Chapter 9 : Under the Waterfall.
The sun beat down on the party as they trekked along the Mi'ihen Highroad. Ruins of odd structures decorated the otherwise heavily worn path that cut straight across a wide expanse of rolling hills. It never seemed to end and everyone was becoming quite exhausted as the Fiends were more common in this area. They were positively relentless. When they were about to reach a breaking point, Yuna took action. She summoned the rainbow bird. It let loose an attack that caused a rampaging tornado that lifted every Fiend in the area about one hundred feet in the air and then dropped them like flies to the ground below. An assortment of items, plants, rocks, and upturned soil fell from the sky like rain. Snake and Kimahri got a good laugh at every sick crunch they heard as Fiends face planted into the ground and had their necks broken. After waiting five minutes for the organic hail to subside, the team continued onward. Rainbow bird, who was called Valefor by everyone but Snake, apparently could only unleash such a ferocious attack once a day without encouragement. Fiends stopped attacking them for about an hour after that and when they did start appearing again they were in much smaller groups.
When night finally fell, they found it hard to secure a safe area to camp. At this rate they would be up all night. Tidus was confused. It didn't even look like they wanted to camp.
"How much longer until we reach that Djose temple?" Tidus asked.
"Much longer." Auron replied with a grin.
"There's no checkpoint?" Snake asked.
"There is. Early in Spiran history, it became necessary to build checkpoints along the road to aid the summoners." Lulu explain. "It's not possible to keep an Aeon out all night, so summoners instead trust the checkpoints to protect them for the evening."
"Are they owned by the temple?" Otacon asked.
"No. They're owned by the Al-Bhed."
"How scandalous." Snake muttered.
"They employ perimeter protection using technology ordained by Yevon, so there's nothing scandalous about it." Wakka interjected.
"Awesome. So how much longer until we reach the checkpoint?" Tidus asked.
"Much longer." Lulu replied with a grin. "We probably should have started earlier."
Tidus groaned in exasperation. A few minutes later they passed a large bush that rustled violently as something crawled out of it. Everyone knew that this was what usually preceded a fight so they armed themselves in anticipation for the attack. A small creature not more than three feet high slowly crawled out of the bush carrying a dirty lantern. Its eyes were two orange beads protruding from a lizard like body clothed in an old brown cloak. The creature held a very sharp Chef's knife in its other hand and smelled like it had been spelunking a cave for the better half of six months without stopping to bathe. Snake couldn't help but burst out laughing after seeing this pitiful looking Fiend.
"Get a load of this joker, Auron!"
Auron's face was a white mask of shock and his mouth was open in a silent scream. Snake didn't have to be told that this was very bad news indeed. Even Kimahri looked like he was having second thoughts about attacking this peculiar critter outright.
"What's it doing so far away from its natural habitat?" Auron asked himself.
"This thing is deadly?" Raiden said.
Raiden pushed his way past everyone and stood in front of the Fiend, who slowly looked up at him. Everything this creature did seemed to be performed at a languid pace. Snake would have grabbed the idiot by his hair and hauled him back, but he figured it would be more beneficial to Raiden if he learned from whatever mistake he was about to make. Raiden nudged at the lantern totting oddity with his foot.
"Look at how slow it is." Raiden said. "How can it possibly be a threat?"
The yellow light in the lamp suddenly turned blue, which finally indicated to Raiden that something wasn't right about this creature. It began attacking Raiden with such speed that all they saw was a blue light flailing every which way. Raiden cried out in pain as he was stabbed repeatedly by the beast. When Snake used to live in the city before running to his cabin in Alaska, he once went out for a walk because it was so nice outside. He passed an alleyway where four cats were fighting each other rather viciously. The sound they made was somewhat similar to the noise this thing did.
"It's a Tonberry." Auron said to Snake. "And I think your friend is dead."
"But not like perma-dead, right? Still revivable?"
"Maybe." Auron replied, his mind on other matters.
Raiden collapsed to the ground, covered in blood and stab wounds. He'd bleed out if they couldn't get to him in time. So long as he was dead for less than thirty minutes the Phoenix Down's would still work on him if his injuries were not too severe, which didn't appear to be the case. The magical feathers plucked from a rare bird temporarily increased adrenaline and the bodies ability to heal itself. It did this on such a large scale that the recently deceased could be revived. More often than not, they were used to bring back a traveler who had fallen to a Fiend. Normally this was done by a white mage or someone carrying potions because the Phoenix Down's were not enough to take the pain away themselves.
The Tonberry's lantern turned yellow as the creature began to slowly advance toward them once again. Wakka threw his ball at it, but the Tonberry jabbed his knife into the rubber, deflating it and most of Wakka's spirit. Lulu hid her dolls. Snake shot at it with his M4 only to watch the Tonberry quickly dodge the bullets and continue marching forward as if nothing had happened. If it moved that fast, there couldn't be any way around it. He still shot at it anyway to impede its progress as everyone else started to retreat.
"Bullets aren't working!" Otacon yelled as he took potshots at it from behind a boulder. "Magic time somebody please!"
"For God's sake Yuna, will you summon something already? This foe is beyond all of us!" Snake demanded.
The team scrambled and began looking around for Yuna, who was nowhere to be seen.
"She's not here!" Otacon shouted.
"Not here?" Snake roared. "What do you mean she's not here? She didn't just fucking disappear! Where is she?"
"Tidus, go find Yuna!" Auron demanded as he launched himself at the Fiend.
"He's not here either! He probably already went to go look for her!" Lulu exclaimed.
Kimahri raised his forefinger in front of his face while looking at Snake. The look in the Ronso's eyes suggested that he understood and accepted the fact that Snake didn't like magic, but desperate times called for desperate measures. In a flash, everything about Snake sped up as the world around him slowed down. Auron was swinging his sword at the creature as though he were trying to break through a wall of molasses. The Tonberry launched itself at his face. Lulu's mouth was moving slowly as she said something Snake couldn't understand. Snake waved his hand and found that he was moving as he normally would, which happened to be about ten times faster than what anyone else could manage at the moment.
"Alright!" Snake exclaimed.
He took some C4 out of his bag and trotted over to the Tonberry. It moved a little faster than everyone else since it was attacking, but it wasn't anything he couldn't manage. He pried it off of Auron's face and sat it down on the ground. Snake took the little lantern out of its hand and replaced it with brick of explosive clay he molded into a butterfly and ensured would remain stuck to the beasts mutated limb with two layers of duct tape. He then picked up Auron in an incredibly awkward position and hauled the man away to safety while Kimahri cast another spell to neutralize the one he had just put on Snake. Before the world resumed its normal pace, Snake had enough time to light a cigarette after setting Auron down. The Tonberry cried out in unbridled fury as it tried to scrape the clay off of its limb with its bloody knife. Snake grinned and flicked the detonation switch, blowing the Tonberry completely apart. Everyone cheered in victory.
"Damn, Kimahri. You're awesome!" Snake exclaimed. "It was your quick thinking that saved the day."
"Pun intended, right?" Lulu asked.
"Hell yes, pun intended!"
The Ronso couldn't help but smirk slightly and nod his head in acceptance of his key role in the battle. Snake gave the blue beast a hearty pat on the back while the moment was still fresh. Their excitement quickly turned into aggravation when they realized that Tidus hadn't come back with Yuna yet. He was still looking for her and gradually increased his effort upon hearing the explosives Snake had used against the Tonberry while it was still alive. After he was sure he had gotten himself lost, he finally found footprints on some softer soil. Yuna's boots left unmistakable imprints. At least he hoped they belonged to her. He didn't have anything else to go on and the tracks were fresh, so he followed them down a forgotten path of the Mi'ihen Highroad. The vegetation became thick with dense overgrowth and the moon no longer provided him with adequate lighting. It didn't take him long to trip over an exposed tree root and go crashing headfirst through a rotting log.
Tidus remained on the ground for a moment, fighting the urge to pass out. He could feel something wrong with him and slowly began to panic until the sensation subsided. His head felt light and the world was murky as he took a few steps forward. Eventually his senses returned to normal, although he promised himself to have that wound looked at later.
"What brought her all this way?" Tidus whispered to himself.
He suddenly felt a presence approaching him from behind. Tidus whirled around with his blade drawn and stopped inches away from slicing Yuna's throat open. She had a gun out rather than her staff, which suggested to Tidus that she might have run into trouble while she was exploring this area on her own.
"Geez, you scared me." Tidus said as he lowered his blade. "Sorry about that."
"No, it's fine. I should have said something."
"What were you doing down here and where did you get that gun?"
"I heard a voice calling my name. It sounded like my father. I know he's dead, but I couldn't help but be hypnotized by it. I was lead to a large burrow where the most hideous thing I have ever seen tried to attack me. This gun Snake loaned me saved my life, although I've shot all but half of one clip out of the seven he gave me."
"So you killed a Fiend?"
"A Fiend that kills others by leading them to it with voices from its victims past. There were so many skeletons down there. I couldn't see them until after I had disposed of it. I performed a Sending, but most of the souls had been dead for so long that they had already been turned into Fiends."
"Well, at least you can say you're capable of taking care of yourself." Tidus said. "Still, you'd better not run out on us like that again. I think Snake would have a heart attack if you did."
Yuna holstered her USP somewhat freely around Tidus, who smiled like a fool and almost salivated when he got a glimpse at her thighs.
"I found something down here I'd like to show you." Yuna said.
"Okay. But we'd better hurry back after we're finished." Tidus said.
After a few minutes walk, they came to a large lake with a massive number of pyreflies floating in and around it. There was a waterfall at the back. The water was impossibly clear, as usual. Tidus crouched down for a closer look. He could see clear to the bottom. No fish swam in these waters.
"I believe that this is a healing spring. I've read about them in books, but they're not supposed to exist." Yuna said.
"You can't believe everything people tell you." Tidus said.
"True enough."
Tidus watched Yuna walk towards the edge of the water, taking off her shoes as she walked over.
"Whoa, wait a second. You're going to swim in it? Why the sudden urge?" Tidus asked.
"It has been said that the water cleanses one's mind while improving their spirit." Yuna explained, her tone barely able to conceal the fact that she was hiding some distressing worry. "I would hate to pass up an opportunity like this. Whether that is true or not, I cannot say. But sometimes our beliefs shape our realities."
"Geez, Yuna. You're depressed!" Tidus exclaimed. "Go ahead and swim, though. I'll go patrol while you're busy."
"I'd like you to come with me." Yuna beckoned.
"I really think we should get the others first." Tidus said. "They're worried about you!"
"Come."
Her eyes went right through him, putting him in some sort of trance. She was that beautiful. There had been many women in his life due to his profession, but none were quite as grand as she was. He desired her for more than her body, which meant he'd lose a sizable bet he'd made with a friend back in the real Zanarkand. Despite his high opinion of himself, Tidus didn't think he had that in him. The others could wait. He was capable of protecting her himself. The closer he got to her, the better.
"Alright." Tidus said. "I can patrol from the water."
She smiled. The two disrobed to their most basic undergarments and entered the water. What Yuna had said held some truth to it. While the water was somewhat on the chilly side, it had an immediate effect on him as the two began swimming together, caught in the moment and the beauty of their surroundings. Without warning, the pyreflies in the scene began enveloping them in a protective but transparent shell. Tidus examined these creatures a little harder and discovered that they weren't correct. Something was off about them.
"What's going on?" Tidus asked.
"Nothing." she replied innocently.
She grabbed him forcefully by the head and kissed him. Tidus reacted by gagging. Her mouth tasted like the Earth. This was quite unusual. His senses dulled. It became evident far too late that he'd wandered into some type of trap.
"Tidus!" he heard Snake scream. "Get away from that thing!"
He shoved it away. The eyes of Yuna's imposter were black. It had sprouted horns and a very unattractive set of razor sharp teeth. Tidus grinned and laughed nervously, admiring how easily the creature had taken advantage of him. It let out an inhuman growl as it slowly began changing into what it really was and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, which was becoming quite a popular spot. The monster hauled his ass away from the blurry figures coming to his rescue. He was dragged behind the waterfall into a den full of skeletons.
"Oh, I get it. You were talking about yourself earlier." Tidus mumbled, somewhat amused.
"Shut up!" the beast bellowed.
The last thing he could remember was reaching out to his companions as whatever had been posing as Yuna breathed heavily and attempted to get away from them.
X
"That should wake him up." Yuna said.
Tidus' eyes opened and took a minute to regain focus. He was lying in a bed in a very nice room. Daylight filtered through an open window as a nice breeze scented the comfortable chamber. Snake was sitting in a chair nearby with Raiden, Auron and Lulu all watching over him. Tidus sat up in the bed and rubbed at his eyes.
"How was that nap? Too bad you were sleeping alone, eh?" Snake joked.
"What happened?" Tidus asked.
"You were attacked by a succubus." Lulu said. "Such creatures are prone to taking up vacancy next to hidden springs or in other shadowy corners of the landscape. They are sufficiently rare, much like that Tonberry we fought."
"I went to go look for Yuna." Tidus said. "Where did she run off to?"
"I was going to try and get the jump on the Tonberry since I couldn't summon Valefor." Yuna said. "I demanded too much of him earlier. We all paid the price for that."
"Could you have really killed it yourself?" Snake asked.
"Yes." Yuna replied confidently. "Perhaps I should have used Kimahri's tactic instead."
"No, it's fine." Tidus said. "What did that thing do to me?"
"That breed takes energy out of you." Lulu said. "After that, it kills and eats you."
"How long was I out?"
"About a day. You were poisoned when that creature kissed you." Lulu replied. "It took us a few more hours to reach this checkpoint. Kimahri carried you the whole way. Yuna made sure to keep your condition stable. The poison that Fiend put in you is hard to remove since it integrates with the body so closely."
Snake's head jerked up sharply. He blinked several times and then turned away. Something about what Yuna had just said bothered him, but Tidus obviously didn't know why it would.
"I'm sorry I got myself caught." Tidus said. "I should have been there helping you guys fight that creature."
"We backed it into a corner and blew it up." Snake said. "No problem."
"If nobody would mind, I'd like a moment alone with Tidus." Yuna said.
"Of course." Lulu said with a nod.
They all got up and left the room. Yuna took Snake's chair and set it closer to the bed.
"One neat thing about the Fiend that attacked you is that it tries to seduce you by becoming the person you desire the most." Yuna said.
"Hey, I don't think of you like that." Tidus said, immediately knowing where their conversation was headed.
"You can't think about me like that." Yuna said.
Tidus scoffed, completely bewildered.
"What? Do you already have a boyfriend? I knew it!"
"No, I don't. I just. . ." Yuna said. "You can't think about me like that. You're my Guardian and you can't be anything more."
"Why not?" Tidus demanded.
"Because." Yuna replied, heavily saddened. "I'm sorry if I confused you."
"But don't you like me?" Tidus asked. "I didn't think you were the kind of woman that would play around with a guy like that and just smile and shake your head when he got too close."
"I. . ." Yuna began, unable to finish.
"The truth is, I like you." Tidus said. "I'm lost and far from home. Everyone seems to idolize Jecht because he risked it all and helped Braska out. That doesn't sound like the Jecht I know because the one I know, my father, never cared for anyone but himself and wouldn't stick his neck out that far to help someone. Everything I know is wrong. The only people I can even hope to trust are those I'm traveling with. With that having been said, it should come as no surprise that I've found myself attracted to who I deem to be the nicest member in a group of strangers."
Yuna sighed and was fighting back tears.
"I don't want you to be angry." Yuna said. "Forget I said anything."
She stood up and left the room in a suffocating torrent of strong emotions, leaving a bewildered Tidus alone in a room suddenly devoid of any comfort.