PLEASE don't kill me, I had a writer's block the size of the moon. Except block-shaped. I'm gonna try to make up for it with an extra long chapter. If I can pull it off, this'll go until after operation Mi'ihen. School's back in, so it might take a bit for updates, but hopefully not as long as it's been for this chapter! Also, I know some of the dialogue isn't correct, but I can't find a novelization that's this far in and I'm not starting over, so I'm very sorry but just deal with it. Thanks once again to my reviewers.
Solid Shark – Glad you think its interesting. I was worried I was moving too slow.
Dragoon Swordsman – Operation Mi'ihen will be cool. I'm contemplating a few ideas, so we'll see how it turns out...
Dragon46 – I really appreciate it! I love that my story is...loved... yeah that's the only word I can think of right now...
Glaciours – Their relationship won't be taking off just yet...
Dragon and Sword Master – I've had that scene outside the café planned out weeks before I even thought of writing this. It my favorite scene so far! And Arek just overexerted himself in that attack. I guess he'll just have to restrain himself.
Demonslayer – Seymour was there. Yuna and the others went to greet the Maesters' ship when Arek and Rikku went shopping. He just didn't get to use Anima because Arek took care of the fiends first.
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The Mi'ihen Highroad could only be described as one thing to me – boring. Miles and miles of endless road with occasional ruins dotting it. I had been keeping a little to myself for most of the walk. Rikku danced around the party, chatting with everyone and from the looks of it, having a grand time. I was listening to Tidus give me a play-by-play of his performance at the Blitzball tournament for the fifth time when Auron, who was leading our group, came to a sudden halt. We all naturally fell quiet and stopped, waiting for whatever he was going to do. Turning to face me, he said, "So you're the 'Black Knight?'"
"Was the 'Black Knight'. My attire's kinda changed," I responded. Auron smirked at this comment for a second before pulling out his katana. "Show me."
Everyone wordlessly stepped back. They didn't want to be near when a 'Legendary Guardian' drew his weapon. I just stood there for a second. Was he serious? I figured, however, that a friendly match between two allies couldn't hurt. Right?
I unsheathed my gunblade and took up my battle stance, left shoulder forward to minimize Auron's target areas on my body. He stood motionless, katana slung over his shoulder. Neither of us moved from our positions, each of us waiting for the other. Auron didn't feel as inclined to wait, and faster than the eye could follow he charged in with a two-handed vertical swing.
Metal clashed as I brought my sword up to meet his. He swung with great force, and my sword arm nearly went numb from the blow. As I brought my gunblade down for a horizontal swing, I moved my other hand to the weapon, giving me a two-handed grip. Auron dropped his hands down, guarding with the very bottom of the blade, before shoving off and spinning into a chop across my midsection. I jumped back, blade nearly grazing me, then charged in with several swings of my own, short and fast. Auron, barely moving his hands, brought his katana into a position to block every single strike. Our swords clashed again and held, each of us trying to gain the upper hand. He was stronger, and with a final shove he threw me off balance. Pressing his attack, he drove me backwards. I tripped and turned it into a roll, coming up to counter another swing, then charging back in to press another attack. He blocked it and spun faster than I could follow with my eyes, coming full circle and ending with his blade about a half-inch from the side of my neck. We both froze. Auron gave his trademark smirk, but before he could move, I cleared my throat and flicked my eyes downwards to draw attention to something.
The tip of my gunblade hovered a hair's width from him directly over his heart. His smirk faded, replaced by his usual blank look. Tidus started whooping and laughing, Rikku was whistling and clapping, and the others just stood in shock. Auron pulled his sword back and just continued to stare. After about a full minute, he nodded. Nothing else, just a nod. He then turned to the others, "Night will come soon. We should rest here for the night."
---
So we found a small clearing to the side of the main road and set up camp. Fiends were really light for some reason, probably because so many of them went down to attack Luca. I offered watch for a bit, so everyone else drifted off to sleep while I lay back staring at the stars. It was peaceful, but I needed something else to do or I'd fall asleep. I got up and moved a little ways away so I wouldn't bother anyone, but so I could still hear any disturbances. I pulled out my sword and began to run through a drill. I don't know if I knew it before or if I made it up as I went, but the movements flowed together, like a dance. Set, parry, slice, turn, stab, guard, turn, duck, counter, spin, slash, slash, guard, sidestep, turn, sla-... There I stopped, for Rikku stood with her head less than a foot from my blade. She just smiled and wiggled her fingers at me in a little wave.
"Shouldn't you be asleep? Little kids need their rest, you know."
"Crid ib! I just figured you'd want some company, meanie!"
I just smiled. "Okay." We hung out for a while, not saying much, once again just content to be in each other's company. She seemed really distant though. I asked her what was up. She responded with, "You know you're my best friend, right?"
"Well yeah, I'd have thought so. Why do you ask?"
"...Okay, I just didn't want you to get any... ideas... you know? I mean, we're best buds and stuff, but that's it. Isn't it?"
I was surprised at this. I mean, she just reached out and grabbed my hand earlier today and now she wants to make sure we're only friends? Well... that's harsh, and I do like her a bit... I guess... but if it's what she wants... Besides, she's so outgoing, she probably holds lots of people's hands. It's just the way she is, right?
"Yeah. Of course. Why would I think any different?" I responded with a weak smile. She immediately brightened up.
"Great! I knew you know that! Well, it's my watch now, you've been out here three whole hours! Night, Best Buddy!" she exclaimed before tackling me with a huge bear hug.
I didn't sleep as good that night. I was plagued with dreams, but I could never quite remember what they were.
---
Our next day was a little bit more exciting. The fiends had started to pick up again as we got farther away from Luca. Tidus and I started keeping count of the number we'd killed. Rikku beat us both by blowing up a pack of Garms with a very large grenade. For some reason, it was very funny. Anyways, we traveled the Highroad, speaking with travelers and honing our skills for the rest of the day. By dusk we had made it to the Travel Agency. Wakka seemed a little disgruntled, but he never said anything out loud, opting to mumble under his breath as we went inside.
We checked in and everyone went their separate ways. Yuna, Tidus, and Auron went outside. I lost track of Kimahri. Wakka and Lulu were both inside the lobby, as was Rikku. She was engrossed in an Al Bhed book adorning one of the many shelves in the room. I went to find out what was up, and she explained it was a "funny romance type thing. It's my favorite!" I went outside, leaving her to her book. After about ten minutes with the chocobos she came out, asking to play tag. She's weird sometimes, but I couldn't resist. We got Tidus to join after he had finished talking to Yuna. Her and Auron just watched. We all had a good laugh trying to get Auron to join. It was even funnier when he smirked and explained how he'd "destroy us" before he went back inside.
I had to bunk with Tidus that night, but it was okay. I took the small couch and he took the bed. We stayed up talking about Zanarkand for a while until he fell asleep. I swear I heard him whisper "Yuna" as he passed out for the night.
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I awoke to the sound of a thud. A big one. A sat up as a small shower of plaster rained down on me from the ceiling. I grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at Tidus, stirring him slightly. He came out of it the rest of the way when a small section of ceiling fell right on him. By now I had my gunblade strapped on, so I ran outside to see what was up.
A monstrosity of a fiend greeted my eyes as I spun around to examine to roof of the Agency. It stood about twelve to fifteen feet tall, most of that size being a mouth with uncountable teeth, two tongues thrashing, and arms wider than the body. Clutched in one claw was a chocobo. The others (except Tidus, who came barging out around now) had already gathered, and Wakka launched his blitzball to distract it. It dropped the chocobo and vaulted from the roof, landing a few paces in front of us. It slapped the ground and roared, challenging us to come take it on.
"I think it wants some," I said. Auron's arm shot out and grabbed his katana as he replied, "Well then, let's give it some."
I charged as did Auron and Tidus, and we began tearing into its body with our swords. Auron strode around behind and took swings and its unprotected back. For all our work, it didn't seem to have any effect. It roared again, and in one movement smacked Tidus and I away and kicked Auron off its back. Our swords weren't doing enough damage. It now had the three of us between it and the cliffside. A fall from this far up would be instant death. It advanced on us, but suddenly shuddered to a halt. It screeched and spun towards the others. Lulu was standing out in front, her fingers smoking. Now that I could see the thing's back, I noticed a wicked burn across its shoulder.
"It doesn't like fire! Let us roast it!" Auron yelled out.
"I got 'dis one, ya!" Wakka yelled out. He began to spin his blitzball on his finger, and after a few seconds it burst into flame. He drop-kicked it and the fiends' head, but it blocked it, scorching its claw but leaving its face untouched. Lulu was launching fire spells as fast as she could. Tidus stayed back since his sword wasn't very useful at the moment. I stood back as well, ready to rush in but knowing I couldn't help too much. Kimahri was in the same position as I was. Yuna was firing off healing spells as the fiend scored occasional hits on the fighters. Rikku threw a fire gem at the fiend, burning it badly, but it kept coming. Unknowingly, it had herded all of us back towards the cliff edge yet again, but this time there was no distraction from behind.
"Arek, use this!" Rikku yelled before tossing a fire gem to me. I stuck it in one of the barrels of my gunblade, watching as the thin tendrils of red snaked up the sword. It wasn't much, but now I could help. Auron needed it; he was slashing away even though it seemed to make no difference against the fiend. I charged in and began to attack as well, feeling how my blade cut deeper than it did before. We slowly drove it backwards with our weapons and spells. Wakka charged up his ball one last time, but with Auron and me acting as distractions, it couldn't block this one. The flaming ball hit home on the fiends' head, and it collapsed, never to rise again. Pyreflies filled the clearing for a moment before dissipating into nothingness.
---
The owner of the Agency, a man by the name of Rin, was very pleased that we had gotten rid of the Chocobo Eater without too much damage to the Agency property. He said we could borrow some chocobos for free this once as a reward. There were four of them and they could each hold two people, so it worked out perfectly. Rikku wanted to ride with Yuna, so I went with Tidus, seeing as he was my other closest friend besides those two. I was about to get on our bird when Rin approached us.
"Excuse me, but may I speak with you in private, good sir?" I agreed, and we walked a short distance away. Rin stopped and turned to me. "Good to see you Arek. I assume everything went through as we had hoped?" I froze. Was this some sort of joke?
"...What?" He stared at me with a confused expression, so I continued. "I've never met you before, Mr. Rin. I don't know what you're talking about." He recovered rather fast from this, smiling and apologizing for the mistake. I was about to leave when Rikku yelled out, "Hey Arek! I want my fire gem back!"
"Yeah sure!" I hollered back, pulling out my gunblade, removing the gem from the chamber and pitching it to her. When Rin saw my sword, his eyes widened considerably. "You seen one of these before?" I asked.
"Indeed I have. They're standard issue at Home, but your model is...special, to be customizable like that."
"Well, I guess I'm just lucky then," I smiled, "I need to be going. Nice to meet you Rin!"
"Yes Arek, nice to...meet you as well," he responded before bowing slightly and walking off. He was a bit off, but whatever. I jumped on my chocobo and we rode away.
---
Chocobos were fun. They moved too fast for the fiends to get at us, so we were at the gate to Mushroom Rock Road faster than I had figured possible. There, however, we had to stop. Something the guard explained as 'Operation Mi'ihen' was taking place, and even summoners had to wait before clearance to pass would be given. We were just about to settle in for a long stay until Yuna gasped and grew our attention to a small party of people coming up from the Highroad to the checkpoint.
They all looked weird, but the one in the middle took the cake. He had blue hair strange enough to make Wakka's look normal and wore a flowing robe-type thing. His hands almost seemed oversized and his nails were rather long. There were varicose veins across his face as well. Upon his approach Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka gave the Yevon bow. He spoke in a gentle, slightly creepy voice.
"Lady Yuna, how are you today?" Yuna didn't say anything, but cast a sidelong glance towards the checkpoint. "I see. Allow me." The man said, and went to speak with the guard. I turned to Tidus.
"Who's he?"
"Seymour. He's a 'Master' or 'Maester' or something." He responded. At this, Lulu slapped him in the back of his head.
"Watch what you say! Show some respect, he's a Maester!"
"I know! I said that, didn't I?"
The Seymour guy returned to Yuna. "It is done." He said with a small smile.
"Thank you my lord!" she said bowing low. Seymour just nodded and continued on. As he passed the rest of us, he stared dead at me. His step faltered for a moment, but he regained it quickly, never taking his eyes off me. He kept going after that short...oddity, though, as if nothing had ever happened. I shrugged of a weird occurrence for the second time that day as the rest of the party passed through the checkpoint and continued onwards with the pilgrimage.
We didn't get to continue far, though. A guard told us Lady Yuna's is requested at the command center. By Lord Seymour, of all people. So we made our way down the strange path to where the command center for this huge operation was. We proceeded up a series of lifts until we met a man named Luzzu, who Wakka and Lulu knew from Besaid. They exchanged words (and fists on Wakka's part) before we made it the rest of the way up. Something about Lulu's dead boyfriend, but I wasn't paying that much attention. As we made to a ridge overlooking the bay, we were greeted by hundreds of machina. At this Wakka's jaw dropped, then made many angry sounds. Rikku and I glared at him for it.
"What? I got nothin' against you two, I just hate these stupid, sacrilegious OWWW!!!" He never finished his sentence, for he stubbed his toe while trying to kick one of the cannons. Not a smart thing to do while wearing sandals. At this moment Seymour made his grand entrance. The others were speaking with him about the machina, but I was just staring at him. Something about him seriously bothered me. A small shiver ran down my spine, but I had no idea what for. Then I realized those creepy gray eyes were staring right at me.
"Isn't that correct?" he asked me.
"Forgive me, I wasn't listening." I replied bluntly. He smiled slightly at this before repeating his question. "Is it not true that the Al Bhed wish for a Spira without Sin?"
"Why do you assume I'm Al Bhed?"
"Your eyes of course. You and your companion are Al Bhed, are you not?" Rikku, who at some point had moved next to me, nodded a little bit, as did I. Seymour chuckled a bit at this. "I mean you no harm, even though I may be a Maester," he said, misreading our hesitation, "Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the great 'Black Knight' was Al Bhed!"
"Life's funny sometimes, isn't it?" I responded. He smiled very oddly at this, then laughed as though something were very funny. "Indeed. Life can be...interesting sometimes. For example, I was just about to handle those fiends in the stadium myself, but you took the liberty of disposing of them for me. As you say, life can be funny sometimes." He then turned back to the others. "I'll see you all at the command center shortly. Our operation will begin as soon as you're present." He then left. Rikku turned to me as soon as he had gone.
"He really creeps me out."
"Yeah, something's weird about him. I just can't place it." Looking around, I saw the others had all pressed on without us. And so Rikku and I, leaving our concerns alone for the moment, jogged off to catch up with the group.
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I cut it off right before the operation cuz I want a little bit more time to plan it out. School was out early since the power died so I had some time to work on this. I'll do my best to keep going at a decent speed. Any questions, comments, concerns, just drop me a review and I'll respond to the best of my ability next chapter. I'll c-ya guys next time!
