Chapter 1: Welcome Back
My Point of View
For the past month, we have been getting distress calls from around Spira. We had to stop the waterfall, stop the gang, grab the cart, and acquire the baby, so many to count. It was my fifteen birthday yesterday and I got to celebrate it by catching the chocobos. No cake, no presents. Just work. It wasn't so bad though. We go the citizen of the year award in Luca and I got my relationship with Rikku to a whole new level. We actually talk together at those Al Bhed parties. It was an okay life.
"Hey Alan! Breakfast is ready!" Kyo yelled through the outside of my bedroom. I opened the door of my room and went down the hall. As I was walking, I saw Lenne's former room. I walked in and saw what we did to it. We made it into a shrine that remembers our friend Lenne. The light blue colored room had pictures of Lenne in beautiful brown frames and her sphere sitting on a small pedestal in the center of the room. The rug was brown to resemble her brown hair with blue song notes to make us remember her singing talent. I left the room and down the stairs to our kitchen.
"We are having Chanel's specialty, PANCAKES!" Kyo said holding her fork and knife on the air. I smiled.
"Great, let me get the syrup," I said walking past the counter and towards our refrigerator. I opened the door and got the syrup. However, when I closed it, I saw a note in our message holder.
"Guys, we have a message," I said sitting on the stool. Chanel and Kyo looked at it skeptically. They pressed the button and all of a sudden a hologram of Austin and Jason appeared.
"Guys, we have a problem on our hands! We were just visiting Kilika temple and boom! Ifrit is attacking the people in the temple. Jason and I and some others survived and we left the temple. No one dares to go anymore. Please! Solve the problems!" The hologram finished. I looked at the so hungry Kyo. She stood up.
"We will save Kilika, after eating our breakfast. It is the important meal of the day after all," Kyo said. We sat down and ate the delicious meal and packed up once more. I then went to the message holder once more and saw another message. I clicked on the button. This time, it was just words and no hologram.
"Best time to attack, 12:00 Pm" It read. I quickly turned it off and told Kyo.
"Thanks Alan. Hey Chanel, Put and alarm clock for 11:30," she told Chanel. Chanel snapped her fingers at the clock.
"Done," she said. Even though we were to leave at 12, we began to pack up and set up. I found my clothes I used to wear eight months ago. I smiled at it.
"Well Buddy, time to kick butt once more," I said. I folded it and left it on the bed. I found my grenades and picked up a new weapon I have been learning to use, the Chinese Blade. A blue string was wrapped around the handle and hanging from the string was a ribbon of lace.
"It seems that you will be using other weapons this time huh?" Chanel from behind said. I quickly turned around and showed her the blade.
"Yeah, it seems so," I said. I put the blade down next to my clothes and sat down. Chanel sat behind me. "I miss Lenne," I said. Chanel tapped my back gently.
"Me too," she said. Suddenly, Kyo went into my room.
"Guys, Rikku, Auron, Lulu, Kimahri, and Yuna have asked to come here," Kyo said. I got up from my bed.
"So? Are they?" I asked. Kyo nodded her head and told us that they would come at 4. At the time of their arrival, we didn't dress fancy, just casual. As the guests came in we sat down in the living room and it turned out they needed to talk about the situation in Kilika.
"I hate to interrupt your time, but I need to tell you something. I know that Ifrit has attacked the inside of the temple, however, Valefor has attacked the inside of the temple in Besaid," Yuna said. Kyo looked at her intently.
"So you are saying this is around Spira?" Kyo asked.
"But why haven't they set it on the news or something?" I asked.
"Because they don't want anyone to panic around Spira. They need to keep it in the down low or people would think it is the next sin," Lulu said, speaking up. We kept talking about it for the next two hours until Rikku spoke up.
"Guys, I thought it would be fun, Alan and I will go up stairs and play a board game or something," She said pulling my arm up stairs. We sat on the bed and began to talk.
"So, you are going to go risk your life once more, right?" She asked me. I touched her hand.
"Yeah, I am going to try and stop this madness," I said. Rikku suddenly jumped and hugged me.
"Please Alan! Please! Don't do anything heroic. Don't die!" She said, some tears falling down her cheeks. I tapped her back.
"I'll come back Rikku. I'll come back," I said. Rikku looked up at me, our swirled eyes exchanging looks.
"Alan, E Muja Oui," Rikku said putting her head on my chest. "I always did, ever since my father found you in his ship. Please don't leave me," She said. I lifted her head up and we slowly put our heads together and our lips met each other. Her hands traveled up and down my shoulders and I let my tongue search for hers. As they came together, we slowly let go of the kiss. The passion we shared overwhelmed my senses. I put the back of my hand on her cheek and rubbed it gently on her delicate skin.
"Rikku, I'll be back, I promise you, I'll come back because…I love you," I said. Rikku looked up at me and we fell for another kiss. As the hours went by, eventually, Rikku had to leave with her summoners. I felt so…happy…so satisfied. I finally put on my fighting suit and packed my weapons. We were ready to leave for Kilika Temple. We walked down the silent bridges of Kilika, the houses equipped with lanterns. We walked through the quiet city and into the dark forest setting a border between the temple and town. The white sand on the floor was heard underneath my feet. As we reached the end of the forest, the whole temple became visible. As my hood swayed, I went up the brick steps which I counted to equal up to ninety two steps. We then began to walk towards the entrance of the temple. Inside, the dark walls, the damp smell, the dim lit torches, made it spooky. Plus, there wasn't the hymn of the faith surrounding the room. We continued to walk until we reached the middle.
"There doesn't seem to be a secret entrance," Kyo said looking around. I kept looking as well.
"There it is," Chanel pointed out. We looked a statue which was the shape of the high summoner, Braska.
"What are you talking about?" I asked. "There is nothing there but a statue," I added. Chanel pulled out some violet dust from her pouch and threw it at the statue. The statue stood in its place, until it moved to the side, revealing a dark stairway. We walked down the stairs and into the dark tunnel. Like the main chamber, it was dim lit inside. I leaned on Kyo, I never really liked the dark. Chanel noticed how I was scared and then lit a match. I finally went back on my own feet and continued to walk down the hall. We finally got to a complete stop and ended up in a sort of dining table. It looked as if the people here had already dined.
"How dare they start a party without us," I said, crossing my arms. Kyoka began to study the table with her fingertips.
"This wasn't a pleasant dinner for a particular person," she said showing us blood on her fingers.
"Was someone abused?" Chanel asked looking at the blood. I looked at Kyo.
"It may seem so," She said wiping it on the table cloth. "Alan, stay close to us, since you are only fifteen, they might try to get you first," Kyo said. I nodded and we went into another corridor. We kept walking until, suddenly, we heard this union of chanting. It caught us with deep surprise. It was coming behind this curtain. We went in the curtain, only to be consumed by darkness. Even though we couldn't see our own bodies, we ventured on. We walked for about three minutes until we saw a sparkle of light in front of us. We headed towards it quickly. The sparkle of light then got bigger and bigger, until we realized it was a hole in the wall. The hole was big enough to let all three of our bodies to see. There was a small, knee-length barrier to keep us from falling too. As I looked out, I saw the environment of which the people who got us here were in. It was as if we landed inside a volcano. The floor was made out of rock and separating the crowd of people, was a river of Lava. On the other side of the lava, there was some sort of person who was shirtless and wearing a dark venom red kilt with golden anklets.
"I am surprised there weren't any booby traps," I whispered to my teammates. They nodded and we all looked on. The man on the other side of the lava river then held a fire red orb in the air.
"Hail Ifrit!" He yelled. Everyone clapped. "We are all gathered her tonight, to sacrifice, yet another worshipper!" he yelled again. However, this time, the crowd was silent. "My guards will choose the one who will be fed to Ifrit, our lord," He said. The crowd looked anxious and worried. Suddenly, the guards became visible and captured a spiran. "Spirans! We have a worthy one! One with a proper soul!" The man said. "Bring him to me!" he yelled. The guards dragged the guy to a doorway and they appeared again on the other side after a few moments. Once there, they stripped the man of his shirt and locked him in a small cage. The man was shivering and shaking all over. Even sweating! The man began to mutter in a language I didn't recognize.
"Alan, is that Al Bhed?" Chanel asked.
"No, it isn't," I said.
"Now, with all my power, we will give this man as a sacrifice!" The one who looked like the leader yelled. The sacrifice was yelling in denial and the crowd was cheering. The person making most of the speech held a knife in his hand. He cut through the man's chest making a symbol of a moon and a line between the enclosed spaces of the moon. The man screamed with agony and was then pushed by the guy with the knife in to the flaming lake of lava. We heard the long scream of the man as he fell through the high drop.
"This sacrifice was necessary, as Ifrit will once again, become alive," He yelled. The crowd remained silent. "We will gather once more next week, this day, has ended," He said. The entire crowd began to move out of the building and the man which seemed to be the leader disappeared. Kyo became skeptical as she examined the area with her sharp eyes.
"I am going down there," Kyo said. I grabbed her arm. "We are going down there," I corrected her. She nodded and looked at Chanel who was busy filing her nails. She looked up at Kyo.
"What?" She asked. We smiled at her.
We climbed down the steep rocks from where we were. My fingers were struggling to keep hanging on. It wasn't until my feet touched the ground, in which I felt safe. Chanel examined the area as well with her magic while I walked around checking for anything we might need. I then saw an amulet in a crystal glass case with a symbol of a flame hanging from the chain. This caught my eye.
"Kyo, stop me from stealing this," I said. She looked at