Chapter 24: Side Trip
When morning rose, so did the SeeDs. They were used to getting up early. One after the other, they came out of their tent. There was a light fog covering the Calm Lands, but it was lifting up quickly. Auron was still sitting in front of what was left of the fire. The first ones to get up quickly packed up their blankets and tents, gathering everything up so they would be able to leave quickly.
Once everything was packed, everyone took a quick bite for breakfast and prepared to leave. Kimahri stared at Auron after realizing he stood watch the whole night, but did not say a word.
"Everybody ready?" Auron inquired.
Everyone took a last look around them to check if they did not forget anything then nodded.
"Good, let's go."
He started walking ahead, Yuna following right away with Tidus on her tail. The rest of her guardians followed close behind. Rachel folded her arms, pouting.
"Could say it a nicer way, Grumpy…"
Zell granted her a light pat on the back and moved forward. The group was set in motion for a walk of undetermined time.
More than half of the day had gone by when they reached the path leading outside the Calm Lands. Some let out their joy and relief with sighs and joyful exclamations. On the other side of the path through the mountain, there was a bridge over a small ravine and another one further ahead. The group headed for the first one, but before they could even reach it, two Guado came running from a path leading inside the ravine and under the second bridge. The path was right next to the bridge and going down under in a curve. When they caught sight of them and their threatening faces, the SeeDs immediately took out their weapons, ready for the worst. The two Guado stopped in front of the group.
"Halt!" one said.
"Summons from Lord Seymour," the other one added. "Come with us."
"Ha! Zell exclaimed punching the air in front of him. "You wish!"
Yuna stepped forward.
"We have nothing to discuss with Maester Seymour!"
Tidus and Wakka jumped in front of Yuna. Kimahri and Rikku stood right behind, gesturing.
"Yeah, so out of our way!" Tidus advised.
One of the Guado walked towards the cliff under the other bridge.
"Lord Seymour's commands must be obeyed. You will come!"
"I warn you, the maester doesn't need you alive," the other one threatened.
The ground started shaking at regular intervals. A large golem type monster arrived from the path under the bridge. A large stone golem, his arms dangling left and right as he walked up in front of the group and attacked. The two Guado headed behind the golem to wait for the outcome of the battle.
"Morning exercise!" Zell exclaimed.
"Right behind ya!" Tidus added.
Carole shook her head in disapproval but could not help and smile.
"Those two, I swear!"
She turned to Kerry.
"Ready K-chan?"
"I don't know how useful I can be, but I am!" she exclaimed with determination, taking her knives out.
The range fighters formed a line behind the others and the healers and mages stood on the side, preparing themselves. The blade wielders started taking turns slashing at the golem, Tidus first. When he slashed, the golem did not even flinch, causing the blonde to freeze for a second.
"Well that didn't do much," he stated, disappointed.
"More like did nothing!" Zell added when he took a step back to give a punch at the monster himself.
He jumped backwards and shook his fist.
"Damn, this thing is hard!"
The golem suddenly turned to him and hurried towards him. It withdrew one of its fists backwards and threw a Blast Punch right in Zell's stomach, cutting his breath dead in his chest. He widened his eyes in surprise and he flew back through the others gathered behind him. Some got thrown on their backs when he hit them while others tried to form a net to catch him. Dave was the one who managed to break his fall.
"Zell!" Rachel exclaimed running to him.
Squall traced her as well, hoping that punch did not harm his friend too badly as he stepped forward to place himself between the monster and the wounded.
Dave had to hold Zell up. When Rachel got to them, she grabbed Zell's face and lifted it to her face. He was out cold.
"Zell! Wake up!"
Quistis came close and used a Cura spell on him. His head nodded a little and he opened his eyes. His feet got more assured and he stood on his own, reaching a hand to his forehead and shutting his eyes with a frown.
"Ow, damn!"
He coughed and took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" Rachel inquired under the watchful eye of Quistis while Dave stood in front of them to watch their backs.
"Yeah. I was not expecting that at all."
He turned back to the fight and watched the monster use the same attack on Selphie this time. She went flying as well, but Irvine was quick enough to catch her in mid-air.
"Booyaka! This thing likes to counter-attack with that move, watch out everyone!"
"Thanks, we kinda figured it out," Seifer said as he ran and slashed across the monster, pulling the trigger when the blade was half-way through.
The golem was using Blast Punch as a counter-attack, but not all the time. It was hard to figure out when it would. That attack was harmful, but even the normal punches were very painful to get. As if that was not enough, it was very resistant to physical attacks. Lulu went all out once that was made clear. The three gunbladers managed to do a little extra damage, but it was still not enough.
Auron slashed along with Tidus and Kimahri while Rinoa switched from her Shooting Star to spell casting. Irvine kept firing along with Adam and Wakka kept throwing his ball which did close to nothing on the monster. Auron and Kimhari were the ones to do most of the damage because their weapons could pierce through thick armors. Kerry did her best along with Selphie, watched closely by Carole who wanted to make sure she would not get counter-attacked. She was always ready to push her out of the way and get that attack herself. But it did not happen.
"How much longer is this gonna take?" Audrey asked as she stepped backwards after an attack of her twin circles.
"We can't give up anyway!" Squall told. "Keep at it!"
With force slashing again and again, Tidus built himself up and unleashed his Slice and Dice Overdrive. He started running across the place and slashing every time he got close to the golem. After a few hits, he ran back to the others. The golem kept punching or Blast Punching, giving lots of work to the healers, forcing some fighters to turn into healers. Yuna was unable to keep up.
The golem heavily walked to Tidus and he braced himself, expecting the Blast Punch again, but the golem raised both his huge fists over his head and brought them down right on him, shaking the ground in the process.
"Argh!" Tidus yelled as he collapsed.
He did not move from where he was and the golem lost all interest in him, turning to Squall who just slashed him from behind.
"Come on, get over here!" he called.
He got hit by the Blast Punch and quickly got back on his feet like it was nothing. On her part, Carole remained standing a little aside, staring at the immobile shape of Tidus on the ground. She could see his closed eyes from where she was. She felt her heart skip a beat although she was not the only one.
"No!" Yuna screamed as she left the safety of the spot where she was to run to him.
Carole shut her eyes and went back to the fight, hoping with all her heart that he was fine. She stood by Squall's side and he nodded at her, understanding her concern.
Some only noticed at that point that there was something hovering around the golem, whipping it from time to time. Veronique was trying to attract its attention to give the others a little break from the punches.
Yuna kneeled next to Tidus and Wakka joined her quickly. Kimhari moved in front of them to protect Yuna while she was performing her healing.
"He okay, ya?"
Tidus was covered with dust and dirt and from the way some of his limbs looked, he had many broken bones. Some blood was dripping from the corner of his lips. Yuna was having a hard time staying calm and focusing on the healing.
From a little further ahead, Auron was eyeing the trio from time to time, feeling pretty worried himself but of course, refusing to let it show. He kept running at the golem and slashing it. His attacks were slightly stronger all of a sudden.
Yuna used Curaga, but it did nothing. Nothing at all. She tried again. And again. Seeing it was not doing any good, tears started coming to her eyes. Moving around the place and attacking the golem, Carole realized something was wrong. She hurried to Squall who got punched once again, gritting his teeth.
"Squall, something's wrong. Yuna's magic is not doing anything!"
The leader took a look and noticed the lack of change so he stood down.
"I'll do what I can."
Hearing those words calmed her down a lot. She had full confidence in him, she knew he would help. She ran back to the golem with revenge in mind as Squall hurried to the wounded blonde on the side.
Noticing someone next to her, Yuna looked up, having a hard time holding her tears.
"Let me," Squall asked.
He kneeled next to them and checked on Tidus, placing a hand on his chest and bending over his face to feel a breath.
"He's very weak, but I can still help."
He closed his eyes and focused on one of the spells he had in him. A white light wrapped up around Tidus when he unleashed Life. The blood vanished and the broken bones mended themselves. Whatever inner injuries he had disappeared as well. His eyes flashed open, startling both Yuna and Wakka. He took a sudden deep breath and sat up. Yuna breathed out, reaching a hand to her chest.
"Thank goodness."
"Strong spell, ya?" Wakka inquired.
"As long as he was still alive I could use that. But I don't have that much inside me, so everyone will have to be very careful."
Tidus looked around, a little lost for a second.
"What happened?"
"I was so worried, I thought you were dead," Yuna explained.
The blonde brought his eyes to Squall.
"Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it," he said as he got up.
Tidus tried to get up as well, but had to sit back down when everything started spinning around him.
"Whoa, easy," Wakka advised when he caught him.
Tidus reached for his forehead with a moan.
"I only healed your lethal wounds, but the spell did not give you your strength back. That's when Yuna can come in again."
"Yes!" she exclaimed as she cast Curaga on Tidus.
Feeling immediately revitalized, Tidus smiled and grabbed Brotherhood.
"Thanks! Here I go again!"
Relieved, Yuna went back to her place next to Lulu who smiled comfortingly at her and Wakka went back with the range fighters.
When she saw him get up, Carole breathed out with relief herself. Squall came to her, his gunblade in hand.
"A little more and I would have been powerless. Better watch out for that move, it packs a deadly punch."
"I'm just glad he's okay."
Everyone did their best to bring the golem down, but it just did not want to drop. The move that almost killed Tidus, Haymaker, was unfortunately used again. This time, Zell got it as he moved a little too close to the monster. It raised both hands over its head once more and brought them down.
"Zell, get away!" Squall tried to warn.
There was just no time to move and the ground shook when Zell got hit. He collapsed as well and did not get up either.
"Oh my god…" Rachel trailed off.
"Cover me," Squall asked his girlfriend.
Her heart racing in her chest, she nodded and ran in, slashing and firing. Seifer came to her side and did the same thing, trying to keep the monster busy while Squall retrieved their deadly wounded friend.
He placed his hands under his shoulders and pulled him away. Not wasting and time, he cast Life once more. The lethal wounds were healed and a Curaga spell hit Zell immediately after, cast by Yuna who only waited for the opportunity to cast it. Squall nodded at her and Zell jumped on his feet, pumping his fist.
"Sorry, I got careless," he said scratching the back of his head. "Thanks for the Life spell."
"Don't mention it," Squall said with a smile, happy to see his old friend well.
"Let's finish this now!"
Rachel had frozen when she saw Zell go down, but the moment he came back on his feet, she found her own strength back and dashed the golem. She gave off a red light as she jumped, her axe over her head, ready to bring it down with all her strength.
"Will you die already?!"
Her axe went clean through and the golem finally went down. Like someone pulled it apart, the arms fell from the rest of the body, then the body collapsed and the legs followed. Once they were sure it would not get back up, everyone gathered up to make sure everyone was alright.
"Anybody else has some Life spells? I don't have much more."
"I have some," Quistis assured.
"Yeah, me too," Seifer added. "But only like three of four, I'm not sure."
"Lucky we did or it could have been much worse. We have to be more careful," Squall advised.
Everyone nodded, agreeing.
The guados were gone. Surely they fled when they noticed their monster would not win. Tidus walked forward to check the road going under the bridge.
"This isn't the way in?" he asked.
"This way leads down into the valley," Lulu told.
"Wow, you know your way around, ya?" Wakka asked, impressed.
Lulu ignored him and walked forward. She seemed disturbed.
"Huh?" Wakka trailed off scratching the back of his head wondering what he said wrong.
As the group walked down the slope, those that were more or less seriously wounded during the battle were smothered by the ones who were not, willing to be absolutely sure they were all right. Rachel was holding tightly on Zell's arms, concern and fear showing on her face despite Zell's usual cheerful smile. Yuna was walking side by side with Tidus, her heart still racing in her chest even though he was assuring her he was fine.
Even though she was trying to stand a little to the side as to not bother anybody, Veronique could not help but be relieved everything turned out okay. Wakka noticed her concern and signaled for her to come next to him. She was not used to walking, mostly simply "poofing" from one place to another or floating around.
"You did good there," he told her.
"You think so?" she asked slightly embarrassed. "I don't think I did much."
"Thanks to you distracting the monster, we were able to take care of the wounded, ya?"
"I suppose."
Walking besides his fiancée, Squall noticed immediately how she was not taking her eyes off Tidus. She had also grabbed her necklace and not let go since the fight ended. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, causing her to jump, startled. She turned her head to him, her heart racing in her chest.
"He's alright, you see?" he tried to reassure her.
She shook her head.
"I know, it's just… for a moment I really thought he was dead and I…"
"It's okay. We'll be more careful next time."
Walking on her other side, Kerry was also smiling comfortingly.
"It's okay, C-chan. I'll get stronger and be able to help everybody better, you'll see."
Carole could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. She also felt a little better.
"You're right. Thanks, both of you."
Down in the valley, there was an entrance to a cave on the foot wall and one person was walking around in front of it, a Crusader. The place seemed free of monsters so some scattered around the place to gather some information. The place was sacred to the Crusaders because it was where lady Yocun trained. She was a Crusader before becoming a summoner. After a moment, everyone ended up gathering in front of the cave. Rikku started zigzagging towards the entrance before running inside while the others were getting closer. She ran back out, curious.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"The fayth is inside," Lulu explained approaching. "As are the fiends."
Zell placed a hand on his shoulder and started spinning his arm around, stretching it.
"Well as long as it's not another nearly invulnerable golem, it's fine by me."
Wakka widened his eyes in surprise and turned to Lulu.
"Hey, this where…?"
Lulu nodded and Yuna got closer to her.
"Where what?" Tidus inquired putting his hands behind his head.
"The summoner I guarded on my first pilgrimage…" Lulu started. "Died here."
A heavy silence followed the revelation. Adam looked at Lulu with a sorry look on his face, as if he finally understood why protecting Yuna was so important to her. Tidus turned to Rikku who shook her head.
"Yuna, let's go," Lulu said. "The fayth awaits."
Auron walked in first and Kimahri followed him immediately. Yuna was standing ahead of Tidus, waiting for him so he hurried inside ahead of her. Rikku went in as well while Wakka stared at Lulu for a second, then he went in as well, followed with his sister. Left alone with the SeeDs behind, Lulu took a deep breath looking at the sky before following the others.
"So there's a fayth down there?" Kerry asked a little confused.
"Apparently."
"Weird place to put a fayth if you ask me," Zell commented, folding his arms.
"Nobody asked you," Seifer said with a smirk, teasing.
Zell frowned and waved his fist at Seifer.
"You know what? I think you do this on purpose! 'Cuz you like it."
Seifer walked forward and Zell stood ready, just in case but instead of preparing to fight, Seifer brushed the top of Zell's head.
"Of course I like it, because it annoys you."
"Huh?"
Seifer walked in, Audrey quickly following behind while Zell traced him, clueless.
"What the hell just happened?"
Some smiled and other laughed discreetly, but all followed Seifer inside the cave.
"What happened, Zell, is that Seifer is not trying to be mean to you anymore," Squall explained. "He's not saying those things just to piss you off, he's doing it to tease you."
"When the hell did that happen!?" Zell exclaimed, bewildered.
"Come on, Zell," Rachel pressed him, pulling his arm.
After walking through a small hall, the cave opened in a somewhat circular room.
"What's a fayth doing in a place like this?" Rikku asked, creeped out.
"Don't ask me!" Tidus said folding his arms.
"They say it was stolen from a temple long ago," Lulu explained.
"Huh?" Tidus asked.
"With no fayth, summoners cannot train," Auron pointed out. "Without training, they cannot call the Final Aeon. Without the Final Aeon, they cannot defeat Sin. That is why."
"'Cause then the summoner won't die!" Rikku understood, psyched up.
"That must be what the thief was thinking," Wakka supposed.
Rikku looked at Tidus and the both of them turned their head to Yuna.
"I kinda agree with him," Tidus said in a low tone.
Rikku nodded.
The group walked carefully through the fiend filled cave, fighting their way through as usual. They found a few lost items along the way until they got to the back of the cave. Something caused the ones on the front to stop suddenly.
"Peh! Another Guado fiend?" Wakka asked, getting ready.
"No," Kimahri said shaking his head. "An Unsent."
Many pyreflies started gathering together right in front of them to form the image of a woman. Lulu's face abruptly changed and she walked forward to her.
"It is… It's you, is it not, Lady Ginnem?"
Her tone was completely different than it ever was before. This time, it was soft, even sad, filled with remorse.
"Forgive me," she asked lowering her head. "I was too young."
Auron looked at Yuna and she knew what she had to do so she stepped forward with her staff. As she started dancing to perform the sending, Lady Ginnem attacked her, interrupting her in her duty.
"There is no human left in you, is there?" Lulu asked with her head still down.
The Unsent gestured in another attack.
"Very well, then. Allow me to perform my last duty to you. My last as your guardian."
The Unsent stood in front of the group and started summoning. A strange being appeared. Tall, large, wearing a strange overall orange coat with a large round hat on its head. It had a long katana in a hand and what was even stranger, there was a chubby orange dog next to it, waiting for its command.
"Get ready!" Squall told everyone.
The SeeDs all took their weapons out, but the limited light and space was going to make things difficult. Tidus attacked it first, willing to help Yuna at all costs, but when he struck, the sword barely got through the orange coat that proved to be pretty thick as well.
"Damn, what is that made of?"
"Let me try!" Rikku asked running to the aeon.
She gave it a good punch with her weapon but it did not have more effect than Tidus' slash. Refusing to give up, Kimahri ran forward and slashed upwards with his spear, barely doing anything either.
"Okay, that's gonna be a problem," Tidus stated with a frown.
Lulu raised her arms over her head and cast Firaga on the aeon. This time, it staggered.
"Magic seems to be effective," she told the others. "Don't hold back now."
Rinoa stepped forward and started casting spells. Lulu kept casting more every time she could. Some of the SeeDs did the same, but to the surprise of some of them, Veronique was standing behind.
"Come on," Carole encouraged her. "You can cast spells too."
The witch looked away a little embarrassed.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I don't have any spells to cast," she whispered.
Carole widened her eyes in surprise. She was not expecting that.
"You're kidding, right?"
"There are lots of things I can do, and casting spells is not one of them. Not the same spells you use at least. I'm not a sorceress like you got in your world."
"I suppose so, sorry. I guess you can try and get its attention again, then?"
"Sure, I can do that!"
She jumped in the air and started levitating towards the aeon, hovering around it, taunting it.
"Hey, over here! Try to catch me, big guy!"
While the aeon was trying to slash Veronique like she was an annoying fly buzzing around its head, the others kept casting as many spells as they could while those who did not have any elemental spells still tried to deal as minimal damage as they could.
Squall stepped forward, gunblade held back in a hand, the other in front of his face as he was focusing to cast Flare. Carole came to his side to cast a spell herself, focusing on the magic. When Squall cast his, she got ready to do the same when she suddenly felt pain inside her head, breaking her concentration. She staggered and almost collapsed, but Squall noticed her dizziness and caught her.
"Whoa, what's happening to you?"
Carole shut her eyes tightly to try and silent the pain inside her head, a hand to her forehead, pressing hard against it.
"My head hurts."
"You okay?" Rachel came asking with concern.
"Actually no," Carole answered in a low tone. "It never hurt that much before."
Squall immediately got worried she would remember what happened two days back at the spring. He figured she might have blocked it out as an unpleasant memory, too hard to deal with and that maybe forcing herself to cast spells was calling on it. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight.
"Just take it easy, okay? Don't force yourself. There's enough of us to deal with it, leave it to us."
He was holding tighter than he usually did simply to comfort her. She realized he was slightly trembling too.
"Squall, are you okay?" she asked.
He released her and smiled comfortingly at her, trying his best not to show anything more than that in that smile.
"Hey, let me worry about you, okay? Just take it easy for a while."
She nodded.
"Watch out!" someone screamed.
Squall instinctively placed himself in front of Carole, gunblade held in both hands in a defensive position, but the metallic sound that followed the warning did not come from a clash on his gunblade. It came from the aeon's katana clashing on Seifer's gunblade who had jumped in front of the couple.
"Sorry to bother you both, but Squall, think you could give me a hand if she's good?"
"Of course!"
He jumped in, pushing his own blade against the aeon's along with Seifer.
"Thanks for that, by the way," Squall told.
Side by side, trying to hold off a long blade, the former rivals were now fighting together, no longer against each other.
"Heh, I told you I would be helpful. Now let's get rid of this guy."
"I'm with you."
They pushed forward at the same time, sending the aeon back just in time to receive a jolt from a Thundaga spell unleashed by Lulu, followed with a Holy spell from Rinoa. Squall and Seifer nodded at each other and ran towards the aeon to keep it busy while the mages kept casting spells on it.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Zell were both making sure Carole was alright along with Kerry who showed genuine concern as usual. They pulled her to the side of the cave to rest against the cool wall.
"You okay, C-chan?"
"Take it easy, sis."
"Yeah, just rest."
She was panting to try and ease the pain in her head. Those three going on telling her to rest and take it easy did not make it any easier.
"Hyne, I'm so sick of hearing people telling me to take it easy! I just got up, okay, I don't need rest!"
Her sudden outburst caused Rachel, Zell and Kerry to take a surprised step backwards. None of them moved or said another word for a few seconds, too shocked to do or say anything.
"Sorry to care," Rachel finally said.
Carole realized she yelled and closed her eyes.
"Look, sorry about that. I'm not tired and I'm not sick, so please stop treating me as if I am. I just got a headache, it's not like it's the first time."
"You sure?" Rachel insisted with a little fear that her sister would explode again.
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes, I'll take a few deep breaths and everything will be okay. Just go help the others finish off that thing so we can get out of here."
"I can do that," Zell cheered up pumping his fist.
He nodded at his girlfriend and ran back to the fight. Rachel took a last look at her older sister and Kerry still standing next to her. Kerry nodded at her with determination, silently assuring her she would watch over her. Feeling better, trusting in the younger girl, Rachel went after Zell to finish the fight.
Her back against the wall, Carole kept her eyes shut and took a long and deep breath.
"Usually my headaches come slowly, not all of a sudden. I thought I was gonna throw up…"
Kerry simply stood next to her, not saying anything.
The aeon was no match for the guardians and the SeeDs and their magic. When it collapsed in pyreflies and disappeared, the Unsent finally found peace. Without a word, she vanished as well.
"Strange," Lulu said with her head down. "I thought I would be sadder somehow."
She wiped some tears from her eyes.
"Maybe I've gotten used to farewells," she supposed.
"You're stronger now," Wakka stated.
"Wakka, I hope you're right," she said looking up before turning around. "Yuna, the fayth is inside. Go do what you came to do."
Everyone put their weapons away. Tidus came closer to Yuna and Squall hurried back to Carole. She pushed herself off the wall and smiled when he arrived, but he could still see the frown of pain on her face despite the lack of light. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. He knew telling her to take it easy would only upset her so he kept quiet. She appreciated it. She walked back to meet up with everyone else, Squall and Kerry on her tail. They were trying to figure out how to get into the chamber of the fayth. It was blocked by a thick wall of rocks.
"Hey, what does that do?" Zell asked pointing at a strange glowing and pulsing device on the ground.
"A teleport pad," Auron answered.
Pretty much everyone turned to him, expecting something more of an explanation as to what this device would do, but he kept silent. As usual.
"It transports people to places unattainable by foot," Lulu explained. "When you step on it, you get transported to another pad in the direction the arrow on it points to."
"It usually needs to be activated first, so not just anybody can get teleported," Wakka added. "Looks like this one is already activated, ya?"
There was an arrow of light pulsing on it, pointing at the wall in front of them. Yuna looked at Tidus and he nodded with a smile. He grabbed her hand and both stepped on the platform. They disappeared in a trail of light heading straight through the wall.
"Whoa, cool!" Rachel exclaimed.
On the other side of the wall, there was a circular room with a hole in the middle. On the bottom of the hole lay the fayth. There were ribbons crossed over the hole, enter-twined with some sort of markings on them. Their purpose was unknown, maybe keep the fayth sealed in that cave. In the temples, the fayth were under some sorts of domes, but in this cave, there was no dome. Perhaps the ribbons were acting as such.
Yuna went down on her knees and prayed, Tidus standing slightly behind her. She got back up and the room started shaking and turned dark as the voice of the fayth started echoing, singing the hymn. Tidus rushed to Yuna's side when the ghostly figure of a man appeared, floating in mid-air over the statue of the fayth.
"I am the blade of vengeance," he spoke. "They dare only whisper my name: Yojimbo. Summoner, I ask you. What do you want of me? If you desire my strength, you must pay my price. Make your offer. I shall ask for two hundred fifty thousand gil."
"T… two hundred fifty thousand!?" Tidus nearly choked. "What kind of fayth are you? Aren't you supposed to want to help the summoner? This is a rip-off!"
He turned to Yuna. She lowered her head, checking her pockets.
"We don't have that much, Yuna," he told her.
"I know, but there must be a way."
"You expect a phoenix, yet you offer chicken feed," the fayth said in an insulted tone. "No deal."
Tidus and Yuna were literally thrown out of the room. They found themselves back with everyone else. Rikku quickly helped Yuna back up along with Kimahri while Wakka went for Tidus.
"What happened?" he asked.
"That stupid cheap fayth is asking for two hundred fifty thousand gil for his services. Must have been some kind of mercenary in the past."
"Holy shit, two hundred fifty thousand!?" Zell exclaimed, shocked.
"We don't even have half that," Lulu trailed off, discouraged.
"Actually, I have that," Squall interrupted.
All heads turned to him. In the past, it would have made him uncomfortable, not used to being the center of attention, usually keeping to himself, but he had gotten used to it.
He walked to Yuna and took out the required amount. Some people had time to notice he had in fact even more than that.
"Damn, where did you get all that?" Tidus inquired.
"I don't spend much so when I get paid, I keep it. You can have it."
Yuna shook her hands in front of her, highly embarrassed.
"Oh, no, I couldn't! This is too much."
"Take it. I'd be happy if you did. Think of it as my contribution to your journey, Lady Yuna."
His hand still held out to her with the money in it, he gave her a nice smile. She placed both her hands on his and bowed, taking the money.
"Thank you so much. I would like to say I will repay you, but I don't know if I would ever be able to get this much money again before you have to go back to your own world."
"You don't have to pay me back. It's a gift."
"Thank you, thank you so much."
"Stop thanking me like that, it's getting embarrassing. Now go pay that guy."
"Yes."
She turned back to Tidus and grabbed his hand again, her other hand holding the money on her chest.
"Thanks, man," Tidus said before the platform teleported both of them back into the room.
"Well, aren't we a little show-off," Seifer told Squall.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, why the hell did you come here with all that in your pocket?"
"Hey, if you remember right, we did not really have time to prepare when we got sucked here."
"But why carry so much money?" Rikku inquired. "Aren't you worried someone will try to rob you?"
"I'd like to see the unlucky bastard who would be stupid enough to try and rob Squall," Zell stated with laughter.
"Hey, Carole, you must feel relieved that your man is gonna be able to support you," Audrey stated winking at her friend.
"As if she's marrying him for that," Selphie objected.
"And besides, C-chan doesn't need anybody to support her, she can support herself!"
Everyone turned to Kerry, causing her to blush. Next to her, Carole smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm.
"You got that right, K-chan. But it is nice to know that if there ever is an emergency, we'll be able to take care of it."
"Or maybe I didn't have a reason to want to spend my money before," Squall said pressing his forehead against hers.
They were interrupted when Tidus and Yuna reappeared in the room with wide smiles on their faces.
"We managed to haggle!" Tidus exclaimed with pride. "It's not much, but we got him to come along for two hundred and five thousand instead of two fifty."
Yuna walked to Squall, handing him back the forty five thousand left. He took it with a nod.
"All right, consider your debt paid, Yuna."
She bowed, thankful.
"Let's get outta here, I'm getting sick of this place," Tidus said.
Nobody objected as they started heading back to the entrance of the cave. Few monsters crossed their path, giving much joy to the fighters who did not have a chance to take a shot at Yojimbo. When the light of day started shining on them again, everyone had to cover their eyes for a moment, used to the darkness of the cave. As they walked out of the cave, Veronique eyed Carole a moment, walking between Squall and Kerry.
"She can't even cast magic without it backfiring anymore… dammit..." she whispered to herself.
Seeing the day was declining rapidly, they decided to take a rest in the valley and start climbing Gagazet in the morning with their full strength. The Crusaders around provided them with decent food that they gladly accepted. After a good meal and some nice relaxation, everybody went to bed and Auron stood watch once more.
The next morning, everyone got up at day break and had a light breakfast before being set in motion. They thanked the Crusaders for their hospitality and the group climbed back up the slope and crossed the bridge. Everyone went up the path except Tidus. He turned around to look at Yuna standing on the bridge, facing the Calm Lands.
Sometimes she just stares off into the distance…
She crossed the bridge, traced by him.
I finally understand why.
After a few steps, she stopped and turned around to look at him. She smiled and nodded. He caught up with her immediately.
She's saying goodbye to the places she'll never see again.
They caught up with the rest of the group, heading towards Mt Gagazet, the last step before Zanarkand where everything was supposed to end.
A/N: Ok this one took me way too long. I personally don't like it much, it's a little boring. Two boss fights and both are boring. I could have made the Yojimbo fight more exciting, but the truth is, my fight in the game was boring. It was boring with only the Spira people so add the others and Yojimbo's not even a challenge. Defeating Yojimbo in the game even on the first time you cross the Calm Lands (It's a side quest, you don't HAVE to do it right away) is very easy, it's getting the money to pay him that's a challenge. That's why it took me a while to do this chapter. As I said before, I play the game along the writing so raising the money to pay Yojimbo in the calm lands is damn long and annoying so I kept postponing it. Sorry about that. But I got material to write at least 2 chapters or more. I will do them faster, I swear. I have to cuz I had them planned for a long time now. Lots of good stuff happening. See ya there!