Rikku POV
Hi! Rikku here! Surprised huh? I've decided to make a record of my story; yeah that's right, MY story, not Tidus story, or Yunas story, MY story!
The story begins at the third year anniversary of the eternal calm, meaning, it's been three years since we defeated Sin! But first, I'm gonna fill you in a little on what's happened so far.
Tidus is back (yay!) but you all knew that already didn't you? But what you DON'T know is that just a couple of months ago, Yuna and Tidus got married! It was SO cool! They got married at the beach of Besaid, and then there was this big party up in the village!
Oh, and Wakka was the Best man, and Lulu was the Maid of honor, the maid dresses were so pretty! At least that's my opinion, Paine didn't like it at all, guess white isn't her color. I have to admit, I cried! It was so romantic, and I always cry at weddings!
I didn't really pay attention to what Baralai said (he was the priest) until the three finishing sentences;
"If there is any man here, who think that these two persons should not be wed, may he speak now, or forever hold his peace."
When of course no one said a thing, he continued;
"I now pronounce you husband, and wife. You may kiss the bride."
They kissed and they seemed SO happy! After that, it was time for the party. Everybody was dancing, and guess what! Paine was dancing too! With Baralai! I was dancing on my own, I felt kind of lonely, and then that jerk Gippal came and started teasing me about my maid dress. It's not my fault! Yuna was the one who chose it! And why am I explaining myself about this!? Sigh…anyway, Shinras Commsphere network has been installed all around Spira, everyone's using it! He was so happy when the Machine faction said they'd sponsor it, or more like; cocky.
Pops have 'kind of' rebuilt Home, but since he didn't really have too much gil and workers to do it…well let's just say it's not like it used to be. Most of us were pretty down after pops blew up Home, but since we Al-bhed never dwell on the past we almost forgot about it when the calm came. Pops got pretty angry when Rin said he wouldn't help funding the whole project, but he actually DID have a point; the Al-bhed didn't need Home anymore, they were all accepted by the rest of Spira now. Anyway, pops didn't rebuild Home as a fortress like before, now it's just a small town with machina houses, he's pretty happy about the place though, since travelers and adventurers pay to get some place to sleep for a couple of days, other than that it's just pops and some of the workers who helped build it that lives there. Well, that's about it, I'll tell you if I remember anything else, so I'll just go ahead and tell you my story!
Normal POV
It was evening, but the sun was still out. The Celsius leapt through the air in the direction of Besaid Island.
"Come on!" Rikku cried out to Brother. "Can't this piece of junk go any faster!?"
"Kut Tysh ed (God damn it) Rikku, we're at top speed!" Brother said through clenched teeth.
"Aaaaw, but we gotta hurry!" Rikku whined.
"Besaid will still be there," Buddy said in a bored tone, "it's not like it's gonna disappear."
"But I wanna see Yunie!" Rikku kept on. "I haven't seen her or the others since the wedding!"
"We'll be there in a couple of minutes…" Buddy sighed.
The Gullwings had been a little re-molded since the defeat of Vegnagun. Since Yuna was now married, she was no longer a part of the group, Shinra had ended up joining the Kinderguardians, and Paine had joined up with Nooj and Baralai to help them in the political struggles, apparently she had a house in Bevelle. The Youth league and New Yevon had joined forces and formed what they now called the "League of Spira", it was a republican government, with delegates from all regions and races, one from the Guado, one from the Ronso, one from Besaid, one from Killika and so forth. There wasn't any delegate for the Al-bhed, since the whole race now lived among everyone else.
The Gullwings also had some new recruits, the new engineer, Linna; she was nearly as brilliant as Shinra, not to mention the same kind of proud ego about her inventions. She looked kind of like Nhadala, she wore the same kind of clothes, but she was a bit more tanned and she didn't wear goggles. Barkeep had brought his girlfriend, Darling along (Rikku nearly passed out when she saw two Hypellos)
Then there was Vact, a guy almost as old as Rikku, he mostly took care of the cargo, and helped out when he was needed, he usually didn't talk much, probably because he was kind of shy. He was wearing a pair of sacky pants, boots and a white tank-top, he had blond hair, he wasn't Al-bhed though.
The Celsius descended at the shore of Besaid. Rikku yelled to the others as she ran out to the elevator,
"You guys wait here and I'll be back in a sec!"
"No need to rush." Buddy said through the com-device, since Rikku was already outside the ship. She ran up the beach and strode along the route to the village.
The natures of Besaid were just as beautiful as always, the beach, the waterfalls, the rivers and the trees. For Rikku, it all was like seeing a couple of old friends. Rikku was no longer wearing 'practically nothing', she had replaced the skirt with a pair of blue jeans with ripped ends, she had a couple of bag pockets attached at her belt, like the ones she used to have on her skirt. She had decided to cover her bikini with a tight orange top; she also skipped those rosette sleeves she used to cover her arms with. Other than that, she looked pretty much as always, same boots, same hair, same bandana, same scarf, and of course, her old go get 'em attitude.
As she got to the village gates she looked around and sighed, then she ran straight to the hut she knew belonged to Yuna and Tidus. She quietly peeked inside, there they were, lying in bed, cuddling. They had changed their looks quite a bit. Yuna was wearing a blue skirt that reached down to her ankles, it was held up with a black leather-belt, she also had a small blue top to go with the skirt. She hadn't given up on her boots though. Tidus had made a rather rapid change with his clothes; he was wearing a pair of big shorts that ended just a little bit under his knees, he also wore a red shirt with a tank-top under it, Rikku was glad to see that he had gotten rid if those (according to her) crazy shoes and totally weird arm-gadgets, he still wore that cool necklace though. Rikku giggled and jumped inside the hut screaming,
"Surprise lovebirds!"
Yuna and Tidus flung out of bed, totally taken aback. At first they looked terrified, but then they smiled at eachother, grabbed a pillow each and looked at Rikku.
Rikkus eyes widened and she said "Uhm…so you guys had a good honeymoon?" She tried to smile. The next second Rikku was thrown out of the hut by two extremely heavy pillows, Yuna came right after them and jumped at Rikku and started to tickle her.
"No! Yunie! Hahah! Please! Stop!" She squealed, laughing like mad.
"Serves you right.." Tidus said laughing as he came out of the hut, "for ruining our quality time!"
"What do you mean 'quality time'?" Yuna said and threw a pillow at him.
"Uh..well..I uh.." Tidus said. Rikku got to her feet and started hitting Tidus with the other pillow singing "Tidus is a perv! Tidus is a perv!"
"Hey! Whoa!" Tidus yelled holding up his arms to repel the pillow.
"So, you just came here to say hi and play with pillows?" Yuna asked Rikku as she got to her feet.
"Oh, no! Not just to say hi!" Rikku said throwing the pillow in Tidus face and turning to Yuna. "I came to pick you guys up!" She smiled the widest smile she could manage.
Yuna looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Uhm, pick us up?" Tidus said after a few seconds.
"Uh-huh, for the party!" Rikku smiled if possible even wider.
Yuna and Tidus looked at eachother, then at Rikku.
"P-party?" Yuna said a little nervous.
"Yeah? You didn't forgot, did you?" Rikku said.
"Well, guess you can't blame us since you never told us." Tidus said with a weak smile.
Rikkus eyes widened. "Whaaat!? But Wakka was supposed to tell you!"
At that moment, someone snuck up behind Tidus and Yuna and grabbed their necks.
"Well, I thought it was better to wait until the last second or they'd run away on us, yah?" Wakka said in his rough Besaid-accent.
"Ow! Let go Wakka!" Tidus yelled.
"Yeah! Let go!" Yuna whined.
"Sorry Yuna," Said Lulu who had just appeared from behind Wakka, "but we promised Rikku we wouldn't let you miss another party."
Wakka let go of the struggling couple.
Wakka and Lulu, still the same, they hadn't changed at all.
"Look, we have a reason for not wanting to go, okay?" Tidus said rubbing his neck.
"Yeah, every time we go out in public people are tugging at our arms and ripping at our clothes." Yuna said sadly.
After the Youth league and New Yevon joined forces, the people of Spira had once again seen Yuna as their shining star, since it was mostly thanks to her and Lennes song that they all stopped their struggle (and Gippals speech at the Luca stadium didn't exactly hold the peoples feelings for Yuna down) and Tidus was soon to become about as famous as Yuna. One could still hear people talking about it, the high summoner, Lady Yuna, married to a Blitzball player from Zanarkand. Not to mention all his crazy fans at the blitz tournaments.
"Oooh, don't worry Yunie!" Rikku said cheery. "The place will be so PACKED that no one will notice you guys!"
"Yeah but.." Tidus still hesitated, "the entry's probably sold out already anyway so-"
"Oh, don't you worry about that!" Rikku interrupted and pulled out a bunch of pink cards with a strange heart on them that Yuna resembled as LeBlancs' logo.
"LeBlanc and her 'Noojie-woojie' gave me these; they REALLY wanted you guys to come!"
Rikku looked at Yuna with her puppy-dog-eyes. Yuna narrowed her eyes and said,
"What's the REAL reason you want to go to the party so badly?"
"What to you mean?" Rikku said.
"Well," Yuna looked at Rikku with a serious expression on her face, "if I remember correct, a certain 'Machine faction-leader' usually appears at those parties!"
Rikku blushed. It hadn't actually occurred to her that Gippal was bound to come to big parties like this one.
"Aaah, that Gippal-guy Rikku was dating?" Tidus said with a wry smile.
Rikkus eyes widened and she quickly gave Tidus a kick at his leg yelling,
"I am NOT dating him! Okay? He's just an annoying jerk that's following me around!"
"Then why are you blushing?" Lulu asked with a smile.
"I'm not!" Rikku said, trying to hide her face.
Rikku POV
Don't ask me how I got myself out of that situation! I don't understand why they were bugging me about Gippal, I just wanted Yunie and Tidus to go out and have fun with all of us for once! But, for some reason, Yunie didn't really like Gippal, so I guess the thought of me being with him was a little disturbing. Ahem…anyway, we managed to drag Yunie and Tidus down to the Celsius and then we were of!
Normal POV
Every year, there was a big party at the Luca stadium, and a parade in Bevelle to celebrate the Calm. Nooj and LeBlanc were responsible for the party, and Baralai did his best to manage the parade in Bevelle, he always had a lot of support though, from people like Issaru and others. Paine didn't really have a decided post with any of them; she usually went where she felt comfortable.
It was right after dusk and the sun had set. Tidus and Yuna were in the cabin, getting ready.
"Tell me again why we're doing this." Yuna said while putting on some make-up.
"Because you can't say no, and Rikkus puppy-dog-eyes are enough to make a Malboro cry."
Tidus said in a bored tone, taking a sip at one of Barkeeps best drinks.
"Yeah, but she DOES have a point." Yuna said.
"Hmn?"
"Well, we haven't been away from Besaid for months," Yuna said turning to Tidus, "we should try to have fun tonight!" She smiled slightly.
Tidus looked at her and smiled. "Whatever you say."
The Celsius landed at the docks in Luca, and as the hatch went down and everybody was heading out they saw a familiar face.
"Paine!" Rikku cried out and ran up to her, arms outstretched.
"No hugs." Paine said and held her and out in front of her, Rikku stopped right in front of it, she let her arms fall to her hips.
"Aaaaaw, bummer…" She said.
"So you guys ready to party?" Paine said turning Yuna and Tidus.
"You bet!" Yuna smiled.
"Heeey! I thought you guys were totally of the idea!" Rikku said laughing slightly. "How come you changed your mind?"
Yuna just smiled, then she and the others strode of to the entrance.
Rikku stamped at the ground.
"Why does everybody have to be so dull!?" She yelled and ran after them. As she rounded the corner to the stairs up to the entrance she ran into someone and fell backwards, but the person grabbed her arm before she fell down the stairs.
"Th-thanks, that was kinda close!" She said without looking up.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Cids' little girl, falling on her butt as usual." The person said.
Rikku looked up in alarm to see Gippal standing there with his usual grin. She jerked her arm out of his grip and punched him in the chest whining, "I have a name!"
Gippal just laughed, he had barely felt her punch.
"Shouldn't you be tucked in bed by now?" Gippal said with a grin.
"And shouldn't YOU be back in Djose, building totally useless machines that no one wants?"
Gippal eye widened.
"And miss a party like this?" He said with a falsely disbelieving voice.
It was common to see Rikku and Gippal teasing eachother like this; it was something they had been doing since they were kids. Gippal was usually the one starting it all, and he was also the one with the advantage.
"Couldn't you wait until I was drunk so I could ignore you?" Rikku whined.
"A gentleman never lets a woman wait!" Gippal said and bowed. "But since you're just a little girl," he stretched up, "I guess I should have waited until you got your feeding bottle!" He laughed.
"Ooooow why, you!" Rikku bellowed.
"Haha! Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go ahead and spend some time with people old enough to drink." Gippal said and ran up the stairs and inside the stadium.
Rikku was pouring with rage; she just stood there talking to herself.
"Dryd...dryd...SAYHEA! (That...that…MEANIE!)" She spat. She stamped on the ground and ran up the stairs after him.
You could hear the music miles away from the stadium. And as Rikku entered it, she was totally taken aback by the sight; she hadn't been able to show up at the two earlier parties, she had been too busy. The first year she had been busy traveling around Spira, teaching people about machina, and the second year, well…Yuna promptly wanted to get married at that exact date. But then again, here she was now; standing in the entrance staring at something that looked like a giant club. The benches had been removed, and tables and couches had been placed all around the place. In the center of the stadium were the pool used to be, a giant dance floor had been place, people were dancing their freaks of up there, and a fence had been place around all of it so that nobody would fall out. You could also see a bar her and there, the bartenders blending drinks to anyone who didn't look too young.
Rikku immediately shined up, "Forget about Gippal!" She thought. "Time to party!"
Pure techno was rumbling trough the air; lights of thousands of colors were illuminating the whole stadium. People were drinking, dancing, laughing and celebrating. Rikku was swinging her tiny body along the dance floor. She was swinging her hips back and forth with her arms above her head. She kept on dancing for what seemed like hours, and there were a couple of guys hitting on her, but she turned them all down with a snide comment. When the DJ stopped the music to change to another song, she strode of to the nearest bar and ordered a drink, a STRONG drink. She removed the little umbrella decorating the drink and almost downed the whole glass; she sipped at the rest of the liquor in it.
"So, I see you found your feeding bottle!" A voice said from behind her.
She turned around and found herself once again staring straight into Gippals face.
"Go to hell Gippal!" She said, downing her drink, ordering a new one.
"Whoa, heh, I know we've known eachother for a long time, but don't you think it's a little early for you to bring me home to your place?" Gippal said and took a seat next her, ordering a beer.
"You're just as arrogant as you were back when we were kids…" Rikku said, downing her second glass.
"Speaking of which," Gippal said, taking a sip of his beer, "remember when we stole all that beer, from the kitchen, back at Home?"
Rikku sniggered, she remembered. About four years ago, when Rikku was fourteen and Gippal fifteen, the two of them had been watching the men at their parties, how fun they seemed to have thanks to the booze. While Gippal was distracting the chefs, Rikku snuck inside the storage-fridge and managed to get her sticky fingers on a barrel of beer. They hid in a storage down in the basement and had a contest about who was the bigger drinker.
"I totally drank you under the table!" Rikku laughed.
Gippal eyes widened. "Well, you must have been REALLY drunk, because YOU were the one being drunk under the table." He said.
Rikkus mouth opened wide, then she said, "I don't think so, since it was YOU who were the one who passed out after two hours-"
"During which, you spent most of the time vomiting all over the floor." Gippal interrupted.
"I did NOT throw up!" Rikku said irritably.
"Then how do you explain that there were chewed Cruespice fruits all over the floor?" Gippal said and downed the rest of his beer. "You're the only one I know that actually EAT that stuff!"
Rikku blushed, but then she said "Hey! I could run you out anytime!"
"Then how about now?" Gippal said and shrugged his shoulder.
"I don't wanna waste any gil at YOU!" Rikku said and glared at him.
Gippal laughed and said "We both know that you got enough cash to have some fun," he suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at her "or maybe, you're afraid?"
Rikku glared at him.
"Let's make it fair." Gippal said. "Hey Jarred! Give me a double of what she had, and another beer!"
The bartender came over with a beer, and then he took a large glass and poured up the same kind of liquid that Rikku had been drinking. Gippal handed Rikku the beer and then he downed the whole glass of his own drink. Rikku looked at him then downed the beer in three swipes.
"Okay, now we're equal," Gippal said, then he turned to the bartender called Jarred and said, "So Jarred, you know anything about the game called 'Table-turner'?"
Jarred grinned and pulled up a brick full of shot glasses, and a bottle with some yellow-greenish liquid that Rikku recognized as cacti-liquor.
"A shot contest, huh?" Rikku smiled.
"You know how it goes?" Gippal asked.
Rikku grinned, took a shot, downed it, turned it upside down, and slammed it on the table.
"First one to fall of the chair pays for all of it." She said.
Gippal grinned his infamous cocky grin, took a shot, and the game was on.
After about twenty shots (yeah, that's right, twenty) they were both really drunk, but they both kept at it, since none of them wanted to lose to the other. Rikku thought she should start a conversation to keep her mind of the fact that she was shit-laced.
"So what you been up to?" She asked while she continued to down shots. "Haven't seen you for a while."
Gippal just shrugged his shoulders and took another shot.
"It's been kinda busy lately," he said, "machina is shipped to Djose every day, we've been making a lot of money, and a lot of money means a lot of work, and a lot of work means…" He became silent; it looked like he was thinking hard.
"I don't know what it means!" He said with a laugh. Rikku started laughing too and it resulted in her spilling a shot in her lap.
"Oh, shit!" She said but continued to laugh.
"Phew, I'm gonna go and get some fresh air!" Gippal said still laughing.
"You running away?" Rikku said with an evil grin. "That means you lose big guy!"
Gippal turned around with his unsteady legs.
"Well, it's kinda hard to keep going since the bottles empty." He said.
"Huh?" Rikku looked at the bottle of cacti-liquor, it really WAS empty.
"Oh, hey Jarred!" Gippal yelled to the bartender and threw a bag of gil at the counter. "Keep the change." He turned around again and started walking towards the exit.
"Hey!" Rikku shouted and stumbled after him. "You're not getting away that easy!"
"Oh?" Gippal said and turned around to face her.
"You can't just leave me here!" Rikku pouted.
"And why is that?" Gippal asked.
"Because," Rikku said, "Paine left a while ago to go to the parade in Bevelle, Lulu and Wakka are stuck up at the dancefloor, and Tidus and Yuna are making out at the balcony behind us!" She jerked her thumb up at a balcony connected to the floor above them.
Gippal gave the balcony a quick glance before speaking to Rikku.
"Speaking of Yuna," he said, "I ran into her before."
"Yeah?" Rikku asked.
"Yeah," Gippal continued, "she said something about chopping my balls of if I so much as touched you."
"Are you gonna touch me?" Rikku asked suspiciously.
"No," Gippal said, "but she might get the wrong idea about us leaving here together."
"I told you," Rikku said and laughed, "she's busy making out with Tidus!"
Gippal smiled and said "Are you sure about that?" He nodded at the balcony on which Yuna and Tidus were standing. Rikku turned around quickly, she saw that Yuna had been watching them but turned away as soon as she saw that Rikku noticed.
"Why does she always have to be so suspicious about me!?" Rikku said irritably turning back to Gippal, but then she got an idea.
"I got an idea!" She said and smiled.
"What?" Gippal said in a bored tone.
Rikku grabbed an empty bottle and swung it at Gippal who ducked and almost fell to the floor because of his grogginess.
"Wh-what was that for!?" He asked in a surprised tone.
"Play along and run for the exit!" Rikku said.
"Huh?" Gippal narrowed his one eye, Rikku swung the bottle at him again but missed.
"Pretend I'm angry at you!" She said through clenched teeth.
Gippal started to understand and dodged yet another swing of the bottle and ran towards the exit.
Yuna and Tidus were watching how Rikku drunkenly chased Gippal out of the stadium.
Yuna sighed; Tidus looked at her and said.
"Look, as far as I can see, they're only teasing eachother, and you really shouldn't interfere in Rikkus love life."
"I know," Yuna said, "but, I just don't like the thought of my little cousin going out with someone who looks like a pirate."
"She's eighteen!" Tidus laughed. "She can decide for herself, besides Yuna, you're not her mother!"
"I know that!" Yuna said angrily. "But I still don't want her to go out with an arrogant player who thinks that machina is the only thing that makes life worth living!"
Tidus laughed and hugged Yuna, then he said "Look, she can take care of herself, and to me, it looks like she's not really interested in this guy."
Yuna looked over at the exit and said "I hope you're right."
"Whoa! Knock it of Rikku! We're outside already!" Gippal shouted as Rikku kept hitting him with the bottle.
"Oh, yeah! Hehe, cunno, (sorry)" Rikku said and laughed, almost tripping on her unsteady legs, "I just got carried away!"
"Nice excuse!" Gippal said and took the bottle from her.
They were in the docks now, Gippal tumbled over to a crate and sat down.
"Rumo luf, E's naymmo fycdat! (Holy cow, I'm really wasted!)" Rikku laughed while spinning around looking up in the sky.
Gippal laughed at what he saw and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. As he lighted it Rikku stopped spinning and looked at him.
"Oh, I'm just soooo drunk I- Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Gippal looked at her and said "What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?" Rikku asked as she stalked over to him and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it away.
"Don't smoke when I'm around! It's disgusting!" She said waving a finger in front of his face. Gippal just looked at her, then he chuckled and said,
"Whatever, Cid's girl…"
Oooooh I have a name!" Rikku shouted while stamping the ground. "And it's Rikku!
R-i-k-k-u! Rikku!"
Gippal just kept chuckling. "Whatever, shorty." He stood up and messed up Rikkus hair.
"Heeeeey!" She waved her hands wildly to shake him of.
"Can't be easy being short as a Tonberry." Gippal said and backed away from her.
"I'm – Not – Short!" Rikku yelled poking him in the chest.
Gippal grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to the ground and started tickling her. She laughed madly.
"No! Hahahaha! Gippal! Hihihihhaha! Stop! Kyyaaah! Please!"
After a couple of minutes they stopped struggling and just lay flat on their backs at the pier, gazing at the stars.
"So what have you been up to?" Gippal said after a while. "Aren't too many spheres around anymore huh?"
"Tell me about it!" Rikku said restlessly. "We've been scanning Spira for months now without finding so much as piece of glass!"
Gippal chuckled.
"So," he said, "I guess you're unemployed now then?"
"Yup." Rikku sighed. "Gil's been kinda hard to come by."
"Hmn…" Gippal nodded. "You want a job?"
Rikku bounced up and looked at him.
"You serious!?" She asked gleefully.
"Sure," Gippal said and sat up, "We could use an extra hand, I'll have a room prepared for you first thing tomorrow morning."
"Yes! Thanks a lot Gippy!" Rikku said and hugged him.
"Gippy?" Gippal said.
"Yeah?" Rikku said. "You always call ME freaky names!"
"And 'Gippy' was the best you could come up with?" Gippal said in disbelief.
"Okay, then how about Gippy-whippy? Hmn?" Rikku said. "Or Gipster? No wait! Just Gip!" She motioned her hand through the air as if showing him a vision.
"How about," Gippal said, "The-most-handsome-machine-faction-leader-that-is-giving-you-a-job-and-just-as-easily-can-take-it-away-from-you?"
"Nah, I think Gip is much better!" Rikku said.
"Whatever…" Gippal said and shuffled her hair. "Cid's girl!"
Rikku POV
Yup, there you have it; the beginning of my story! We went back to the party, danced, and passed out. Yunie and the others brought me back to the Celsius and tucked me in, and I guess Gippal went back to the machine faction, Yunie said a couple of Al-bhed took care of him.
Anyway, I told everybody that Gippal had given me a job, I was actually really surprised that I remembered it. Well, some were happy for me, like Buddy, Tidus and Vact, but others like Yunie and Brother, well…
Normal POV
"What!?" Yuna threw at Rikku when she told them she was going to work at the Machine faction. "You're gonna work for that-that arrogant-"
"Easy Yuna! Easy!" Tidus tried to calm her. "It's not like she's going out with him like you thought."
Rikkus eyes widened.
"You thought I was going out with him!?" She said in disbelief.
They were all at the bridge of the Celsius, Lulu and Wakka had decided to take a boat cruise back to Besaid, and Rikku had just told Brother that he was going to have to make an extra landing at Djose temple, when both HE and Yuna freaked out.
"I am not going to waste my valuable time on driving all the way to Djose!" Brother shouted.
"You won't have to," Buddy said. "We still have the autopilot you know."
"Dryd ec hud fryd E sayhd! (That is not what I meant!)" Brother said through clenched teeth.
"I am not going to let my little sister work for a backstabber like Gippal!"
"That player is just trying to twist you around his finger!" Yuna said fiercely.
"Hey, you think I would let him do that?" Hmn?" Rikku said.
The others became silent, Rikku laughed.
"Come on guys! I'll be fine! And I really need the money!"
"As if we could stop you…" Linna said from her seat.
"Okay, I'm gonna go pack, alright?" Rikku said and ran up to the elevator.
"I'll turn on the autopilot." Buddy said and got over to his seat.
"I still think this is a bad idea!" Yuna said when Rikku disappeared into the elevator.
"Relax, she'll be fine!" Tidus said.
Yuna punched his shoulder lightly.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" She said angrily.
Djose temple
Gippal woke up with a killer hangover. He twisted in bed and checked the time.
"12.33!?" He thought. "Shit, that was some party!"
He had given everybody the day off, since they were all bound to be totally drained from the festivities last night.
"Guess I'll just go back to sleep…" Gippal thought and pulled the cover over his head. He had fallen asleep in his clothes and he had absolutely no idea of how he had gotten back to Djose, and there was something in the back of his head, there was something he was supposed to remember.
"Shit, I hate memory loss!" He said aloud. "I know I've forgotten something, I just can't figure out what!"
He lay there for about half an hour trying to figure it out. "What was it?" He thought, he couldn't remember anything, but something told him that the moment he remembered, he would regret it. And with that he fell asleep again. But suddenly, the door flew up, and someone yelled;
"Come on Gip! Wakey-wakey! Time to get up!" Rikku dropped her briefcase onto the floor and started jumping at Gippals bed.
"Now I remember…" Gippal moaned under his breath.
"Come on Gippal! I wanna see my room!" Rikku whined and pulled of the covers and threw them at the floor.
"You're evil…" Gippal said.
"Get up you lazy bum!" Rikku yelled gleefully and took his pillow and started hitting him with it.
"Ow! Okay I'm up! I'm up!" Gippal yelled and rolled of the bed. "Ooooh…" He moaned from the floor.
"How can you sleep when you know I'm coming?" Rikku pouted.
"To tell the truth," Gippal said. "I had completely forgotten you were coming."
Rikku just looked at him with wide eyes.
"Okay, that does it," She said with her hands on her hips. "No more booze for you!"
"Hey, how the hell can you be so awake?" Gippal asked. "Unless my memory is totally fucked up I happen to remember that you drank almost all the liquor in Luca last night."
"I've got an up and awake personality!" Rikku said with a smile.
"Whatever…" Gippal got to his feet. "I'm gonna go take a shower." He walked over to the door leading into a bathroom.
"What? Wait!" Rikku shouted. "You haven't showed me my room yet!"
Gippal stopped and looked at his feet sighing.
"Alright, follow me…" He said turning to her with a grin. "…Cid's girl."
"Meanie!" Rikku pouted.
Gippal dragged Rikku through corridors and halls she didn't even know existed, they had obviously made a couple of changes with the structure. Gippal opened a door to reveal an almost empty room.
"Hope you like it." He said.
The room was not too small, and not really big, there was a bed in the corner, in the middle of the room there was a table with two chairs, in the far end of the room next to the bed there was a desk with a commsphere on top of it, at the other side next to the desk there was a door leading to a wardrobe, and just like Gippals room this one had a private bathroom.
"Oh wow!" Rikku screamed. "I get my own bathroom!"
Gippal chuckled. "Since we rebuilt the place and added a couple of rooms," He said, "every worker who lives here get to have their own bathroom."
Rikku ran across the room to look inside the empty wardrobe.
"Now if you excuse me," Gippal said turning to leave, "I'm gonna go have a refreshing shower."
"Sure!" Rikku said with a smile and started unpacking.
Gippal sure took his sweet time in the shower. He wouldn't have to do too much work today, since everybody else was taking the day of. He spent about forty minutes in the shower before he was done. He grabbed a towel and went to put on some clothes. But when he was halfway through the room to grab the clothes that lay by his bedside, the door swung open and Rikku barged in.
"For the love of sand Gippal! Put some clothes on will ya!?" She shouted when she saw him standing there in nothing but a towel.
"Sure," He said. "But uh…could you please turn around first?" He grinned slightly.
Rikku turned around quickly. Gippal grinned wider and started to put his clothes on.
"So, what are we gonna do today?" Rikku asked when Gippal had put on his pants.
"What do you mean?" Gippal asked, pulling on his shirt.
"Well, I'm here to work right?" Rikku said turning back to look at him.
"I've given everybody the day off," Gippal said putting on his heavy combat boots. "Thought they might need some sleep from the party last night."
"Then what am I suppose to do?" Rikku said and stomp the ground. "I'm bored!"
"I don't know," Gippal said, making sure the belts and gadget on his collar were tight enough. "Decorate your room or something!"
"I already have!" Rikku said.
"Well," Said Gippal while snatching up his mortar. "If you want something to do that bad, why don't you come with me and hunt some fiends down the beach?" He flung the mortar over his shoulder.
"Fiend hunting?" Rikku asked.
"Yup," Gippal said. "They keep flocking at the beach every day, better beat them back or they reach the temple." He took his gun and made sure it was loaded, and then he asked, "So, you're still using dresspheres?"
"No," Rikku said. "All the garment grids suddenly broke down, Linna didn't know how to fix them and we couldn't ask Shinra since he joined the Kinderguardians."
"So it's just you and your daggers?" Gippal asked and holstered his gun.
"Well, Linna modified them a little," Rikku smiled slightly, "and I got a whole bunch of surprises in my pockets."
"Surprises huh?" Gippal said, he knew all about Rikkus little mania for grenades and items like that, the kind that hurt. "Okay then, let's go!"
"Right!" Rikku said jumping into the air.
As they strode down the Djose highroad, Gippal explained that there had been a strange kind of fiend activity along the highroad lately.
"The fiends are multiplying day by day." He said. "Mostly Sallets, we've been able to keep them at bay though, but I thought it might be best to check things out and get to the source of it."
"Were do they come from?" Rikku asked. "The sea?"
"Sallets in the sea?" Gippal said disbelieving. "Nope, they seem to be coming from a cave, and that's the cave we're about to investigate, I tried to send some of my men to check it out but they're all worked up about it, some guy named Narroj went in to take a look, came running out screaming about ghosts!" Gippal shook his head. "I don't know why they all believe him though, that Narroj has always been kinda sick."
Rikku just looked at him with scared eyes.
"Did you say ghosts?" She said.
"Oh, come on!" Gippal said rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me that you believe it to!?"
"Well we've both been to the Den of woe!" Rikku said this very fast. "And it might be some kind of unsent!"
"I know about that stuff, okay?" Gippal said. "It's just the fact that it came from Narroj, that's all, it's probably just a Haunt or something, you know that skeleton fiend with horns and no legs?"
"Please don't talk about those!" Rikku pleaded and shivered.
"Hehehe, Cid's little girl's got the chills!" Gippal smirked.
Rikku turned to him and kicked his leg.
"I'm NOT scared!"
"Ow! Ayco! (Easy!)" Gippal said jumping on one leg.
As they reached the old machina that were used during Operation Mi'hen, Rikku saw something that made her eyes go wide like apples; hundreds of Sallets, sticking up and looking like a bunch of rocks at the beach. It looked like they were searching for something, they kept looking out the sea and around the beach, as if they were trying to catch the sent of something.
"What are they doing?" Rikku asked Gippal, the two of them had hidden behind a rock and were now peeking over the edge trying to figure out what the Sallets were doing.
"I don't know," Gippal said and stood up. "But I'm not gonna ask them!" And with that, he lifted his mortar and fired a round of grenades at the flock.
Sallets flew back and forth, blasted into the air, and those who had been the centre of the impact were blown into pieces.
"You got any useful 'surprises'?" Gippal asked crouching and looking at Rikku.
"You bet!" Rikku said and took out an ice gem.
"Distract them while I reload!" Gippal said, shoving some grenades into the pipes of the grenade launcher side of the mortar.
Rikku stood up and threw the ice gem at the panicking fiends. But it proved to be a HUGE mistake, the moment the gem hit one of the Sallets the others saw the attacker and rampaged towards her.
"Shit!" Rikku hissed and threw a grenade at them. "Gippal! Hurry up will ya!"
Gippal stood up and pointed his gun at the attacking fiends and fired a shot. The bullet scattered and the pieces flew in every direction at the Sallets. Some were killed instantly, but there were still many of them moving towards Rikku and Gippal.
"Screw this!" Gippal said holstering his gun and starting the grinder on his mortar.
"Hey, check this out!" Rikku yelled and pressed a button on one of her daggers, the blade started spinning around the handle just like Gippals grinder.
Gippal grinned. "Quite the modification!" He said.
Rikku smiled and did the same with the other dagger. The two of them jumped of the highroad and onto the beach, they sliced the scales of the fiends as if they were water melons.
They kept on for what seemed to be an hour before all the fiends were dead.
"So I guess Cid's little girl still got it!" Gippal grinned and shouldered his Mortar.
"So where's this cave anyway?" Rikku asked ignoring Gippals comment.
"Right over there!" Gippal said, pointing at a cave right next to the wracked machina, the entrance was about twice as tall as Gippal.
"Huh? I've never seen it before." Rikku said looking over at it.
"That's cause it's new." Gippal said walking over to the entrance of the cave. "Well, you coming or what?" He asked turning to look at Rikku.
"Uhm," Rikku hesitated. "Are you sure about this?"
Gippal snorted and walked into the cave.
"Hey wait!" Rikku yelled and ran after him. "Shouldn't we atleast go get some help?" She said hopefully as she walked up next to him.
"Don't you think I'd have brought them here already if I was gonna need their help?" Gippal asked in a bored tone.
"Oooh, poopie!" Rikku said, while stamping the ground.
Suddenly they heard a noise; it was kind of like a groan and a rumble from a very deep voice.
"What was that!?" Rikku shivered and looked around wildly.
"I think it was Narroj's ghost." Gippal said in his casual voice.
The cave was big, a lot bigger than the entrance; it was like a big hall, but it was dark.
"Let's spread some light over this shall we?" Gippal said and shoved some kind of grenade into one of the pipes of his mortar, and then he shot it up towards the ceiling. The grenade exploded into glowing pieces that attached to the walls and ceiling. Now the whole chamber was in light and they could see the source of the noise; it looked like a giant slimy egg, it had a black-greenish colour, and was attached to the wall with some kind of yellow slime. There was some kind of opening at the top of it, sliding out something that looked like unconscious crouching Sallets.
"Well, I guess that's the source of all the Sallets." Gippal said and reloaded his mortar with normal rounds. "Let's clean up!" And then he launched the grenades at the egg and the Sallets who seemed to be waking up. There was a great rumble at the impact, rocks were falling from the ceiling and Rikku and Gippal had to take cover outside the cave to avoid getting squashed.
"Smart plan!" Rikku yelled angrily while brushing some dirt out of her hair.
"Hey, I got a hangover, okay!?" Gippal said irritably. "And a sulky Al-bhed with a hangover and a mortar is a dangerous Al-bhed with a hangover!" And then he went back inside the cave to check things out.
"Frydajan... (Whatever)" Rikku said and followed him.
Well inside, they saw that all the Sallets were dead, but the egg was trembling dangerously. Suddenly, it splashed open, and out of it crawled a really hideous fiend. It looked like a Drake, but it was bigger, and it was slimy. It had no visible eyes, the spine looked like it was about to explode due to the fact that it was so big, and the skin was so outstretched that you could see every single rib along its slimy body. It had the same color as the egg, except for the spine that was sickenly yellow. It crawled of what was rest of the egg and growled as it saw Gippal and Rikku.
"Now we're talking!" Gippal said excitedly and quickly reloaded his mortar.
"I've never seen a fiend like that one!" Rikku said and shivered.
"Well, we won't see more of it after I'm done!" Gippal said and fired a round at the fiend, but it was too quick, it dodged every grenade as it leapt at Rikku and Gippal.
Gippal drew his pistol and fired his shattering bull's-eye bullet, it hit but the fiend didn't stop.
"Why don't you start those spinning daggers of yours, uh?" Gippal said and started his grinder.
"I can't!" Rikku said as she jumped out of the path of the furious lizard. "I blew all the power at the Sallets, they have to recharge!" The fiend tried to whip her with its tail but missed.
"Dammit!" Gippal shouted and slashed the fiend. "It's wet, try something with lightning!"
Rikku did as she was told and threw a lightning gem at the lizard; it proved to be pretty effective. The fiend leapt back into the middle of the cave and turned its ugly face at Rikku and Gippal, it looked like it was taking a deep breath. Rikku saw what was coming and threw some sort of glowing napkin in front of her and Gippal; it was a lunar curtain. The blue flames that were blown from the beasts lungs were gradually blocked, but Rikku and Gippal could still feel the heat.
"Shit!" Rikku groaned.
"You okay?" Gippal asked as the flames disappeared, his eyes locked onto the fiend.
"Yeah, I'm okay…" Rikku said, though her voice was weak.
"To hell with this!" Gippal said and took out some king of grenade with two sprinters, he pulled out one of them, and suddenly some kind of propeller blades flashed out around it.
"Dodge this!" Gippal threw the weird grenade and it leapt automatically at the fiend who tried to dodge it but failed. The grenade attached itself at the side of the fiends' neck, and suddenly the second sprinter flew out. The beast exploded in a cascade of black body fluids.
Gippal sniggered and walked into the centre of the cave to check what was left of the corpse. Rikku was exhausted from all the fighting, she reached for a potion, but she noticed she hadn't packed any.
"Damn…" She said under her breath.
Gippal bent down and checked what seemed to be the fiends' yellow spine, and it seemed to be almost okay, except for the ends who were supposed to be connected to the tail and the skull.
"This is weird," He said. "This thing seems to be-"He paused and looked at Rikku. "Rikku, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rikku said. "I'm just-"And then she passed out from exhaustion.
"Rikku!" Gippal yelled and ran over to her.
A/N: Sooo, this is my first real fanfic so, please review...and be nice okay? If I get enough reviews then I'll put up the next chapter soon...