Chapter 25: I Know Where I've Been (youtube - watch?v=5OVyoScw2a4)
Memo: And whooooo loves Hairspray? I do! :D Wow, okay, we are getting soooo close. Everyone, thanks so much for sticking with it! Ganbatte! Hai, ikimaaaasu~!
FLASHBACK START
Sticking her foot into the rubbery bodysuit, Dylan grinned up at Rikku, who was already dressed.
"I feel like we belong in the Syndicate now," she giggled, posing like Leblanc. The other girls just laughed. "Ormi, Logos! Do my bidding, looooooves." Rikku drew out the words "loves" with an overexaggerated hand gesture.
"Who is who?" Yuna asked, placing the goggles over her eyes.
"Sorry, Yuna, you're Ormi. Paine has to be Logos because she's sarcastic," Dylan said, laughing as Yuna's face fell into a pout.
"Ew, ew! No way!" Yuna picked up the Blitzball resting on the bench next to Paine. "Change it or I'll hit you!"
"Too late!" Rikku laughed, hiding behind Dylan for cover. "I'm already Leblanc! And Dylan is Emi, so-"
The room fell silent for a moment, but Dylan shook her head quickly, her curls bouncing around.
"It's okay," she assured them. "It's okay. C'mon, the practice game's about to start anyway!"
Snatching the ball out of Yuna's hands, Dylan stepped into the transfer chamber.
I'm doing this to release those negative emotions, anyway, she thought as the water surrounded her bit by bit. So...it's okay to laugh a little.
FLASHBACK END
It was pretty sunny when we came out of the Blitzball arena. The sky seemed hopeful, like a sign of good things to come.
But we still had so much left to do before taking on the real mission and heading down to the Farplane. It felt like that would be forever away.
"We should probably get going, right?" Yuna asked me, tugging on my hair to make the curls bounce.
"Oh, yeah," I said absent-mindedly. I knew I was missing something; there was something else that had to happen here.
Suddenly a flash of tan and red caught my eye, and I looked to see a tiny little Moogle standing there.
"Hnn?" I grunted, walking toward it. Suddenly it took off. "Hey!" I shouted, chasing after it.
I could hear my friends calling after me, but I kept running. This was supposed to be happening to Yuna, but the tides had certainly changed.
But I don't HAVE any memories of me and Tidus in Luca. I wasn't there for that, I realized. So... So maybe this will lead to something new.
Heart pounding, I chased the Moogle out to the docks and toward the Mi'ihen Highroad. It stopped suddenly, the vanished into thin air, dropping something as it left.
Kneeling down, I picked up a silver chain. It turned out to be a necklace, and the charm on the end was as familiar as it could possibly get.
"Your sign," I whispered, touching Tidus' symbol with my index finger. "...Why did you send this? What's going on?"
I stood upright again, looking up into the sky.
"Don't tell me I'm running out of time," I said, my voice wavering.
"Dylan!"
Upon hearing my name, I pocketed the necklace quickly and ran toward my friends.
"Sorry," I said, smiling a little. "I thought I saw something."
}{}{}{
Yuna breathed in deeply as she stepped into Guadosalam once again. Her brain was still trying to process all of the information it acquired: Paine spoke Al Bhed, Shuyin had possessed Nooj two years ago, and Dylan had found a strange sign during their stay in Luca. Top it off with Blitzball techniques, and Yuna's mind was officially stuffed.
However, after a good night's sleep, she was feeling better, and she could approach the Moonflow and now Guadosalam with an open, alert mind.
At the present, the Guado were gathered back into their home, listening to the musicians from Macalania play.
"There could be no sweeter melody," Tromell said to the girls. "It is as if this music delivered the Guado from our unhappy fate. Reviled by all of Spira, most of my people decided to forsake Guadosalam. Those of us who remained until the very end eventually tired of our miserable fortune and fled to Macalania. We went to wither away, together with the woods."
Tromell's face brightened a bit. "That is when we met our musical friends. They, too, were prepared to fade away with their beloved Macalania Woods. Yet hearing them perform, I felt a quickening in my blood. I was quite moved. I could not stand by and let such exquisite music be extinguished. After consulting with the other Guado, I decided to bring them home to Guadosalam. Not a single Guado objected.
"It's been many years since I've seen such solidarity among my people. Surely this music was the salve that healed our weary hearts."
The girls and Tromell listened for a little while before Tromell spoke again.
"I am quite aware of the Ronso's hatred for the Guado," Tromell said sadly. "If they were to attack tomorrow, I would neither run nor hide. If they asked to talk, I would talk. Were they to take my life, I would give it willingly."
"Not the Ronso," Yuna said, shaking her head. "They don't want bloodshed."
"Right, 'cause their elder's on top of things!" Rikku exclaimed cheerfully.
"That is auspicious news." Tromell raised his eyebrows, obviously pleased. "The Guado, too, must choose a new leader."
"What about you?" Rikku suggested.
}{}{}{
"What about you?" Rikku said to Tromell, her eyes lighting up. He looked wary, and I don't really blame him.
"Preposterous!" he exclaimed, shaking his head slowly. "I will never be remembered for anything but my service under Lord Jyscal and Lord Seymour."
"But they're dead now," I argued. "You have no one left to protect or serve except for those around you."
"No, I-"
"Ah, quit yer bellyachin'!" Donga the drummer shouted from afar. "Ye'd make a fine leader."
Tromell seemed taken aback by all of this. The guy had been humble and subservient his whole life, and now all of this...
"You guided us to salvation without any concern for your own safety," Bayra added, stroking his harp gently. "You show resolve worthy of a leader."
"But my strength came from your music!" Tromell insisted, flustered.
"You're wrong," Paine said. "The music only helped you unlock your own inner strength."
Tromell seemed to consider this seriously.
"You really think so?" he asked. When we all nodded, he straightened up, growing noticably more confident. "Then I will work these old bones as best I can. For my beloved Guado."
"If you're ever feeling weary, we'll play a song to make you cheery!" Pukutak chanted, smiling.
Tromell smiled back, and so did we. Finally, closure for these people. It took too long, but at least it finally came.
}{}{}{
The Gullwings arrived in the Thunder Plains to see many Al Bhed people running around frantically, their shouts echoing through the thunder.
"Fiends!" was one word Yuna did recognize.
"Sphere waves scattered during the concert caused fiends endemic to this region to rampage," Shinra said through a transmission.
"So, in other words, your Sphere Screen is to blame," Paine said, crossing her arms in irritation.
"Huh. 'Find a sphere and the fiends appear'?"
"Touche, touche."
"Well, let's split up," Yuna decided. "We can meet up back here after we take care of these little guys. "Deal?"
But even after their efforts, the lightning and the chaos didn't stop. It barely even slowed down.
"Um, the lightning isn't stopping..." Rikku whimpered, clinging to Dylan's arm.
"Don't tell me you're getting scared again," Dylan said with a big smirk.
"Let's look around some more," Yuna insisted, leading the way through the rain. "Which towers did you all clear out? I got those first couple at the beginning."
"I went out toward the edge," Dylan said. "There was one tower I didn't get to, because there was a huge fiend there, and there was just no way in hell I was doing that by myself."
After walking for a bit, the girls finally reached the last tower, approaching it cautiously. Yuna took an extra step forward, and then the large fiend appeared.
"Yuna!" Paine shouted, dragging her back out of the way.
"Bring it, beefsteak!" Rikku cried, readying herself for battle.
}{}{}{
After defeating the fiend, we were led to a mysterious hole in the base of one of the towers. There we found...
"Vydran? (Father?)" Rikku said, looking down at Cid.
"Howdy!" he said. I facepalmed.
"Howdy? What howdy?" Rikku frowned angrily. "What the heck are you doing?"
"I found a hole, so I decided to explore it. Call it curiousity." Cid shrugged. "But this place is swarmin' with fiends! I, uh...can't get out. Do Pop a favor and show him the way out of here."
Cid tried to push himself up, but just as quickly went back down.
"Must've pulled something," he muttered, making Rikku facepalm this time.
"You are so lame!" she exclaimed.
"Who's gonna carry him?" Yuna asked us.
"Hey, let a man keep his pride!" Cid yelled.
"Got a better idea?" Paine said, a hand on her hip.
Cid reached up and pressed a rock on the wall. "Well, how 'bout this: make yer old man proud and scrap that thing!"
A door opened to reveal a large machina.
"That's it?" Rikku said, walking over to it. "Seriously, this is it?"
"This is going to take, like, two seconds, isn't it?" I asked her. She just grinned.
"If I can be as good as you, just one second should suffice!"
Diving under the machine, Rikku tinkered around with the machina, dismantling it like a pro.
"If she can do this, then Vegnagun should be a snap," Paine said with a broad smirk.
"I sure hope so," Yuna said quietly.
"There!" Rikku exclaimed, crawling out from below. "All done!"
In a matter of seconds, the machina collapsed, parts of it exploding and destroying other parts.
"Very nice," I said, clapping. She bowed.
"Daahykanc draca tyoc yna uid uv luhdhym! (Teenager these days are out of control!)" Cid shouted from the side. Yuna turned to her uncle, trying to put on a nice face.
"Um, you're welcome aboard our airship," she said.
Suddenly the air crackled as a transmission came through.
"Vydran, ev oui fyhd uh dra creb, ybumukewa du sa. (Father, if you want on the ship, apologize to me.)"
It was Brother, and he sounded pretty upset. I knew their relationship was probably not the best, and that was something I could relate to. Maybe it would bring Addy and I closer to Brother and Rikku.
"E's cunno, cuh. (I'm sorry, son.)" Cid looked up at the rocky ceiling.
"Dryd fyc duu ayco. Fryd'c ra bmuddehk? (That was too easy. What's he plotting?)"
"Hmph."
We boarded the airship soon after, and as I went to go talk to Addy, I could hear Rikku and Brother arguing with Cid in the bridge.
"Femm oui xied ouin nalgmacc bemudehk? (Will you quit your reckless piloting?)" Cid bellowed at Brother.
"Seht ouin ufh picehacc, Vydran! (Mind your own business, Father!)" Brother yelled back, keeping his eyes on the sky, thankfully.
"Tuh'd cdnyeh ourncamv, Vydran (Don't strain yourself, Father.)," Rikku cut in. "Oui sekrd pnayg cusadrehk. (You might break something.)"
"Ed ec uin creb. Mad ic ryhtma ed. (It is our ship. Let us handle it.)" Brother said, calming down.
Cid paused. "Tu fryd oui fyhd. (Do what you want.)" he finally said. I could hear his footsteps approaching, so I made a dash to the elevator. It was best he thought no one was listening.