Chapter Twenty One

The burns Rydia had endured from her encounter with Ifrit were slow to heal. She'd been unable to do much of anything with her bandaged right hand and with her ankles swollen she wasn't able to practice in the arena with Black or Shiva. Black thought her circumstances were hilarious.

"Maybe now you'll focus on your studies instead of running away with your thoughts."

She threw another projectile at him, hitting him square in the face.

"By the way, just thought you should know; Shiva did a number on Ifrit last week. You should have seen his backside!" he happily announced, rubbing his injured forehead.

This did bring a small grin to Rydia's face. It had been two months since their fight and she was still nursing her injuries and a certain amount of uncharitable feelings toward the fire summon.

Since she'd been unable to do anything physical, it was back to books. For a while Rydia preferred to be indoors, away from Ifrit and any other would-be attackers, but once again her restlessness returned. She was surprised when Shiva changed their routine and came to her unannounced one afternoon.

"Rydia, I have a task for you. There's a spell I want you to learn."

Rydia, always eager to try something new, perked up. "What is it?"

"I want you to learn the warp spell."

"The warp spell?"

"I'll have another task for you once you've finished it."

That had been the previous week. Rydia had studied the warp spell all week and tested it a few times, transporting herself to different parts of the arena.

Shiva returned to her during one of her practice sessions and told her the next stage of the task.

"I want you to use the spell to transport yourself out of the caverns. When you're there, summon me. Now we'll see if you can put into practice what you've been reading about."

Rydia saw the challenge in front of her. She'd never warped that far before, and honestly didn't know if she'd make it.

"You'll be fine. Just concentrate," Shiva assured her. "Once you're outside of the caverns, summon me. I'll come."

Rydia took a deep breath and prepared to do as Shiva had asked. She began the incantation and allowed herself to be pulled by the magic's energy to the destination she'd given it.

She was surprised when she opened her eyes to see the harsh landscape of the underground. The warmth of the magma sea closed in around her and her breathing quickened to account for the change in pressure against her chest. The first part of her task had been successful. Now for the second part…

Looking around her at the unusual sights, she noticed unusual stone projections rising out of the ground looking like claws of giant creatures that had been trapped that way for ages. What a strange place this was! She didn't remember it looking this way when Ramuh brought her here. She began picking her way across the red ground to one of the stone rises, curious to explore. Once at its top, she looked around the edge of the island, staring across the magma's expanse. There was definitely no way she was going to leave this island without the help of the summons.

She wondered idly if the time distortion that governed her in the city still held where she was standing. Was she back in the same time frame as Cecil?

The magma's flow was slow and lethargic, and in some places, not moving at all. She figured she was still in the distortion after all, but was amazed by how far it reached. Was the Summoned Land really so powerful a magic field?

She gazed for a few minutes longer, imagining what it would look like if it were a real ocean of water. Images of her ride in Edward's hovercraft between Damcyan and Kaipo filled her thoughts. How she missed the feeling of ocean spray on her face and a cool wind on her skin.

A strange noise behind her quickly made her turn. For a moment she'd forgotten that she was alone in a place thriving with monsters. She looked around cautiously but saw nothing. She took a few steps away from the edge of the outcrop she was standing on and gripped the ice rod she'd brought with her tightly in her hands.

Without warning, two gigantic moth-like creatures sprang up from behind a large clump of boulders. They were her size with a wingspan twice as wide--gold and green, and iridescent. They beat their wings furiously, sending gusts of warm air against Rydia's face.

She immediately went into a blizzara incantation, hoping to stun them. She released it and sent ice flying into them both. It hit them and tore their wings, sending them fluttering to the ground. One of them, still able to move, countered her attack and with tattered wings, blew a glistening powder in her direction. Not sure what to make of this turn of events, Rydia was unprepared to react as the powder coated her skin. It burned her eyes and made them water. The pain forced them shut and she forced her panic away and focused on what she came here to do in the first place, summon Shiva.

She finished the summoning incantation and waited, feeling the pull of something powerful on her energy.

She heard a sudden gust of wind and stones cracking with cold. The clinking of ice, like falling glass, filled her ears and then there was nothing. Suddenly the pain on her eyes was gone and she looked up blearily to see Shiva holding a small phial in her hand.

"To cure the blindness," she explained at Rydia's puzzled expression.

Rydia looked at where the moths had been, rubbing her face free of the excess tears. They were small lumps with icicles piercing them to the ground.

"You should have called me sooner. What took you so long?" Shiva asked, sounded agitated.

"What do you mean? I only just got here and looked around."

"I waited an entire day for you to summon me."

"A day?" Rydia asked, confused. "But it's only been maybe half an hour!"

Shiva rested a hand on her hip. "The time distortion," she muttered.

"Aren't we still in it?"

"Yes and no. You're still influenced by it, but not as strongly as you would be inside the city or even in the caverns. The farther away you get, the greater the differences in time. I should have known."

Rydia tried to understand all this.

"It's really been a day down in the city?"

"It has. I thought something had happened to you, and come all this way to find you blinded. I'm just glad I didn't find you dead."

Rydia was curious by the summon's words. "But I'm not dead."

"No, you're not, but it was enough of a worry."

"It worked!" Rydia suddenly said, looking at Shiva anew. "The summoning, it worked!"

"Did you think it wouldn't?"

"No, but it's always nice to know you've done something right."

"You realize that the longer you keep me here, the more energy you're consuming. You may dismiss me, but return quickly. There are other creatures like those lurking about."

Rydia nodded, giving the orders of dismissal. Shiva vanished in a sparkling cloud and Rydia quickly followed with the warp spell, returning herself to the arena. It was night, but Shiva was still there, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed.

"It's been a few hours," she reported. "I'll think about how to go about this in the future, but now I suggest a good night's rest. It's been a long day."

Rydia agreed, observing that Shiva was the one who looked in need of rest. She imagined there would be a lot to talk about in the morning, and figured it was for the best to catch up on her sleep while she could. Leave it to her to make a simple task much harder than it had to be.

Sure enough, the next morning Black was ready to greet her.

"How'd it go? Shiva was really worried when a day had gone by and you still hadn't summoned her. What were you doing out there?"

"It hadn't been that long. Shiva said it was the time distortion," Rydia replied defensively.

"She was about ready to never have you do it again, the way things were going yesterday."

"She was that worried?"

"She was pacing."

Rydia raised her brows. "I was caught off-guard by some monsters, and one of them blinded me before I summoned Shiva. I didn't mean for things to get that close, but it all worked out in the end."

Black shook his head. "Well I'm glad that's all that happened. Ramuh just about panicked too. He kept saying he should have gone with you."

"I was only out there maybe half an hour by myself!"

"Why did you wait half an hour?"

"I was—looking around."

"There's not much to see. It's all magma and rocks."

Rydia made a face. She didn't want to say she'd been daydreaming again. It was becoming a very bad habit of hers.

"I wanted to get a better feel for the land," she lied. "I didn't realize it would be so long for everyone here."

"I've never seen Shiva so bothered. She almost didn't go to Ramuh to tell him that you weren't back yet. When she finally did he looked about ready to cast thundaga on her, and I've never seen him do that either."

Rydia felt touched that so many of the summons cared enough about her to get that out of sorts. It also made her feel guilty.

"I really didn't think it would be that long," she said again.

"I myself wasn't worried," he told her.

"Oh."

"I was slightly concerned, but I figured you could handle things."

Rydia stared at him in shock. "Some help you'd be in a pinch!" she pointed out.

The door to Rydia's house suddenly opened again, she was used to people never knocking before entering these days, and Shiva walked in, back in her human guise.

She looked at the two of them and then hastily looked at Rydia, as if to be sure she was still there. "I'm sorry I scolded you," she said quickly. "It wasn't your fault."

Rydia didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"As you know, news likes to travel quickly around here. A few of us have decided that due to this unexpected result in the time distortion and the fact that having you travel alone is too dangerous at this time, someone should be with you. Black, since you already assist Rydia, we've decided that person should be you."

Rydia burst out laughing and Shiva stared at her critically. "What's so funny?"

Rydia tried to stifle her laughter but it kept coming. Shiva looked at Black then back at Rydia.

"I don't understand what's going on here. We're trying to keep you safe and you laugh like it's an absurd idea!"

"Black—he thinks—" her laughter started to die down into giggles. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to be serious.

"She can't see me fighting any battles, that's what," Black said sourly.

Shiva raised a brow. "In battle I have no idea how well you'd do, but we were thinking as an extra pair of eyes. We couldn't spare anyone else. We chose you because you don't need that much energy to support your essence outside of the city."

"Oh," Black said, his pride deflated.

"You'll be looking after her, and knowing that someone else is with her is just an added precaution. I'm sorry to say I didn't think of it sooner."

"Thank you for the consideration," Rydia told Shiva.

"The next time we try this, I'll be sure Black is with us."

He nodded, and then Shiva turned to leave. "Find me in the arena later today, Rydia. There's something I'd like to show you concerning the blizzara spell," she said before she exited the room.

Rydia turned to Black who was still nursing his wounded pride.

"It's alright, Black. I still believe you're secretly the most powerful summon of all," she said with a slight giggle in her voice.

"So how's that saving the world thing working out for you?" he muttered under his breath.

Rydia glared at him. "That's what you get for boasting! Don't take it out on me!"

He walked over to the door, ready to follow Shiva's example. "You remember what Shiva said; more practice in the arena today for you. If it does happen to involve time travel and other sorts of trouble, don't be expecting this all all-powerful summon to bail you out of trouble. I might just feed you to one of those monsters if I feel so inclined."

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss! Besides, you get to leave the city. Maybe do some exploring?"

"Go explore some more books!" he said and trotted out, though Rydia knew he'd be better tempered and back within the hour.

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Author's Note: This chapter was originally only two pages long…but I added on to it. Her experience with Shiva outside of the cave is pretty much just a pre-cursor to something I want to have happen later on. It's still short, but it could have been shorter. Just a little transition chapter…

As far as Black's character goes…he's just one sarcastic ball of fluff, but his intentions are good. He and Rydia just bicker back and forth like an old married couple.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Rydia gets something from the summons she obtains in the Summoned Land. They're not official weapons so to speak, and they don't stick around for when she returns to the party (that would be the rod and the whip). Just thought I'd clarify.

And I will be returning to Mist…no worries. I'm getting there…

Till next chapter

myth.