Brother always sounds the mission alarm right when I decide to take a nap.
"Riiiikuuu! Nabund du dra pnetka!"Like I don't know the alarm means to report to the bridge. Brother just needs something else to shriek about.
I settle more comfortably into the bed. Maybe if I imagine really hardthat I'm napping, I'll nip off the fatigue from yesterday's sleepless night. My eyes close tight. I make my breathing slow and think of chocobos running peacefully through the Calm Lands.
"Rikku! Frana yna oui?" Where are you?I jolt upwards at the shriek, ready for a battle. I must have been so good at pretending that I actually fell asleep for a minute, there. With a long groan I'm up and off the bed, pausing to stretch towards the ceiling as an apology to my exhausted body. I have to drag myself down the spiral staircase. "Did we get more steps?" I call out. "Maybe like fifty more steps? I think we definitely got more steps."
Calli giggles from her spot behind the bar. "That would be pretty impressive," she acknowledges, her voice a honey-rasp as always. "I think I'll tag along with you, if that's okay. It's so boringdown here."
"Sure thing." Waiting for her to come around the bar is the perfect opportunity to sneak a look at her face and wonder for the millionth time why she's still here if it's so boring. When Barkeep decided that the life of a barkeep was not nearly as good as a life swimming through the Moonflow with his Darling, Calli begged to step in so she could stay on board. She said that she didn't have anywhere else to go, so Barkeep told her where he got his healing items and Calli stepped in as our new supply master. We've been pretty shorthanded in the past year with Yunie snuggling up to Tidus and Paine off doing her thing, so she even steps in for missions, sometimes. She and that chocobo are really useful in a fight. Still, it doesn't make much sense that she's here instead of with, say, Clasko on his chocobo ranch. He'd be delighted to have her, and she'd be a perfect fit with that wild love of the giant yellow thing that almost got her killed.
"Rikku, back to Spira!" Calli chimes. "Do I have something awful on my nose, or are you tryin' to figure out the meaning of life over there?"
"What?" So much for sneaking. Leading the way is much better than letting her see me blush, I decide as I skip my way out the sliding door that leads into the hallway. "Sorry. I'm way tired. Brother ruined any chance of my nap, too."
"He doesn't have much of a sense of timing," Calli says warmly.
"That's for sure." I definitely don't share her warmth on the subject, though. There are many things I feel for my brother, but affection is notone of them.
Calli glides her way past me into the elevator so that she can work the machina herself. "What do you think he's got this time?" she asks cheerily. "A new sphere, maybe?"
"Maybe." I'm not that excited. Sphere hunting, it turns out, isn't nearly as fun when you're not hunting down lost loves or breaking the rules. Keeping active is great, and seeing my friends all over Spira is something I wouldn't trade for the world, but the actual act of finding spheres? Not so awesome anymore.
"Oh, come on, sleepy-pants, perk up!" She nudges at me with an elbow. The door slides open before I can answer and she proceeds to sprint up to and over the center rail, much the same as Yunie used to. I'm way too tired to sprint. "I think we got more of these steps, too," I complain, trudging over to them.
"Rikku, you're late! And why are you whining?" Brother's hands go to his hips as he nags at me. Nothing new, there.
"You interrupted my nap," I mutter, pouting.
"Boo hoo! Use a Stamina Spring or something."
"That's really not what they're for, actually. The endurance you get only comes in handy when you're in—"
He interrupts me by sticking out his tongue and blowing a big, fat raspberry. Next to him, Calli giggles. "Yeah, yeah, I don't care.We have a mission!"
He sounds super excited about this mission, as if we have anything important to do anymore. "What kind of mission?" I ask warily.
"It's not really a mission,per se." Buddy pops up next to Brother, giving his best friend a raise of brow. "We've got—"
"A party to go to." The voice belongs not to Brother but the gas mask making his way from behind Buddy.
"Shinra!" I rush forward to scoop the kid into my arms. "You're sprouting like a weed! You know, I don't think they make those full-body suits for adults."
"Says who?" he asks. He hugs back for just a moment before stepping back, clearing his throat in a business-like manner.
"Trying to act all grown-up?" I tease, patting his head. "How's Rin?"
"He's fine. We took a little break from Highroad machina to help out the Machine Faction."
"The Machine Faction? Oooh, what for?"
"He won't say anything!"Brother complains.
"That's what the party's for," Shinra says with a shrug. "I can't ruin the surprise. Cid insisted on throwing some big party to announce the tech. It's pretty revolutionary, but I think he's just been restless all cooped up in Djose."
"Oooh, a party?Sounds fun! Who's gonna be there?"
"Well, the Machine Faction, of course. They rustled up Nooj and Baralai, and I think managed to get Yuna, Tidus, and Paine to show up, too. Some of the members of the group are tagging along with Baralai and Nooj. Nhadala's coming with her desert group. Cid talked to anyone important and said to spread the word. And since Yuna's gonna be there…"
"Wow, that's a lot of people." Too many people to not be suspicious, that's for sure. Is Cid rallying up people to support some stupid new project of his? It wouldn't be the first time. Since Nhadala and Rin told him to give up making a new Home, he's got to have some free time on his hands.
"You don't seem too happy about the party," Shinra notes. "You're not going to skip out, are you?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," I reply cheerily, and it's the truth. It'd be pretty dumb to avoid this after all of my complaints about needing a change of pace. "When is it?"
"Now," Shinra says.
"Wait—right now? And you justcame to tell us?"
"Cid probably figured we'd be more likely to come if he sprung it on us," Buddy offered, moving forward. "He sent Shinra over with the news and a handful of dresspheres."
"New dresspheres?" I haven't had a new dressphere in forever."Whatcha got for me, Shinra?"
"Rogue." Shinra pulls a pulsing sphere from a pocket in his suit and tosses it to me. "It's sort of like your thief, but it focuses more on stealth and status magic."
"Oooh, score!" I lock the sphere into my grid and manipulate the thing to go for it. The familiar sensation is cool, shimmering, over faster than I'd like as always.
"It's so cute!" Calli exclaims, leaning forward to touch the material of the dress.
She's right. The dress has a distinct Al Bhed feel, lightweight and a vibrant red in color with bits of a darker maroon interwoven. The sleeves are short and rest off my shoulders, and the skirt is knee-length with a slit up one leg to allow better movement. The boots are calf-length and dark, with buckles in the same color as the dress going up them all the way. I put a hand to my head—no hat, just my hair, long enough that I've forgone my ponytail for a long, thick braid.
"I likeit!" I exclaim. I dig in the sheath buckled at my hip and produce a strange sort of staff, short with a wicked blade curved on one side. "Thisis different. Nice."
Calli stares at the weapon with wide eyes. When she fights, it's mostly with items, a short, fast sword, and her chocobo. Dresspheres are something entirely foreign to her, and sometimes, I think she's pretty jealous. "Do you have anything for Calli?" I ask, turning to Shinra.
"Of course." He sniffles, and reaches into a different pocket for a sphere. "I imagine you have an extra grid."
"More like twenty," I reply with a grin. "But I've got one on me right here." I remove the thing, accepting the sphere from Shinra and moving closer to Calli to show her how it goes in and how to manipulate it.
She gets it right on the first go, and as soon as the transformation starts, she laughs in amazement. It's almost better to watch someone use it than to use it yourself. Her body is enveloped in a sort of shimmering swirl, and she comes out with a pattern similar to my Alchemist dress, this one turquoise and purple. "Neato," she breathes, looking down at herself. Her eyes widen as the gun materializes into her hands.
"What—what do I do with this?"
"Well, you can leave it here if you'd like," I say. "It's a party, after all. Or you can strap it on your back."
"Uh—no thanks," she decides, moving over to place it on the desk that once belonged to Shinra. "This is so neat, though! You have this one, don't you?"
"Yeah! It's neat. Actually, you should keep the grid. The Alchemist dressphere will be super useful to you, since you use items all the time anyway."
"Really? My own garment grid? This is so cool!Thanks, Rikku!" The girl flies across the room to hug me. Is she much of a girl, though? She's taller than me, enough so that my head rests comfortably into her shoulder as I hug her, and her body has filled out. She's older than I was when I went with Yunie on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin.
I glance toward the boys as I step away from Calli, wondering if I'm not the only one that's noticed. Buddy and Brother haven't even stopped to look at her, though, marveling over their own dresspheres—formal Al Bhed armor, similar to what Gippal wears.
Gippal. Cred.He'sgoing to be there. I never even stopped to consider that, as the leader of the Machine Faction, of course his smug mug will be hanging around. I'm not gonna let himscare me off. I'll just—ignore him. It shouldn't be that hard, with all the people there.
Buddy and Brother finish admiring each other while I come to this conclusion and turn to compliment Calli, so my attention goes to that. Is it me being paranoid, or do Brother's eyes stay on her a little long? Hmm.
"Looks like everyone's ready to go, then," Shinra says cheerily, once the talking dies down.
"What about you, Shinra? If we're all dressed up, you should be, too."
"No way. I like it in my suit." He snickers. "Besides, I want to see how old I can get before anyone sees my face." He waves me off before I can protest, turning to Buddy. "Now, why don't you fly us to Djose?"