Chapter 7 Conspiracy?
'Lus'uh Brother. " (Com'on Brother) Rikku said. "Lus'uh Pnudran. Rayt vun Pegyham Ecmyht. " (Head for Bikanel Island!)
"Yg Buddy mid e syohmi cidm ky tyr'd zemdi duli." Brother instructed. (Ok Buddy set a course lets go don't waste time.)
"Wait…" said Paine sarcastically. "Those two are agreeing? This could be bad!"
'Oh com'on Paine" Rikku said, her usual bubbly voice returning. "Don't be a pain!" She giggled lightly as she gave Paine a playful shove. "You're the one who told me to focus on a mission. Well now we have a mission! To find out who killed my mother and why! Father has to have some answers surely"
"Why even go there" Paine said "Why not just contact him on intercom?"
"Painie" Rikku said with a little whine to her voice "This can't be discussed over intercom. This is serious stuff"
"Whatever you say" said Paine as she retreated to a quieter place on the ship. It felt good to have something to focus on again but Paine had some other thoughts going through her head that she had to sort out alone.
They reached Bikanel Island in no time flat. Rikku wasted no time at all tracking down her father. Rikku, Paine, Buddy, Brother and young Shinra the wiz kid all gathered together in Cid's living room.
(Authors note: I could have written all of the following dialogue out in Al Bhed but that would have been very hard for you guys to read so I would like to you to imagine it's all in Al Bhed. Thx.)
"What's all this about" Cid said gruffly.
"Pops let's cut to the chase ok?" said Rikku frankly as she propped herself on the arm of the sofa. "It's about Mom" Cid shifted uneasily. It had been many years since he had thought about the death of his beloved wife. He didn't look like he wanted to remember it. "I've been having nightmares about her a lot lately" Rikku continued "and I think I've uncovered a blocked memory. Pop, is there any chance she could have been murdered?"
Cid shot a quick glance at Rikku then scratched his chin thoughtfully for a moment. He seemed to drift out into another world as he recalled the terrible events that surrounded his wife's death. He sighed deeply before beginning the grim tale.
"I remember coming home… finding you and your mother among the rubble. I had Brother with me. You're probably too young to remember this son." He said, nodding in Brother's direction. Cid paused a moment as if deep in thought then continued.
"Everyone around told me that a machina had gone crazy and attacked you both. I didn't know what to believe. We were so relieved when we were able to revive little Rikku. We couldn't save your mother though. Summoner Braska was in town. I don't think anyone else would have been prepared to perform the sending. No one liked us in that area because we were Al Bhed. I think they figured we deserved this disaster. After that I left and headed for this island. That's where it all started... rebuilding, gathering the Al Bhed. It all had to be kept a secret. I had to protect my family and my people. There were so many doubts in my head. I can't really tell you what really happened. That's all I know."
"Father" Rikku said solemnly. "Where were we living when all this happened?"
"Somewhere near Lake Macalania." He replied. So that explained the dream's location.
"There's got to be some spheres" Paine said. "With so many pyre flies in that area there is no way that something wasn't recorded." Rikku and Brother nodded in agreement. Uh oh… that could only mean trouble!
"If I were you…" butt in a new voice "I would start your search elsewhere."
Rikku turned around and her cheeks flushed slightly when she saw who had spoken. Casually leaning in the doorway with an arrogant smirk on his face was Gippal. He was the leader of the Machina Faction but more than that, he was a child hood friend of hers. They had a brief, short lived romance. Actually, Gippal was the first boy to ever kiss her. Not a deep passionate kiss like Wakka had given her, but never the less, a playful little kiss on the lips. She snorted at the memory of it. She recalled how he was so sure he'd get more and she had turned him down.
"Hey Gippal good to see you" Brother said as he stood up and gave Gippal a high five.
"Hello Brother… and hello old friend" Gippal said turning to Paine who simply nodded. "And hello beautiful" he said to Rikku managing to get her to flush even redder.
Damn him she thought. He's embarrassing me! The big meanie.
"Pops why didn't you tell us he was here?" Rikku asked, ignoring Gippal just to see if she could get a rise out of him.
"You never asked." Cid replied with a light laugh in his voice.
"I came to discuss some things with your father" Gippal said to Rikku as he strided confidently across the room. "I didn't expect to find you here, princess" Rikku was thankful that her father was in the room. Gippal wouldn't dare refer to her as a Cid's brat in front of him. Princess wasn't that much better of course. Why can't he just use my name? Rikku wondered.
"Alright, alright" Rikku said annoyed as she stood up and faced him. "If you're such a bright spark Mr. smarty pants, tell us… where exactly is it you think we should start if not at the lake?" She folded her arms across her chest and leaned on one hip.
Frankly Rikku was a little relieved. She didn't like the prospect of returning to the lake where she and Wakka had shared their first intimate moment. That was the last thing she wanted to spark up in her again. It was gone! Yes gone. She couldn't even remember how warm his touch was, how soft his lips… how exciting his kisses… no no no, she definitely couldn't remember the way his smooth husky accent sent ripples going through her and stirred her to the very core, or the way her heart thudded when ever he was near. Stop it Rikku she told herself as she tried to will her heart to quit thudding that fast at the memory of Wakka. It wasn't working. He seemed to be permanently imprinted in her brain. Gippal broke her out of her thoughts.
"I'd suggest Guadosalam" he said to the room in general. "There is a secret faction there known as the Yevonite fanatics. They want to keep to the old teachings and have set up some kind of ... weird cult."
"What makes you think there are any clues about my mother there?" Rikku asked. Trying her best to distract herself from remembering anything about Wakka. He doesn't exist… he doesn't' exist. She told herself miserably.
"A group of us have been investigating the area" Gippal explained turning to her with a self satisfied smirk on his face. "I'm not sure if it has anything to do with your mother, but it appears they are hiding something. We don't trust them."
"Gippal and I have been discussing this for days" Cid said. "It's interesting that you unblock this… memory or what ever it is at this time. There's every chance that your mother's death was a result of some kind of conspiracy"
"But why?" Rikku asked in confusion, turning her back on Gippal just to make sure he realized that she was not interested in his gloating.
"Because she fought for the Al Bhed." Cid answered as he rose up and went over to gaze out the window. "She fought for peace. She fought with her heart, not with machina. Her vision was to see our race accepted all across Spira. There were plenty that didn't want that."
Rikku found herself deep in thought. How could they know for sure that they were heading in the right direction? It was Paine who came up with the answer.
"Shinra" Paine said "Is it possible to do a sphere search of that area and narrow it down to spheres containing Rikku's mother's signature?"
"Well" Shinra replied. "Actually I've been working on some new technology for that. It is possible… if we have some article of hers that she treasured we might be able to scan that through the computers and isolate the sphere waves."
"I have her wedding ring" Cid said removing a chain from around his neck and handing it to Shinra. "You sure it won't have been too long ago to pick up a signature?"
"I'll see what I can do" Shinra said. "I'll also have to analyse your signature so we can rule those waves out. It may take a while."
"When can you start?" asked Rikku jumping up and bouncing in front of him.
"Right away" he replied.
