I'm really sorry for the delay on this specific chapter. It would seem that I've had it on my harddrive for months and just never posted it. (cries) Please don't hate me!

Just so you know, half of this stuff is impromptu, and I'm basically riding along with it pretty much as you are. I do have some things planned out, and I'm not revealing anything. Remember that. XD

Anyway, enough stalling!

WARNING: mild spoilers.


Final Fantasy X: Turbulent Waters


Chapter 4 – Pilgrimage


When Yuna and the others arrived back at the beach, they realized that they had no way to get off of Besaid. With the panic, Yuna had forgotten to instruct the boat to return to the island, regardless of the imminent danger. To Yuna, it was saving the life of the captain of the ferry. To everyone else, it was stranding them on the island.

"No need to fear, for Rikku is here!" Rikku said joyfully, pulling out a strange device from somewhere that Wakka couldn't quite figure out. She tapped it a few times and a strange static sound issued forth from it.

"(Who is it?)" an Al Bhed voice sounded over the device, entirely in Al Bhed. Yuna jumped. It was a communicator!

"(Brother, it's Rikku, you idiot! Can't you even tell the voice of your own sister?)" Rikku replied violently into the communicator. Everyone else just stood around, wondering what was being said.

"(You say tomato, I say potato,)" Brother's voice said with a snicker. Rikku fumed for a moment to something that Yuna didn't understand and she suppressed the urge to throw her communicator onto the ground and stomp on it in a fit of rage.

"(Listen, Brother,)" Rikku began, "(Grand Maester Yuna and the others are here on Besaid with me. We need a lift. Where are you?)"

"(We're over Luca right now. It'll be about half an hour before you can expect to see us,)" Brother replied. "(Where are you looking at going?)"

"(Mount Gagazet,)" Rikku replied. Yuna understood that.

"(Mount Gagazet?)" Brother demanded. "(Do you think we're made of gil? This hunk of junk eats fuel like no other machina ever made. I'll take you there, but it'll cost ya.)"

Rikku sighed and rolled her eyes. "(Fine, fine, just hurry it up, alright? This is important.)"

"(Good. You can meet a new friend of mine while you're onboard,)" Brother said with a chuckle. "(See you in a little while.)"

Rikku turned off the communicator without saying goodbye, and put it in storage in a place where Wakka didn't see. "Brother's coming to get us," Rikku told them.

"In what?" Lulu asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Remember the flying ship?" Rikku replied with a grin, to which Lulu's eyes widened.

"That will get us to Mount Gagazet in no time!" Yuna said with a clap of her hands. "Nice work, Rikku!"

Rikku giggled. She suddenly turned serious. "Brother said that it'd be around half an hour, so we'd better get a little comfortable. They were over Luca when I called."

"Not a problem," Lulu said, pulling up a nice sand pile to sit on. "In the meantime, we should plan our next moves."

-

The airship arrived right on time, half an hour after Rikku had told the others of Brother's location. The sands of the Besaid shoreline blasted into the air as the propellers and engines of the ancient machina touched down, its monstrous blue form engulfing the shore. The massive spinning disc at the end of the ship slowed as it descended, until the airship finally touched down completely and opened up a hatch out of which a ladder descended, allowing the group a path to board.

Once they were onboard, the ship shook as the ladder lifted and the hatch closed. The vibrations grew as the disc at the rear of the ship began to spin and the placement legs were withdrawn. The ship began to take off as Rikku rushed down the corridors, leading the way to the bridge. When they reached it, Rikku rushed over to her spot to the right of the driver's handle and leapt into her little pod with a squeal.

"To Gagazet!" Rikku cried with a laugh.

"(What's the rush?)" Brother asked, running a gloved hand through his blonde mohawk.

"(I'll explain on the way,)" Rikku replied as Yuna and the others gathered around the sphere oscillo-finder. Lulu calibrated it as Cid had shown her a year ago, and a map of Gagzet appeared in front of them.

"Our target is the Fayth Scar," Lulu said. "We need to get there as fast as possible."

Rikku interpreted to Brother, who nodded. "(Fayth Scar, here we come!)" He did something to the driver's console and the ship vibrated horribly before the gravity force was felt on the bridge, throwing Yuna back into Kimahri's rigid frame.

The aiship turned to the east and shot off at top speed, screaming over the ocean east of Besaid.

On the bridge, Brother set the airship to autopilot and jumped out of the console. "(Rikku, I want you to meet someone,)" he said.

Rikku got out of her spot and stood next to Lulu with her hands on her hips. "(Who?)" she asked.

The door to the bridge opened and the sound of heeled boots filled the bridge. In through the opening walked a tall woman with dark grey hair in black leather. She wore a shoulder-less blouse that doubled over in the front, hiding her figure, and was decorated by a silver X on the left breast. The blouse stopped short, exposing her midriff, and her tight black pants fit into her tall leather boots, which were heard with every heeled footstep. She had bright red eyes and her face was entirely stoic. The only emotion that was seen on her face was noticeable when her eyes fell on Yuna. Yuna couldn't quite distinguish what emotion it was, exactly, but she saw a flicker of something in her eyes.

"(She's not Al Bhed,)" Rikku noticed, placing a thoughtful finger on her chin. "Hey there!" The young blonde Al Bhed girl leapt up to the woman and forced her hand out in a handshake position.

The woman looked down at Rikku's hand, a foreign gesture to her. She looked up at Yuna again and stepped around the little Al Bhed girl. She nodded to the High Summoner and said simply, "Paine."

Yuna's eyes were slightly widened. "Pleased to meet you, Paine." She sent a look over to Rikku, kind of wondering what to do now. She didn't know this strange woman! Besides, Brother brought her up for Rikku, not Yuna. Yuna knew this by Brother never even saying the words "Yuna," "summoner," or "Maester" at all.

Wakka's mouth was hanging open slightly. She was a beautiful woman! Lulu noticed and grimaced. She reached out and snapped Wakka's mouth shut. "That's better," the mage said with an amused smirk.

"(Who is she?)" Rikku asked Brother.

"(A friend. She's good with a sword. I thought she might be able to help you.)" Brother turned back to his console and hopped back into position. He flicked the control for autopilot off.

"So, Paine, I hear you're good with a sword?" Rikku said with a somewhat nervous clap of her hands.

Paine looked over at Rikku and looked at her with her eternally stoic stare. "I am. What of it?"

Yuna's eyes flashed. Brother brought her to Rikku as backup. Yuna appreciated the gesture, but she wasn't sure that they would need the extra help.

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" Rikku said with a laugh, shaking her head and her hands quickly. "So, Yunie, do we know how we're doing this?"

Yuna fell into thought. "Possibly."

Kimahri stood up straight. "Yuna summon the spirits of the Farplane at the Fayth Scar. Spirits are wise, and can give advice."

Yuna nodded. "That's it."

Paine contemplated. "Atop Mount Gagazet? That's dangerous, isn't it?" she asked in her dry voice.

"Fayth Scar is Ronso sacred ground," Kimahri replied. "No people are there. Only fiends."

"I'll accompany the Grand Maester, then," Paine said with a nod. "She'll need someone to protect her up there."

Wakka cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Whaddya think we're here for, eh? We're Yuna's guardians. It's our job to protect her. If you want in, Yuna has to agree to it, ya?"

"This isn't exactly a pilgrimage," Paine muttered, casting her red gaze upon Wakka, who immediately felt as if he shouldn't have said anything.

"That doesn't make it any different," Lulu replied. "We are her friends; we shall protect her no matter what. If you wish to come along, we have no objections, but it is not our decision as to who protects Yuna."

Paine looked over at Lulu and their eyes met with sparks. Their gazes were so alike…

"Paine can come," Yuna decided, bringing everyone back to the bridge and the problem at hand. "'The more, the merrier', I believe one of us had said," she added with a glance over at Wakka, who grinned.

"And she'll have to be the merriest!" Rikku concluded with a giggle. When Paine didn't say anything, Rikku shook her head and sighed. "Or not."

"(We'll be there soon, everyone needs to head to the exit,)" Brother reported.

"That's our cue," Rikku translated, heading towards the back of the bridge. "To the deck!"

The five of them, now accompanied by Paine, headed to the rear of the ship, where they reached the mechanism that allowed them to step out onto the deck of the ship. As soon as the shutters to the deck opened, the harsh, bitter winds of Mount Gagazet rushed into the ship. Rikku let out a gasp as the wind bit at her exposed chest.

"H-h-how do you stand it?" Rikku shivered to Wakka.

Wakka laughed heartily. "I got padding!" He pounded his muscular chest and laughed again. Rikku growled and felt the warmth of Kimahri's furry arms around her. She stopped shivering and sighed.

When the ship reached the mountain, it docked and the six of them piled out onto the sheer cliffs and ledges. "Fayth Scar just north of here," Kimahri directed, pointing around a cliff. The group followed his lead and eventually came to a massive wall of strange, statue-like bodies piled on top of each other and melded into the rock cliff face.

"Amazing," Paine whispered. "All of these were fayth once?"

Yuna nodded. "Yes. They were used to summon Sin."

Paine's eyes went wide. "These were what had caused Sin. Are you serious?"

Rikku nodded. "Uh-huh! And when we beat Yu Yevon, the guy using these fayth, they died. So did a lot of other stuff," she added, somewhat bitterly.

Paine didn't understand the feeling of the statement, but everyone else in the party did, and several of them hung their heads. Wakka absentmindedly touched the remembrance ribbon on his left arm.

"Yuna," Kimahri said finally, bringing everyone out of their saddened states.

Yuna nodded and walked up to the wall of fayth. Despite their emptiness, she could feel the raw magic seeping from their still bodies. She knew that even though Yu Yevon was gone, the magic of these fayth lived on in some form. A tear came to her eye as a thought crossed her mind – perhaps the Dream World still existed. Maybe he was still alive!

"Remember not to touch them," Lulu warned. "We still don't know what happened the last time one of us touched them."

I know exactly what had happened, Yuna responded in her mind. She bowed her head and formed the Prayer with her hands. She felt the magic around her coalesce inside the balled form of her hands. It seeped through her fingers and spread up her arms until she could feel it deep within her chest. Her hair billowed out as the presence of the deceased fayth flowed through the air, and her summoner's robes twitched as the magic spun around her. Something connected with her mind. Her eyes shot open and the magic evaporated instantly, leaving a slightly-shaken Yuna standing alone on the cliff, devoid of her friends' presence.

She had felt someone…

Who…?

Yuna, shaking, turned to her friends. "These fayth aren't dead," she whispered, her forehead covered in cold sweat and her pupil dilated.

No one said anything, but everyone except Paine and Kimahri had a shocked look on their faces.

"These fayth," Yuna continued, "are still alive, and what's worse, they're being used."

Rikku shook her head. "Who could be using them?" she demanded. "We killed Yu Yevon! There's no one else strong enough to use this many fayth at once!"

"Maybe not a single person," Lulu replied as if it were obvious.

"A group of summoners, perhaps," Paine added with a nod. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her eyes were cast down at the ground in thought.

"Is it possible that they could all use the fayth simultaneously, Yuna?" Lulu asked.

Yuna shook her head. "No. If that had been possible, I could have had aeon duels with Belgamine using the same aeon as she had used."

"Many summoners choose many fayth," Kimahri said after a moment of silence. His tail twitched. "Many fayth summon single thing."

Wakka nodded. "I think Kimahri's right. A bunch of summoners got together and are using different fayth to summon one thing. But what would they be summoning? Sin is dead."

"What was Sin?" Lulu asked.

"And don't give us Yevon's definition," Rikku scolded as Wakka opened his mouth to answer.

Wakka chuckled impolitely and continued his answer. "Sin was armor for Yu Yevon, made from the carcass of an aeon."

Yuna nodded. "We had to dispatch all the aeons after we had defeated Sin, so that Yu Yevon could not take hold of them and make a new Sin."

Paine's eyes had returned to rest on Yuna. She hadn't heard any of this yet.

"So," Lulu concluded, "what, exactly, is stopping these summoners from using another aeon to generate a new Sin?"

"Sin took a thousand years to make," Rikku replied.

"No," Lulu countered. "Each Calm lasted only a few short years. During those few years, Sin was being reconstructed. It was done very quickly."

"So you mean that depending on how long this has been going on," Yuna said thoughtfully, "there could be a small Sin lurking somewhere, growing more powerful each day."

"Exactly," Lulu replied with a nod.

"How do we stop it?" Paine asked.

"We have to find whoever is summoning Sin and stop them from summoning," Lulu answered simply. "But therein lies the problem: they'll have the power of aeons on their side, and we have next to nothing. Which is why we're here, by the way," she added to Yuna.

Yuna nodded. She turned back to the wall of fayth and closed her eyes, forming her hands into the Prayer once more. Again, she felt the magic gather between her hands, seeping out into her arms and the air around her, until she felt the contact again with the fayth of the wall.

What would you have of us, Lady Summoner?

Yuna's response wasn't as simple as it had sounded earlier. I would like to speak with those that have departed to the Farplane. Is this possible?

It is, the voice in Yuna's head replied mysteriously. Speak the name of the departed soul with whom you wish to speak.

Yuna hit a brick wall. Who did she want to speak with? Someone with battle experience. That was what they had agreed to before. Had they ever mentioned a name? If she asked one of the others, her connection to the fayth would be broken, and it would be risky to disconnect so quickly. She had to come up with someone on her own.

Then, it came to her.

Sir Auron, Yuna's voice echoed throughout the entire wall of fayth as the request was conveyed from one deceased soul to another. After a few moments, the connection between Yuna and the Fayth Scar weakened into nothingness.

Yuna's eyes opened and she fell to her knees, slightly exhausted. Kimahri was, of course, the first to rush over, and with his large hands on her shoulders, protected her from the harsh winds of the mountain as she recovered, sitting there in front of the wall of fayth.

After a few moments, still nothing had happened. Yuna slowly made it to her feet and looked to the wall of fayth. There was something different about it now. She looked closely at one particular fayth. It was a young, vibrant man with a ponytail and strong shoulders. The image was made of stone, and was very crude, but she could recognize it from spheres from her father's own summoner's pilgrimage.

"It's Sir Auron," Yuna whispered. "It worked."

"Well I'll be!" Wakka exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Was he always there like that?"

Lulu shook her head, her eyes never leaving the guardian's rock form. "No, I'm sure of it."

Paine looked closely at the rock formation. "Sir Auron? The Sir Auron?"

Rikku nodded with a grin. "Yep! None other! Crazy old codger, he was!"

"So now what?" Wakka asked.

Yuna knew. She took a deep breath and reached her arm out towards the stone wall. Kimahri, his hands still on her shoulders, tightened his grip as Yuna's hand went nearer the statue.

"Yuna! No!" Lulu cried, leaping forward to stop the young woman from touching the formation.

"Yunie!" Rikku cried.

Lulu's hand only made it to Kimahri's fur before Yuna's hand brushed the rock formation of Auron's body. In Yuna's mind, there was a great flash of white light. Kimahri and Lulu had seen it as well, but the others seemed to have either ignored it, or had not seen it at all.

As Yuna, Kimahri, and Lulu slumped to the ground, the other three collapsed at their sides to help them be as comfortable as possible.

When the white light faded, Yuna, still with her Ronso friend's hands on her shoulders, stood on the deck of a strange houseboat. The sky was dark and cloudy and somewhat stormy. In the near distance was a massive structure that reached almost too high into the sky for Yuna to see the top of. There were hundreds – no, thousands – of such structures. She felt like swooning. Kimahri's grip on her shoulders tightened again.

"Yuna," Lulu said, stepping up beside her friend and looking around. "Is this where I think it is?"

Yuna looked around once more, fighting the urge to scream in utter joy. "Yes, Lulu. I think it is. I believe that we're in Zanarkand."

"And not our Zanarkand," Lulu speculated.

Yuna shook her head, a smile on her face. "No. His Zanarkand."


Bwahaha! I am the master of drama! Huzzah for Paine. :3 I love Paine. And not in a masochistic way, either. What does this mean for our heroes and heroines? HA! Like I'm going to tell you! Anyway, look out for the next chapters – they'll be interesting ones, for sure. Read and review, please. :3 I shall love you poreber and eber.