Hi, everyone, and welcome back! A relatively short chapter here, and you know what that means! I'll be updating sooner than usual. Yay!

Read on!

After a good night's sleep at the travel agency along the Mi'ihen Highroad, everyone was rested enough to continue along. Jecht awakened early the next morning to take a walk and stretch his legs. After his talk with Auron and after their visit to Luca, he was feeling much better. He was still worried about what the fayth had told him, but there was little he could do about it now. The best he could do was try to think of a way they could defeat Sin that didn't involve the Final Summoning.

Jecht didn't care if the teachings wouldn't allow it. If they could stop Sin for good, that was all that mattered. The people of Spira would quickly come to terms with it.

And as for his way home? He could only hope one existed.

"Well, well, well," a voice called behind him. Jecht turned away from his view of the sea to find an old nuisance standing across from him. "Ivran," Jecht muttered. "What are you doing here?"

Again, he was accompanied by his two hulking guardians. They smirked and looked at him as if he was a piece of meat. "I'm on my way to Mount Gagazet. Isn't that where you're headed, too?"

"We'll get there when we get there."

"Hm. Where's Lord Braska? Shouldn't you be guarding him? That is what guardians do."

"It's none of your business what he's doing," Jecht snapped. "Now do you need something, or are you just here to irritate me?"

"There's no need to be hostile," Ivran said, waving a hand. "I would just like a word with him, that's all."

"I'll pass on the message. What do you want?"

"Fine," he sighed. "It seems you insist on being childish. Just tell Braska to be careful along the Mi'ihen Highroad. There have been reports of a fiend attacking any and all who cross it."

"What's new? There are lots of fiends in Spira."

"This one's different," Ivran said. "It eats chocobos."

"Then what do we have to worry about?"

Ivran glared. "Take my advice or don't. It's up to you."

"Why should we trust you?"

"I may dislike you and your summoner but I wouldn't let you walk into danger. Whether or not you heed my warning is on you."

"Fine," Jecht said. "Thanks for the tip."

Ivran grinned. "Take care of yourself, guardian. It's a long way to Zanarkand."

"We'll be just fine."

"I'm sure." Ivran turned to leave, but Jecht stopped him in his tracks. "Hey, Ivran! Aren't you gonna apologize for what you said in Macalania?"

Ivran laughed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because Braska had the decency not to knock you down a few pegs—and so did I."

"I'll give Braska credit for his effort," Ivran said, "but who are you both kidding? He's not going to stop Sin. I mean this with the best interest at heart: he should just go home, back to his daughter. He doesn't have what it takes."

"And you do?" Jecht snorted. "He took on a Sinspawn, you know. He saved our lives, along with hundreds of soldiers. Could you do that?"

"I'll do what needs to be done."

Suddenly, Braska and Auron appeared at Jecht's side. "Good morning, all," Braska said. "Ivran. Good to see you again."

"Braska. We were just leaving." At last, Ivran and his guardians took off down the Highroad. Braska turned to Jecht. "I hope things went better than last time."

"As well as can be expected," Jecht said. "He said he came to warn us."

"About what?" Auron asked.

"Something about a giant fiend that eats chocobos."

Braska stroked his chin. "Interesting."

"Get the camera out," Jecht ordered. "I wanna see this thing in action."

"This isn't the time, Jecht," Auron sighed, but he took out the sphere anyway.

"I say we go after it," Jecht said.

"That's unwise."

"Isn't this our job? To protect the people of Spira and stop the fiends?"

"Not quite."

"Well," Jecht said, "we should."

"A giant fiend that attacks chocobos," Braska mused.

Jecht turned toward the Highroad. "Hmph. What's it waiting for?" He threw his fist into the air. "Hey! Come out and fight!"

Auron sighed. "I told you this was a waste of time."

Jecht faced him. "Hey, come on. It's the right thing to do. Everyone's depending on us. Besides, it's good practice."

Auron chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"Well, then?" Braska asked, turning to his guardians. Despite Auron's protests, he already knew what was going to happen.

Suddenly, a loud roar shook the forest trees down the path leading off from the Highroad. Startled, Auron dropped the sphere.

"There it is!" Jecht cried, taking off. "Auron, let's get 'im!"

"Right!" Auron replied. He scooped up the sphere on his way after the others, quickly pocketing it. They flew past several confused and frightened passers-by on their way down the path. "What are we getting ourselves into?" Auron shouted as they ran.

"Come on, Auron," Jecht called back. "We'll be hailed as heroes!"

"We don't know anything about this fiend."

"Well, we're gonna find out. Quit yappin' and pick up the pace!"

Auron resisted the urge to retort. They followed the fiend's roars down the path winding through the trees. The path sloped upwards, leading to a bridge that wound around the ravine below. They stopped at the base of the bridge, gaping at the creature before them.

The creature blocked the road with two panicked chocobos in its big meaty fists. It was thick in the middle, and where a body should've been, it had only a giant head. Its two purple tongues dripped with globs of mucus. It let out a triumphant roar, as if challenging them to advance.

"There's our guy," Jecht said. "How are we playing this?"

"This was your idea," Auron said.

"All right, gimme a sec."

"Think quickly," Braska said. He raised his hand and cast a fire spell just in time before the creature could take a bite out of the chocobo. It let out a cry and the chocobos made a break for it.

"I've got it!" Jecht cried. "We push it down to the ravine, then pound away at it until it's gone for good!"

Auron glanced down into the gorge. "It could work. At the very least, we'd have it cornered."

"Let's do it!" Jecht removed his sword and braced himself. "Everyone, on me!" He charged at the fiend, taking a leaping swing. It stumbled back a few steps while they closed in on it. As they got closer, it swung its long arm at Auron, who narrowly dodged the attack.

The beast was much faster than they'd given it credit for. It whipped its arms back and forth, trying to smash Auron and Jecht into the ground as they weaved their way around it. Anytime they came close, Braska would cast a spell at it, dazing it long enough for them to push back. The road was dangerously narrow, and a single missed step would mean a deadly fall down the side of the cliff, but they did not relent.

"Knock 'im off his feet!" Jecht ordered.

They waited until Braska distracted it with another spell, then together, Auron and Jecht swung at its short, stubby legs. The beast went down like a sack of potatoes, dropping flat onto its face. The impact of its fall was so heavy that the edge of the cliff where it stood began to crumble beneath its feet. It clawed at the ground, struggling to avoid the tumble into the ravine below, but Braska's fire spell forced it to lose its grip. It rolled down the side of the sharp, rocky cliff, dropping to the ground below.

Jecht, Braska, and Auron peered into the ravine. "You think we finished it off?" Auron asked.

"Doubt it," Jecht said. "But let's go down there and find out!"

Jecht raced ahead down the path beyond the bridge with Auron and Braska hot on his trail. They made their way down the sloping path leading into the ravine and found the creature coming back around. This time, it was twice as angry. It let out a loud roar at the sight of its foes and braced itself to attack.

"It's not happy," Auron said, rearming himself.

"At least we've got it trapped," Jecht replied. "Now we've just gotta finish him."

"It seems we have an audience," Braska said. They looked up and found that several people had gathered to watch the cliff edges about the ravine. Among them were Ivran and his guardians. What's he doing here? Jecht wondered. He thought that jerk had left long ago. Even after defeating the chocobo eater, Ivran would probably have something to say. If it came to that, Jecht wasn't sure he could hold back.

But that wasn't important right now. They had bigger fish to fry. Jecht turned his attention back to the fiend at hand. "Let's put this guy to bed!"

They moved in on the enemy in the same manner as before, though this time it fought back twice as hard. Even Braska's spells seemed to be less effective this time around. It moved faster, it swung harder, and it pushed them back more than they pushed it. Backed up against the south wall of the ravine, they found it difficult to advance.

At one point, the beast got tricky. Jecht dodged its swing and charged at it, but it backhanded him with its other arm and sent him flying across the gorge. Auron attempted to swing while it was distracted, but it caught onto his intentions and knocked him across the ravine, too, isolating Braska.

The summoner wasted no time. Raising his staff, he summoned his newest aeon, Valefor. The hawk-like creature floated down toward the earth, placing itself between Braska and the chocobo eater. All around, the people watching from above gasped. Most of them had probably never seen an aeon before.

The fiend was confused for a moment at the sight of its new foe. Valefor swept toward the beast, using its claws to knock the creature onto its back, where it lay wiggling for a few second. In that time, Valefor shot a beam of energy from his mouth, drawing a circle around the chocobo eater. The ground exploded underneath its feet, launching the fiend into the air.

Those watching began to cheer, but the fight wasn't over just yet. The fiend climbed back to its feet and released a roar that shook the ground around it. It pounded its fists on the ground, uprooting a chunk of the earth. It spun around and hurtled the mound of dirt, grass, and cobblestone at Valefor, slamming him against the wall. The aeon slumped to the ground and disappeared in a haze of pyreflies.

"Any other genius ideas, Jecht?" Auron asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Distract it so Braska can finish it off!"

He charged at the aeon once more, diverting its attention for a split second. Auron joined in, and together they kept the fiend occupied. Braska grasped his staff with both hands and raised it to the sky. "You will know pain," he declared.

Stepping back, he twirled the staff over his head. A funnel of fire sprang up beneath the creature's feet, stunning it. Braska cast his flare spell again, knocking it off its feet. By the third time, the chocobo eater was powerless. It stumbled backwards, groaning in pain. Then, it sprawled onto its back, and a swarm of pyreflies consumed it.

Jecht and Auron approached Braska, both exhausted and out of breath. "We did it," Jecht breathed. "See, Auron? What'd I tell you?"

Auron stood up and drew in a deep breath. First he shook his head—then he chuckled. "Well, what do you know? You were right about something for once."

Jecht nudged him. "Oh, gimme a break, won't ya?"

Braska laughed. "I can't believe we did that."

"Yeah," Jecht said. "But look how happy we made everyone."

The people watching from above were still cheering and applauding. Even Ivran looked pleased. Nothing made Jecht feel better than seeing that. "There's the audience we've been waiting for," Jecht said. He stepped between his companions and grabbed their hands, lifting them into the air like contenders in a boxing match. "Everyone, listen up!" he shouted. "When someone asks who it was that defeated the chocobo eater, you tell 'em it was Summoner Braska!"

The applause grew louder. Braska took a step forward and raised a hand to quiet them. "But I couldn't have done it without the help of my faithful guardians, Sir Auron and Sir Jecht!"

Again, whistles and cheers went up.

Braska faced his friends and smiled. "Let's go. Our adoring fans await us."

A large crowd had gathered by the time they returned to the travel agency, making it almost impossible to get by. People clapped them on their shoulders, chanted their names, and blessed them in the name of Yevon.

Never in his life had Jecht been glorified for something other than blitzball. He hadn't expected it to feel so good, so rewarding. He had helped save these people and put an end to the fiend's reign of terror. The Mi'ihen Highroad would be safe once again, and he was partly to thank. His wife and kid would be so proud of him if they knew.

A man approached them and bowed. "Summoner Braska, Sir Guardians—on behalf of everyone here, I'd like to thank you for your help. That chocobo eater has been giving us trouble for months. But all that is behind us now—thanks to you."

"There is no need to thank us," Braska returned, bowing back.

"Yeah," Jecht said. "We just did what needed to be done."

"Don't be so modest," the man said. "Your bravery was encouraging." He reached into his coat and removed a small pouch jingling with coins. "My employer and the owner of the travel agencies throughout Spira, Mr. Rin, has asked me to give you this. It's not much, and he regrets not being able to thank you himself, but we had to do something."

"That's not necessary," Braska said.

"Of course it is. Please, let us thank you with this small token of appreciation. It's the least we can do."

Reluctantly, Braska accepted the payment. He and his guardians bowed. "Thank you, sir. And please thank Mr. Rin as well."

"Of course," the man replied. "And as for the rest of your pilgrimage, your stays at Mr. Rin's travel agencies will be complimentary."

"That will be of great service to us. Again, we thank you."

It took a little while longer for the crowd to dwindle down. When it did, Ivran and his guardians approached. Jecht crossed his arms and glared. "What're you still doin' here, Ivran?"

Ivran sighed. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your small victory, Braska. The people seem to be quite thankful for your help."

"Thank you, but I did not do it alone."

Ivran resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was clear that, unlike Braska, humility was not a trait he regularly practiced. "I may have underestimated the three of you."

"And?" Jecht said.

"And…well, you were quite impressive in battle."

Jecht shook his head. "Try again, pal."

"Fine. I'm sorry. Perhaps…perhaps my behavior was out of line."

Auron scoffed. "Perhaps?"

"No offense, Braska, but look at you," he said. "You're a summoner who's fallen from Yevon, and you've married an Al Bhed woman, for Spira's sake."

"You got a point?" Jecht demanded.

Ivran waved a hand. "It's just…well, you're the last person I'd expect to be capable of facing Sin."

"And that is why I must do it," Braska said.

"And he will do it," Jecht added. "You can get behind it or get outta our way."

Ivran nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you for your words, Ivran," Braska said, "but I don't need your approval—or anyone else's for that matter—to go on."

"And that is what's most remarkable about you," Ivran said. "All of Spira laughs at you, yet you press forward anyway. You are a noble man, and for that, you have my respect." For the first time since they'd met Ivran, he bowed to Braska. "Forgive me for doubting you. Spira needs more people like you."

Braska nodded. "Thank you." He turned to his guardians. "Shall we get going?"

"Yes," Auron said. "Let's go."

Leaving behind Ivran and his guardians, they made their way down the Mi'ihen Highroad. Not one of them looked over his shoulder at the summoner and his crew, but the swell of pride had risen up within each of them. For once, Jecht heeded Braska's advice and did not gloat. After all, Ivran had learned his lesson.

Soon, all of Spira would, too.

That chocobo eater just never learns, does it?

As promised, chapter 15 will be posted on Monday, 9/7. Consider it my Labor Day present to you guys. :) See you then!