upon holding the orb, and you blinked a few times before setting it back down- you didn't know what it did and in situations like this it was probably best not to break something.

"Oh my gosh- I didn't even think that they could get this here!" Yuffie's squeals could probably be heard from a mile away.

You grimaced as your ears cried out in pain. Well at least she's enjoying herself. You decided that it would be interesting to see what else all the other Materia did. They wouldn't sell something lethal enough to kill someone though, right? You shrugged, picking up a few more orbs.