Chapter 2

A small team of men had surrounded Tidus. Dressed in faded, tattered garments and brandishing antique rifles, they shouted at their captive in their native tongue and signaled for him to put his hands in the air. It took a few disgruntled shouts from the testy group for Tidus to recognize the language, and he couldn't help but smile in relief.

"You're Al Bhed!" he exclaimed, now leaning forward to get a better look into one of the men's unshielded eyes. Their green and black, swirling pupils confirmed it.

At the sudden motion, an Al Bhed promptly shoved Tidus and shouted more frantic, unintelligible words.

"Whoa, take it easy! I'm not a fiend, if that's what you're—wait, you can't understand me, can you?" Tidus furrowed his brows, and then gave himself a sudden whack against the head. "Come on, come on! I know it's in there somewhere!"

The Al Bhed looked to each other in confusion as Tidus tilted his head to the side and continued to smack himself as if trying to dislodge something stuck deep within his ear. Then, with a triumphant "Aha!" he cleared his throat and straightened his posture, saying: "Hela du saad oui!"

The sudden greeting caught the Al Bhed off guard. They murmured to each other, uncertain of how to proceed when another of their kind marched from out of a thick patch of the surrounding vegetation and called out them. Young and laid-back, the newcomer dressed in more vibrant attire, although his shirt and shorts were frayed and full of holes. Like the others, he didn't shield his eyes with goggles or a gasmask the way most of the other Al Bhed Tidus encountered in the past had done. A small breeze blew through his soft, blond hair as his swirled eyes roamed from his teammates to their captive.

Tidus waited in nervous anticipation while the Al Bhed consulted with the newcomer, and was relieved to see that after a few words from him, the Al Bhed lowered their guns and backed away.

"So you speak our language, do you?" said the impressed newcomer as he approached and gave Tidus a quick once-over.

Tidus let out a nervous chuckle. "Not exactly. I picked up that phrase while staying at a bunch of travel inns. My friend Rikku usually has to translate for me."

"Did you say Rikku?" The man's eyes narrowed. "As in Cid's daughter?"

"Yeah! Have you two met?"

"I'd be surprised if we hadn't. She's my cousin."

Tidus' eyes widened. "She's your what?"

"I'm Dyce. Cid's my Pop's brother."

"Tidus," the athlete replied, sticking out his hand for Dyce to shake. But the man couldn't be bothered to pull his hands from his pockets.

"How do you know Rikku?"

"Well, we first met kinda the same way you and I just did. She and I helped Yuna on her pilgrimage."

"And you know Yuna, too? Just who are you?"

Tidus thought for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "I'm… Yuna's guardian," he answered at last. To his surprise, Dyce leaned back and gave a hearty laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You're something else," Dyce said as he recomposed himself. "You take me for a secluded dupe, don't you? I know this is the Isle of Letho, but come on! We're Al Bhed. You think we don't get Spiran sphere feeds even all the way out here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tidus said, frowning and balling his fists.

"Look here, Mr. Funny-clothes: maybe you know my cousins and maybe you don't. But a guardian to the Fallen Summoner Yuna? There's no way."

"What are you talking about—Fallen Summoner Yuna? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, this certainly is…unexpected, for lack of a better word. You really don't know, do you?" Dyce looked Tidus square in the eye. "If you were really her guardian, you'd either be locked up or dead. Yuna and her consorts were arrested and tried for high crimes against Yevon. They're to be executed soon, or something like that."

Tidus felt the blood drain from his face and his mouth went dry. "What?"

"I heard they've already offed some people who allegedly 'obstructed justice' by hiding her from the authorities. To be Yuna's guardian means to be rotting away in a dungeon somewhere. So unless you're trying to tell me you just broke out of prison with all that meat on your bones and pep to your voice, I'd say you're no guardian of hers."

Every word fell like an anvil on Tidus' head, sending him spinning and almost losing his balance. He stumbled to a nearby stone pillar and leaned against it, breathing hard as his heart pounded chilled blood through his veins.

"Please," he said in a strained voice that fought back the tears. "Tell me what happened."

Dyce studied Tidus for a moment before replying, scrutinizing his posture and livid face. Perhaps he took pity on him because he cleared his throat and spoke in a more professional tone. "I'm fuzzy on the exact details since we weren't within range at the time of the incident. Apparently, after Yuna tried to take credit for defeating Sin, some guy interrupted her victory speech and accused her of treachery, treason, and murder. Said something about her assassinating the Yevon big wigs and—of all things—conspiring with the Al Bhed to incite an insurrection."

Tidus gritted his teeth and punched the pillar again and again, hard enough to send more rubble into the lake. "That's a lie!" he shouted. "A damned lie!"

Startled by the outburst, the Al Bhed raised their guns, but Dyce signaled them to remain calm. "You don't have to tell me twice. I mean, I know my uncle's a hothead, but I can't see the guy letting my little cousins run around killing clergymen."

With a violent kick, Tidus sent what remained of the decrepit pillar tumbling into the water. "Tell me who's responsible! I want names!"

"You know, I have better things to do with my time than remember the name of every deranged Yevonite to rant on the spherewaves."

"Are you kidding me? How can you not know who's responsible for imprisoning your family?" Tidus charged up to Dyce and shoved an accusatory finger in the man's calm face. "And why aren't you out there trying to get Yuna's name cleared? Or don't you care what happens to your own flesh and blood?"

Before Dyce could answer, the surrounding Al Bhed grabbed Tidus by the shoulder, yanking him away and shoving him to the side. They shouted harsh words in their native tongue, making gestures with their guns that Tidus didn't like at all. Dyce said a few calm words, his demeanor nowhere near as shaken as anyone else's—Tidus included—but the gunmen didn't immediately back down. One of them argued with Dyce in an agitated voice while jerking his gun in Tidus' direction to add emphasis.

Dyce touched the agitated Al Bhed on the shoulder, said something that eased the tension, and then turned to Tidus. "Would you relax? You're making my friends nervous."

"Making your—are you insane?" Tidus just about blew steam out of his ears. "Yuna and Rikku are in trouble! How can you sit around this backwater island without a care in the world?"

"Tidus, right? I'll have you know I'm no stranger to family deaths," Dyce said while casually picking the dirt clean from his nails and flicking it off to the side. "Lost my aunts, my brothers, my sisters, my grandparents, and a bunch more others. That's life, man. One day we're here, the next we're six-footing it to the Farplane. If I stopped and worried about all that death and despair, I'd never have a moment's peace." He paused to polish his nails on his shirt before pocketing his hands. "Best to just let it go and try to find my own happiness in life before I join them, you know?"

Tidus stared at the cool-headed, laid-back Dyce with a white-hot anger raging through him. He could feel the wary eyes of the Al Bhed training on him as he again advanced on their leader, stopping mere feet from his unflinching face. "The only thing I know," Tidus said in a low, heated voice, "is that there are innocent people you should love and care about who are in danger, and you're too selfish and full of yourself to even remember the name of the monster responsible for their death sentence!"

They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Dyce sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What brings you to the Isle of Letho, Tidus? Certainly you didn't come out all the way here looking for Yuna's sympathizers—not this far from Spiran waters?"

"What are you saying; we're not in Spira?"

"Far from it."

"But I thought there weren't any places outside of Spira?"

Dyce laughed. "Oh, those Yevonites… If they could, they'd have you believe the sun is a monster that'll eat you if you ever try to get too close. But you know better, right, Mr. Guardian?"

Tidus wanted to smack him one, but that last bit gave him an idea. "Do you have an airship?"

Dyce laughed again, this time louder and harder enough for his eyes to tear. "Oh, you really are too much! The fact that Uncle Cid fished himself a ship out of the sea doesn't mean all the Al Bhed have ships buried like treasure in odd places all over the globe."

"I'm not here claiming to be the world's expert on the Al Bhed, let alone a master geographer. Yuna's in trouble, and if what you're telling me about the other guardians is true, then you and your little islander pals are the only ones who can help me rescue everyone! Now are you going to help me or not?"

"Why do you care so much about what happens to those guys?"

"It's because they're what I treasure most in this world and I can't go on living without them," Tidus replied in a firm, unyielding voice. "There wouldn't be a point."

Dyce merely went from a pensive frown to a dazed, somewhat amused smile. Still standing with his hands pocketed and his open tropical shirt waving in the breeze, he demonstrated no immediate outward concern. Yet after studying Tidus' determined stance for some time, he eventually let out a long, resigned sigh. "Alright," he said, signaling to the others, "I guess I have no choice. Let's go see Pop."

After speaking a few words in Al Bhed, he turned and trekked back into the thick patch of vegetation with Tidus behind him and the others bringing up the rear. Not too far from the lake was a campsite fashioned from gigantic palm leaves, branches and mud. A small campfire crackled just outside the largest hut where a pot of grey mystery liquid bubbled. Some Al Bhed stopped mixing gunpowder and chemicals in their crudely carved stone bowls to stare at the entourage passing through the camp. They called into the huts, and soon, everyone came out to watch.

When the Al Bhed greeted the returning group, they made a reach for their rifles upon setting their sights on Tidus. But Dyce calmed them as he passed, and they only glared at the unknown visitor as Dyce led the way into a nearby hut. He and Tidus both entered, while the others stood guard outside.

The inside of the hut was nothing spectacular. Insects buzzed about the various emptied plates that were left piled in the corner next to a rolled-up sleeping bag. In the center of the room rested a large table constructed out of uneven planks of wood that were supported by two boulders placed on either side. Several smaller boulders made out the seats, and a large parchment that looked to be a map was extended the full length of the table with several pebbles placed in key locations.

In the farthest end of the hut, another table was pressed up against the wall where a window had been dug out of the mud wall to overlook a patch cleared of flora. Several pieces of machina lay strewn along the table, some of which made beeping noises while others emitted static. Long cables protruded from a few of them, and were strung out the window and coiled around a long metal rod that was planted in the ground.

"Yo, Pop! We've got a visitor," said Dyce upon entering.

"Why are you speaking in that confounded language?" grunted a gruff voice from outside the window. "Don't tell me that durn Hypello's come scrounging 'round again! I swore I'd kill 'im if he made another grab for my radar and I aim to make good on my word!" There was a loud snap followed by the man muttering in Al Bhed as he thumped around the hut and entered through the door.

A large, towering man ducked into the hut. Standing straight, he looked almost as big as Kimahri. He was a bald man like his brother, with a long mustache that looked as if two thin snakes had bitten either side of his upper lip and continued to dangle there. Like all the Al Bhed on the island, he sported a healthy tan and encased himself in worn, tropical clothing—ones covered in a great amount of stitches to compensate for his large, muscular torso tearing the fabric every so often.

"What's this?" he said, tilting his head down to get a look at Tidus. "You're no Hypello!"

"And you're…huge!" Tidus gasped.

The man broke out into roaring laughter. "Well these are certainly interesting introductions!"

Tidus let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed his head. "Err, sorry. I'm Tidus."

"The name's Griev. I'm the leader of this hapless gang of explorers."

"Is it true you're Cid's brother?"

Griev harrumphed and twisted his mustache between his fingers. "Know Cid, do you? I warned that brick-head he'd be headed straight for the High Court if he kept up with those excavations. Like diesel in a gas engine, Yevonites and machina don't mix."

"You mean Cid was imprisoned too?"

"'Course he was! Most of 'em Spiran Al Bhed were hunted and thrown into internment camps. Spira's no picnic for an Al Bhed these days; not that it ever really was."

"But you got away, right? So maybe we can—" Griev's roaring laughter interrupted Tidus, catching him off guard and rekindling his anger. "What is with you people? There's a crisis going on and you two are laughing like a pair of hyenas!"

Griev looked to Dyce, who said a few things in Al Bhed that earned a chuckle out of his father. "Tidus, boy, life's too short to be running 'round with a short fuse," Griev said as Dyce left the hut. "Take a deep breath and cool yer engines."

"Cool my engines?" That comment just about sent Tidus through the roof. He charged up to Griev, grabbing him by his tattering shirt and forcing his head down to eye-level so that their noses barely touched. "Look, you: my friends and your family are going to be executed, and you're just sitting around in a mud house laughing your head off as if it's all a big joke! Well I'm not laughing! I need to rescue Yuna and the others, and you're going to help me whether you like it or not!"

Griev needed little effort to pry Tidus off of him. He plucked the hands from his collar and stood at his full height again, looking down into Tidus' enraged face. "You're actually serious," he said in a flat tone.

"You're damn right I am!"

Without a word, Griev walked past Tidus and sat at the table, motioning for his guest to join him. Brows still furrowed and teeth gritted, it took Tidus a moment to drag his feet and sit on a rock.

"You know," Griev began, picking up a pebble from off the map and looking at it in the air, "when I learned my sister up and married one of them, I knew it'd bring her nothing 'cept tragedy and heartbreak in the end. Someone was gonna die, I just never figured it'd be the both of 'em." He sighed and rubbed the pebble between his fingers. "I was away from Home when I heard; Dyce and I had already left. Sin'd taken everything worth taking, so I figured I wouldn't care anymore. 'Let 'em drop like flies,' I'd say. 'Won't bother me none anymore; I won't let it.'"

"But Yuna's old man didn't want to die—he didn't set out for that! He wouldn't have even gone on the pilgrimage if Sin hadn't…you know."

"Why do you think I still have machina here?" Griev asked suddenly. He set the pebble down when Tidus didn't answer. "I'll tell you why: it's 'cuz when a man has the power to do something, he does it. When you're a summoner, you summon aeons and die; when you're an Al Bhed, you build and repair machina. That's how it works. It's in the blood and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Tidus clenched his fists. "So you're saying you don't want to help them because it's a lost cause?"

"Everyone dies someday, especially summoners. Just so happens these folks are getting a ticket for the express line."

I didn't think apathy was possible for someone related to Yuna.

Braska, Cid, and Rikku—all three of them went to extraordinary lengths to protect the people they cared about, not to mention the whole of Spira. Tenacity and goodwill ran in the family, that's why I couldn't understand Griev. I couldn't understand why he'd say something so coldhearted and detached.

His determination had to be there buried somewhere under that layer of indifference, and I wasn't going anywhere until I struck pay dirt.

"Do you listen to yourself? Your nieces aren't boarding a cruise ship to Luca; they're going to die unless we do something!" Tidus shouted, slamming his fist onto the table and sending pebbles flying in every direction. "Sure, okay; you've lost people close to you. They're gone and nothing you do will ever bring them back. But don't you understand? You have a chance now to prevent that exact kind of thing from happening again! You have the power to save the lives of the condemned! Why wait to mourn them when you can act now and enjoy life with them?"

Griev set his hands on the table and interlaced his fingers, frowning in tentative contemplation. "Let's suppose I wanted to help. My team and I are hundreds of thousands of nautical miles away from Spira. We don't have any advanced set of transportation and most of my team'd flip their lids if I told 'em to pack up 'cuz we're marching back to Yevon territory. There's nothing I can do, and frankly, I don't ever want to go back there again. When the boys and I left that hellhole, we left with no intention of returning."

"You know, you may have gotten all those muscles, but Cid got all the guts and drive," Tidus said heatedly. "When he learned that Yuna had been made a summoner, he ordered the Al Bhed to find her. Cid kept her safe in an underground bunker despite her wishes, and when the Guado attacked Home, hundreds of Al Bhed gave their lives to protect her. Hundreds!

"And when the Guado kidnapped Yuna? Cid blew up Home and raced after her—no questions asked, no mercy shown. He got into the airship, bombed the hell out of everything in sight, and flew straight to Bevelle to save her. Cid risked everything for Yuna—everything—treating her as if she were his own daughter!

"What about you, Griev? Aren't you her uncle, too? You'd just let your niece face execution for a mountain of phony crimes she didn't commit? You'd leave her to die all because it's too much of a hassle for you to part with your precious mud hut and sail a few thousand nautical miles?"

Tidus shot to his feet and stomped to the various pieces of machina. Grabbing the nearest sphere, he slammed it on the table in front of Griev. "You may have left Spira thinking that you don't care anymore, but I don't see you throwing away all these sphere-radio-whatsits! You still want to learn what's happening out there because deep down inside you know that you can't stop caring about everything."

Griev fell silent. His calm exterior began to evaporate as he stared at the sphere. Trying to instinctively lean into a chair, he caught himself in time before he could topple over onto the ground. He got to his feet, walked past Tidus and stopped at the window. "Did Dyce tell you why we're here?" he asked after a while.

"What does any of that matter?" Tidus wanted to shout, but he instead settled on an irritated "no".

"We left Spira ages ago to find Shambhala. You've probably never heard of it; most Spirans haven't. But from some scholarly spheres we uncovered at a machina site, it suggests that the only ones on the whole continent who knew anything about it were some folks from Zanarkand."

"Well I sure as hell didn't," Tidus almost snapped, but he again withheld his tongue.

"It's said that in Shambhala, there's no such thing as war or sin," Griev continued as he looked up at the sky in the clearing. "People there lack envy and hatred. They're supposed to live long, full lives free of all the burdens of regular folk. I know it sounds like a kid's fairytale, but we believe it."

"Are you trying to tell me that you won't leave to help Yuna and the others because you're too busy trying to track down a myth?"

"No." Griev turned around, his eyes shining with a mischievous glint. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm a seasoned adventurer, boy, and as a seasoned adventurer—heh—I've picked up a few handy little toys along the road." Taking a device from off the nearby table, he motioned again for Tidus to sit. Griev joined him at the table and fiddled with the machina in his hands. It was a small device, almost like a sphere except with a panel of bright buttons on the golden-rimmed flat end.

"What is that?" Tidus asked.

"This here's a treasure map!" Griev said with child-like enthusiasm. "Well, not so much a map as a type of ultra-sonic infrared detector. I wasn't planning on using it 'til after we've found the Staff of the Magi here on Letho, but what better time to use it than this?"

"Griev, we don't have time for—"

"Just hold yer durn shoopuf and let me finish." Griev pressed a few buttons on the sphere until it glowed bright red and beeped. The small sphere flickered several times and then hummed and emitted a steady blue light. "Perfect working order; good. Was afraid it'd jam after those repeated dunks in the ocean." Griev stood up and made for the door. "Well, aren't you coming?" he said, stopping with his body bent and halfway over the threshold.

"Coming where?"

"To find the airship of course!" Griev burst into one of his signature bouts of roaring laughter as he exited the hut.

"Airship…?" Tidus jumped from his rock and chased after him. "Now we're talking!"

Outside, the fire had been doused with a bucket of water and the Al Bhed hurried around their huts packing various items, weapons, and foodstuffs into an assortment of wooden containers, satchels, and bags. Dyce sat on a nearby tree stump cooling the grey mystery substance from the pot he pulled off the fire while everyone rushed around him. He said a few words to his father in Al Bhed, who merely waved in turn as he rounded the hut.

"But won't it take a long time to find and repair it?" Tidus asked as he followed Griev around back to the cleared patch.

"We've already done all that 'bout seven years ago."

"If you already have it, why do we need to go look for it?"

"'Cuz no self-respecting explorer rides around in an airship!" Griev said as he disconnected the wires from the nearby metal rod and disassembled it. "Besides, it'd be damn near impossible to pilot one of those things on our search for Shambhala. The world outside of Spira's never been mapped, and flying around a bunch of foreign islands without a map's just asking for trouble."

"So where is it?"

"Don't have a clue; that's why we need this." Griev held up the blue, glowing sphere and waved it at Tidus. "This little baby here'll react with the ship and let me know how close we are to it. I set the ship on autopilot to float around a set path of coordinates, so the first step's to backtrack to that cluster of islands. Shouldn't take us more than a couple of days to find 'er from there."

"Seven years is a long time. What if it ran out of fuel and crashed?"

Griev chuckled as he coiled the stray wires and shoved them through the hut's window. "It's solar powered, so unless the sun up and died while I wasn't looking, that ship's got plenty of fuel left in 'er." After taking care of the rod, he started off for a lone palm tree in the distance that had a metal antenna protruding from its top and a machina panel and sphere strapped to its trunk. "Listen, you go join Dyce and help the others pack. They're probably a bit sore that we're leaving without the staff, so try not to startle 'em with any more outbursts, eh? Oh, and don't look anyone in the eyes."

"Why not?"

"They're still a bit shaken from that gorgon we ran into a few weeks back," Griev said as if that explained everything. But Tidus didn't understand, though when he tried to press for more information, Griev had already run out of earshot.

Returning to the main campsite, Tidus found the Al Bhed securing their equipment. Dyce, who had stuffed the mystery concoction into several grenade casings, helped three others wash a stack of bowls and plates in a nearby stream and then store everything in a couple of sacks.

"Oh, hey," he called out upon seeing Tidus. "We're just about done here and ready to go."

"You guys sure did pack fast," Tidus noted as he took one of the sacks.

"We're used to it; not to mention there's not much to take. 'Live light, travel light'—that's Pop's motto." Dyce made his way back to the stump and sat down, setting the sack next to a collection of others. "Besides, I got everyone prepped and raring to go while you were talking to Pop. I figured you'd coax him into going."

"Why did you tell me that you didn't have an airship?" Tidus asked as he sat on a nearby rock across from Dyce.

"I didn't say that. I just thought it was hilarious that you'd assume a bunch of islanders dressed in age-old rags would have something as advanced as a fully functioning flying machina." He paused to instruct a couple of Al Bhed towards the accumulation of sacks. They started taking them two by two further into the forest to where Tidus assumed they harbored a method of transportation.

"Besides," Dyce continued, "why would I admit to a stranger dressed in funny clothes that we have an airship? For all I knew, you could've been a spy from a country we've yet to discover who wanted to hinder our progress."

"Isn't that a bit paranoid?"

"It's happened. Caught some warriors from Okebar Cape trying to drive off in our sand buggy back when we were searching for the lost tomb of Ramuh."

"Maybe they just needed a ride."

"Nah. Turns out the village leader's great grandfather raided the place and he didn't want us to catch on. Needless to say, he burned at the stake not too long afterwards. The people of Okebar don't take too kindly to corrupt leaders."

"Unlike Spira…" Tidus muttered while tugging at the rope tying closed his sack of bowls. "Nice dishware, by the way. You pick it up on one of your adventures, too?"

"Nope. We made 'em. The Kainu carve their utensils out of stone. After we did some favors for them, they gave us some rocks for free on condition we did the crafting ourselves. I think they figured it'd be funny to see a bunch of foreigners screw up. Most got a good laugh out of watching Pop crack his first bowl in two."

"Wow, free rocks. Sounds like a bargain," Tidus drawled. He handed his sack to an Al Bhed that returned from the jungle.

"You'd be surprised what kinds of things people value," said Dyce. "The Kainu behead anyone who unlawfully cuts rock from the mountains."

"They place that much value on something like that?"

"It's a special kind of rock said to be blessed by a god. They carve it out of the surrounding mountains using some kind of magical ritual and make various tools, weapons, and artworks out of it. They even use obsidian from the mountain peaks as currency—look." Dyce unraveled a small pouch from the braided belt holding up his pants and picked out several lustrous, black pebbles.

"This almost looks like artwork in itself," Tidus said in awe as he took a pebble and rolled it between his index finger and thumb, marveling at its smooth, glass-like surface.

"Unlike gil, the obsidian currency is broken from larger slabs of rock and manually filed down to one of four specific weights."

Tidus held the obsidian up to the sun admiring its shine before he handed it back. "I can't believe the world outside of Spira is so…different."

"The world's a big place, but you'd never know that from listening to Yevon's ranting and raving."

"But what about Sin? Didn't it attack them too?"

"Oh, it did. But we found that most societies in recent centuries hadn't had much contact with it."

"Why not? Didn't Sin kill indiscriminately?"

Dyce shrugged. "It did for a long while, yeah. But something happened about 400 years ago that turned Sin away from the lands outside of Spira."

"What happened?"

"You've got me. Guess it just hated the Yevon clergy more." He let out a dry laugh as stretched his arms over his head, cracking his bones and then settling his back up against a nearby tree trunk to get comfortable.

All the while, Tidus cupped his chin and lost himself in deep thought. "That doesn't make sense," he said after a while. "If other islands were safer, why didn't people just migrate out of Spira?"

"Most likely because they don't know that there's somewhere to migrate to. You heard all those maesters and priests yapping away; they make Spira out to be the center of the universe. I mean, when was the last time you heard a scholar mention the history of Eden's Hollow or Xendonia?"

"But people must've explored on their ships and stuff, just like you guys. Wouldn't they come back and report home?"

"Did we ever go back and report home?"

Tidus paused, thinking it a rhetorical question. But when Dyce merely yawned and stretched again, he offered an answer. "…Did you?"

"Nope."

"You mean not even Cid knows you're out here?"

"Doesn't have a clue, no. Probably thinks we're dead."

"But you have all that machina stuff! You get spherewaves and…and things!"

"So? Doesn't mean we use any of it to contact Spira. When we left Home, we didn't look back. If we do, we'll see nothing but ghosts, and who wants that? Life is for the living; it's that simple."

"What do you mean by ghosts?"

Dyce didn't answer.

"Okay, fine; you guys didn't bother telling anyone about what you've seen. But what about the people who did return to Spira to spread the word? What happened to them?"

Dyce could only laugh when he looked into Tidus' intense, worried eyes. "You're asking the wrong guy," he said, sitting upright again and handing the last of the two sacks to the returning Al Bhed for transport. "But if you really want my guess, I'd say something not-so-nice happens to people who threaten Yevon's 'holy word'." He stood from the stump, idly scratching his chest as he made for his father's hut. "Pop should be just about done packing the network."

Inside, Griev had finished stuffing the remainder of his wires and gizmos into a ragged duffle bag. "Handle the map," he said to Dyce as he took his sleeping bag in his free hand.

"Think we would've found it today?"

"You tell me."

"My guess is it's sunk."

"If it's not, I'll just set the markers again. Now hurry up!" Griev left the hut.

"Suit yourself," Dyce hummed with a shrug. Spreading his arm flat against the table, he wiped the map clean of pebbles before rolling it up and slipping it into a canister.

Outside, Griev gave Tidus a hearty slap on the back and led the way into the jungle. "We've got a boat anchored not too far from here," he said as the approached the others. "But first, we have to get down to shore."

Just a five-minute walk from the campsite, a large, rusty trolley car greeted the travelers. Attached to two thick cables via a series of pulleys, the trolley was suspended in midair. For the first time, Tidus realized that campsite and lake were located at the top of a mountain. Cautioning his way the edge, he looked down into an expansive jungle with no ocean in sight.

"Just how far's the shore?" he asked.

"Couple hours' walk once we touch down," Griev replied as he loaded his bags into the trolley. "Should be enough room for all of us, else we'll make two trips."

"Wait—we have to go down in that? Is it safe?"

"'Course it is! We tuned it up ourselves!" Griev gave the trolley a proud pat that resulted in one of the window frames popping out and falling down into the greenery below without a sound. "Well, not aesthetically. But the mechanism's fine! Get in!"

Tidus took one look at the rusted brown trolley with its cracked windows, dented frame, and crooked flooring and shuddered. "Isn't there another way?"

"Three ways, boy: trolley down in ten minutes; climb down in a day; fall for twelve seconds and die." Griev signaled the Al Bhed to board. Each time a person climbed in, the trolley shook and creaked in ways that made Tidus cringe. "What's it gonna be?"

"How many times have you used it?"

"This'll be the fourth."

"And you're sure it's safe?"

"Safer than my cooking!" Griev let out a thunderous laugh and grabbed Tidus by the arm, hauling him to the car's doorway. "Get in there, already! Or do you think Yuna can wait?"

That did it. With his body as stiff as a board and his fists clenched tight at his sides, Tidus took a deep breath and prepared to enter the rickety trolley. But before he could so much as touch his lifted foot inside, one of the Al Bhed grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside, rocking the car and earning a panicked yelp from Tidus.

"What's the big idea?" he shouted, earning a few unintelligible grunts from the agitated Al Bhed. Tidus was plopped into the seat next to him—a man with a scarred face and eye patch that pressed his four-fingered left hand firmly on Tidus' shoulder to keep him from moving in his seat.

"Looks like Vaddik's in more of a rush than you are," Dyce chuckled.

"Alright, that's everyone!" Griev hunched over and squeezed himself into the remaining space next to Dyce. "Mad'c ku!" he called to the Al Bhed up front in the conductor's seat.

Giving the thumbs-up, the conductor pulled a squeaky lever and the trolley jerked down the cable line. Everything rumbled under Tidus' feet, and he could do little more than clench his teeth to keep from screaming. All the while, Vaddik continued to hold his shoulder, and in some ways, Tidus found it comforting. At least something sturdy was supporting him.