Warnings for This Chapter: Nothing Special. Same old same old.
Chapter 23: Roaring Thunder
Sora's P.O.V.
"Ok. Great job today everyone. We'll continue later on with more training on lightning techniques." Lulu said after clapping her hands.
"Oh man. I never would've thought that using magic would take that much energy out of you." Rikku panted as she fell on her knees.
"It takes a lot of mental preparation. After all, if you cast the wrong thing or if you're not focused while casting your spell or attack, then you could really hurt someone or yourself." Ke'Ania laughed.
"But all in all you did do a great job handling yourself for someone who's terrified of lighting." Lulu lightly smiled.
"It's because I had you guys to help and encourage me. I don't think I would've been able to do this all on my own." Rikku smiled before standing up and dusting herself off. "Thanks everyone!"
"Yuna?" Wakka called. "You ok?"
"Huh?" Yuna said after being snapped out of her thoughts.
"I asked if you were ok. You've been spacing out a lot lately. Is everything ok?"
"Everything's fine. No need to worry." Yuna smiled, but I could tell that it was fake. She tends to do that after being accused of spacing out.
"Well if you're fine, then should we start our chase after Seymour?" Auron asked.
"Yeah! We should chase him down and make him tell us why he left without telling anyone." Donald cheered.
"Donald's right. Seymour has some explaining to do." Tidus nodded with his arms folded.
"No. It's alright that he left without saying anything. He is a Maester of Yevon. He doesn't have to explain himself to us." Yuna defended.
"Fair enough. So do you want to head to the Macalania Temple? He maybe the high priest there, but I doubt he'll stay there longer than he needs to." I asked as I stepped closer to her.
"Yeah. Let us go. It'll take us a few days to reach the Macalania Temple anyway. By time we get there, Maester Seymour shouldn't be too terribly busy." Yuna nodded before heading to Guadosalam's exit.
"Yuna. Shouldn't you rest first? You've had an eventful day. Aren't you even a little tired?" Lulu asked.
"Not really. I have enough energy to make it to the inn that lies in the middle of the Thunder Plains. Once we get there we can rest." Yuna said before walking through the exit's tunnel.
"What's wrong with Yuna, Sora?" Goofy asked.
"I don't know Goofy." I replied before turning toward Ke'Ania. "Do you know, Ke'Ania?"
"I don't." She sighed. "But whatever is wrong with her, it must have something to do with Seymour."
"Why does it seem that whenever he's mentioned, Yuna does a lot of thinking?" Tidus grumbled.
"She might be marrying the guy. She's probably thinking about all kinds of things." Wakka inserted.
"No… I think it runs a lot deeper than that." Lulu said.
"Well whatever the problem is, Yuna will tell us when she's ready. For now, we must do our jobs as her guardians and protect her." Auron said as he walked through the exit's tunnel. We nodded before following.
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"So this is the Thunder Plains?" I asked as I looked around. The only thing I could see for miles were towers, rain, endless road, lightning, and fog. "It's very… raining…?" I nervously laughed.
"Well no wonder it's called the Thunder Plains. This weather is practically calling the thunder here." Donald commented.
"It's cold too." Goofy shivered. "Does it ever stop raining here?"
"No. Like Donald said, this weather practically calls the thunder here. It never stops raining and thundering." Lulu said.
"This place used to be a traveler's nightmare. People feared coming through here. They were afraid of being struck down by the unpredictable, multiple lighting strikes that constantly hit the ground." Yuna informed.
"Until an Al Bhed named Bilghen came here and started building those towers over there." Wakka added as he pointed to the first tower.
"He was almost finished with the last one, but was ironically struck down and killed by one of the lighting strikes." Lulu finished. "This place is still pretty treacherous to cross, but the towers do a pretty good job of drawing most of the lighting towards them. We have to stick by them, but not to close or else the lighting striking the towers can hit us too."
"So let me get this straight…" Ke'Ania said as she stepped in front of the group. "It never stops raining, thundering and lighting here and the only way to cross these plains is to stick close enough to the lightning towers to avoid getting hit by the lighting striking the ground or the towers?"
Everyone, but Tidus nodded. "That's why I hate this place!" Rikku yelled as she moved to stand next to Ke'Ania.
"That's total bull shit!" Tidus groaned in frustration.
"Isn't there another way for us to get to Macalania Temple without going through here?"
"No, there isn't and you know it." Auron said with slight annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah I know." Rikku grumbled with her arms crossed. "You didn't have to be so mean about it."
"She's right, Sir Auron. You could've been a little bit nicer." Yuna scolded. Auron stayed quiet.
"This sucks! I hate getting my feathers soaked. How long do you think it'll take before we reach the inn?" Donald asked.
"I don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say it would take about a few hours… IF we don't run into fiends." Wakka concluded.
"Aw man. So you mean to tell me that I'll not only have to deal with soaked feathers and random fiends that might attack us? Just great! Fuckin great!" Donald yelled as he pulled on his feathers.
"Don't get you feathers ruffled yet, Donald." Ke'Ania sighed as she focused her magic into two of her fingers. "I can't do anything about your feathers or us getting soaked, but I can do something about warming us up and being unaffected if we were to accidentally get struck by lightning." And with that, Ke'Ania released her fire and lighting powers on us. Red and yellow rays wrapped around our bodies like blankets. "There. Now we'll be able to stay warm from the cold winds and rain while also being protected from lighting if it should strike us." She smiled.
"You can't use your water element to shield us from the rain?" Tidus asked.
"Sorry, but my magic only allows someone to breathe under water, not keep them dry." Ke'Ania sighed.
"If that's all, then I suggest we get going before things start to pick up." Auron suggested as he stepped out of the tunnel.
We nodded and followed him.
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We passed the first tower with ease. Lightning hasn't hit us yet, but it did strike the tower next to us, causing Rikku to jump into Tidus's arms.
"Would you like me to carry you from here on out?" Tidus asked with a teasing smirk.
"No! I'm a big girl!" She argued as she jumped out of his arms and crossed hers. "I can handle myself!"
When lightning struck ground besides us, Rikku jumped back into Tidus's arms with a yelp. "You can handle yourself, eh?" Tidus teased.
"Ok, maybe I can't. But since you offered, then you may carry me." Rikku smirked.
"Hn. You're acting like a child." Auron tsked.
"Considering I am only 15, I'd say that I'm acting my age." Rikku huffed before shrieking when a lot of lightning bolts started hitting the ground. "WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE LIGHTNING BOLTS?"
"I agree. Lightning bolts are supposed be attracted here, but all of this lightning is ridiculous." Lulu said.
"Uh guys…? Don't look now, but I think those bolts are heading for us!" Ke'Ania yelled when she pointed to two bolts coming our way.
Thinking quickly, I reached over and grabbed Ke'Ania and jumped out of the way. There were two big black scorch marks were we were.
"You alright?" I asked Ke'Ania as I held her close.
"Yeah. I'm fine, but what about the others?" She asked.
I frantically looked around to make sure everyone was ok. Tidus was still holding Rikku, Kimahri grabbed Yuna, Donald had pushed Goofy out of the way, Wakka was holding onto Lulu, and Auron had managed to jump out of the way safely.
"Everyone ok?" Yuna asked.
"How about asking us after we survive those!" Tidus yelled as he turned his head toward another wave of lightning bolts coming our way.
I grabbed Ke'Ania again and jumped out of the way. That seemed to be the only thing we could do. Every time we turned around, more and more lightning bolts were coming at us.
"This is ridiculous!" Donald yelled as he and Goofy continued to run away from the lightning bolts.
"Where are all they coming from?" Rikku shrieked.
"If we knew that, we would've found a way to stop it, now wouldn't we!" Auron yelled over the lightning. We kept dodging until the lightning until it suddenly… stopped? "What happened to the lightning? Why has it stopped?"
"I would like to know that too." Lulu said as she hopped out of Wakka's arms.
"Wait! I see something!" Ke'Ania yelled before turning to me. "Sora, put me down so I can see what it is."
"Be careful." I nodded while doing what she asked.
I put her down and watched as she walked in front of the group. Whatever strand of her long, sandy brown hair that wasn't sticking to her body lightly swayed behind her. She stood in front of us and readied herself for any lightning might strike her. When none did, Ke'Ania held her hand out to the side, allowing a white energy ball to form in her palm before throwing it in front of her. When the ball flew through the fog and smog it separated the thick clouds and reviled three opponents. One was familiar. It was a Lightning Element, like the one we fought in Kilika. The other two were new. One had a smooth, conical, yellow body and had a Heartless emblem emblazoned on its chest. The top of its body was flared outward and formed a jagged collar below the Heartless's spherical, pitch black head. It also had a conical, orange hat that has a jagged brim, a yellow and green band, and a thin, slightly bent tip. This was one Heartless I had never seen before. The last opponent was a large purple fiend creature with purple smoke surrounding it and an evil expression on its front.
"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF FIEND IS THAT LAST ONE?" I yelled as I fell back on my butt.
"That is known as a Larva. It can use powerful and dangerous lightning attacks on its foes, but when its health is almost depleted it'll use its lightning on itself. It's kind of like when Ke'Ania used the lightning from the Djose Temple to heal herself." Lulu explained.
"What kind of Heartless is that, Ke'Ania?" Yuna asked as she pointed to the little floating yellow Heartless in the middle of the trio.
"I don't know, Yuna. We've never fought against something like that." Ke'Ania answered as we all got out our weapons. "Donald? Goofy? Do you know what that is?"
"Well gash Donald, didn't King Mickey teach us about that Heartless a long time ago?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah. I think it was called a… Yellow Opera? Yeah that's it. It's called a Yellow Opera. It can also use lightning attacks, but I doubt they're as strong as the Larva's or the Lightning Element's." Donald explained.
"Ok. So now we know what they are. How do we beat them?" Wakka asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We to use water on them." Lulu said while rolling her eyes.
"But, what about the people who don't know how to use water?" Rikku asked.
"Those of us who can't use water magic will have to deal with the Larva. It's the only opponent that can also be attacked. The others will deal with the other two." Auron commanded. We all nodded before getting to work.
Goofy was the first one to rush forward. He ran right for the Larva before throwing his shield. The Larva dodged before unleashing its lightning onto Goofy, sending him flying back.
"Goofy!" We all yelled as Donald ran over to Goofy.
"Are you alright?" Donald asked.
"I'm fine. Since Ke'Ania casted that lightning spell on us, it doesn't even hurt. In fact, it kind of tickles." The black dog laughed.
"You idiot! I was worried about you and all you can do is laugh?" Donald screeched as he jumped up and down.
"Those two, I swear." I mentally smirked before turning toward Auron, Kimahri, and Tidus.
We had a silent conversation before rushing toward the Larva. We lifted our blades and sliced in to the fiend. I sliced it on its right side, Tidus sliced it on its left, Auron's cut went through the centre, and Kimahri's went down the middle. We landed our attacks all at once, causing the fiend to disappear. Tidus and I hi-fived while Kimahri and Auron put away their weapons. Lulu and Yuna used their water element to get rid of the Lightning Element while Ke'Ania used her water to get rid of the Yellow Opera.
"Good work everyone." Yuna smiled as she put away her staff.
"Come on. We still have a little ways to go until we reach the inn." Auron said a she started to walk off.
"Sir Auron's right. I don't wanna be here when more Heartless or fiends show up." Wakka nodded.
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"Thank Yevon! We finally made it!" Wakka cried as he fell to the floor of the inn and kissed it.
"Get off the ground. You look like a dog." Lulu groaned as we started to file in.
"Well he's right about one thing, it's good to be inside instead of out there in that pouring rain." Rikku sighed.
"I know right. I love the rain, but when the winds started to pick up and the rain came down harder, that's when enough was enough." Ke'Ania sighed as she rung out her hair.
"Well since you're so happy, you should be thanking Rikku. If it wasn't for her crying and crawling we wouldn't even be here." Tidus teased.
"Oh be quiet!" Rikku glared.
"I don't care about the rain. I don't care about lightning. I don't care about fiends. I don't care about any of that. All I care about is this sweet salvation we're in right now." Wakka cried again as he continued to kiss the floor.
"Ah. It is good to see you again, Lady Yuna and Lady Yuna's guardians." We looked up to see the blond Al Bhed named Rin standing before us.
"Ah hell." Wakka said with a sour expression.
"Don't start, Wakka." Lulu warned with a scary glare.
"It is good to see you too, Rin. I haven't seen you since before the operation. I was hoping that you weren't a part of it or at least made it out alright. It's good to see that you are." Yuna smiled as she approached the blond haired male.
"It is good that you made it out ok too. I was panicked and going insane with not knowing your life status. How are you fairing after that ordeal?"
"I am fine. I am… coping with that nightmare." Yuna faked smiled.
"You're shivering and soaking wet. Please, allow my girls to help each and every one of you dry off before setting up your rooms." Rin offered.
"Thank you, Rin." Yuna lightly smiled, for real.
"I'll dry us off so your girls can just take care of the rooms." Ke'Ania offered, causing Rin to nod.
Ke'Ania used her fire element to dry us off before using her water element to clean up the puddles we were causing.
"You're power is truly tremendous. Please tell me, who taught you?" Rin asked.
"Well actually… I taught myself." Ke'Ania blushed as she scratched one finger against her cheek.
"You are wise beyond your years. You don't really see much of that these days." Rin commented, causing Ke'Ania to blush harder.
"Um Rin…? I'm a little tired. Are your girls finished with the rooms?" Yuna asked.
"I'll go check. Please wait right here." Rin turned to leave, but stopped when he saw Rikku.
They shared a silent conversation until Rikku slowly shook her head. Rin continued to stand still before sighing and nodding in understanding and turning to leave again.
"What was that all about?" I whispered to Ke'Ania, who only shrugged.
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"You're rooms are ready now. I'm sorry, but we only have enough for two or three people to share one room."
"That's alright Rin. Yuna and I can just room together. The rest of you can decide who goes where amongst yourselves." Ke'Ania said to us.
"Thank you, Lord Rin." Yuna bowed as she walked by. Ke'Ania did the same before the both of them disappeared into the hallway that led to their room.
"Excuse me." Rin said as he stepped in front of Tidus and me. "I was not able to catch your name last time we met. What is it?"
"It's Tidus. And this is Sora." Tidus introduced.
"Nice to meet ya." I smiled.
"My pleasure." Rin nodded before turning his head towards Auron. "You two are Lady Yuna's guardians, so you must know if that is truly Sir Auron, right?" We nodded. "So is it?"
"Yeah that's Auron. But why did you wanna know?" Tidus asked.
"I just wanted to make sure before I made a fool of myself." Rin said before walking over to Auron. "Sir Auron." Auron turned to face Rin. "I was wondering if you remembered me?"
"Of course. I… never got the chance to thank you for saving me that night." Auron said as he shook Rin's hand.
"It was no trouble at all. Although, you did surprise me when you left the next morning, considering you had that horrible wound in your body."
"I'd rather… drop that subject. It was too long ago." Auron said before turning away from the blond Al Bhed.
"You are right. Please forgive me." Rin bow slightly before straightening out and smiling. "I am very grateful that you survived the ordeal all the same." Auron didn't turn around, but he nodded in an understanding manor. "I hope you guys will wake up well rested and relaxed before heading out again. And please enjoy your stay here." And with that Rin turned and walked through the hallway.
"Wow. Auron seems to have a lot of secrets, huh?" Donald asked in awe.
"Yeah. You're right… That's so cool!" I quietly cheered.
"Cool, but totally unnecessary. What could he be hiding and why?" Tidus thought.
"Maybe, if we wait long enough, Auron will tell all his secrets one day." Goofy smiled.
"Hn. Good luck with that." Auron smirked as he passed us before he and Kimahri went to their room.
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"Auron thinks he's so cool with his cool looking sword and his mysterious personality, and his good looks, and his silent-but-deadly type, and his… his… his… Auron-ness." Tidus grumbled.
"Auron-ness?" I chuckled.
"I ran out of things to name, alright." Tidus pouted.
"Tidus. You said that Auron was once your guardian, right? When you were a kid, right? What was it like?" Goofy asked.
"Actually… It wasn't all that bad. He made sure that my Mom and I had plenty of food to eat, made sure that we would never lose our house, and he made sure that we were more than taken care of. I remember playing Blitzball and him beginning at each and every game. Even the last game I played in Zanarkand. If I had to describe Auron, I would have to say that he's like a step-father minus most of the affection and great bonding some kids have with their step-parents." Tidus explained as we continued down the hallway. "What about you Sora? What were your parents like?"
"Well~"
"Hey, you guys hear that?" Donald interrupted.
We all listened carefully only to hear something faint. "What is that?" I asked.
"It sounds like someone talking." Goofy answered.
"So… does this prove what you've been feeling?"
"That sounds like Ke'Ania." I said.
"It does, but it does not change my answer."
"And that's Yuna's voice." Tidus whispered.
"But why? Why would you go through with something that could be completely dangerous?"
"I wonder what they could be talking about?" Goofy asked.
"Let's put our ears against the door to hear better." Donald suggested.
We nodded before all of us pilled against the door and tried to listen in. Everything was going great until our combined weight caused the door to open. We all grunted as we fell to the floor.
"Oh my." Yuna gasped as she straightened up by the nightstand.
"What are you four doing in here?" Ke'Ania lightly glared as us from the bed.
"Oh we were just, um, heading to our rooms." Tidus stuttered as he stood up with us.
Things between us were awkward. The only sound in the room was a static like voice coming from the sphere next to Yuna. There was a small hologram of Lord Jyscal above the sphere. From what it looked like, the video was made while he was in the Thunder Plains. The girls noticed that we noticed the sphere and tensed.
"That's Lord Jyscal… right?" I nervously asked.
Neither of the girls moved, but I could tell that Yuna was about to bust. "Sorry!" She said before running out of the room and down the hall.
We didn't know where she was going, and I don't think she knew either. She just probably wanted to get out of here. And judging from the way Ke'Ania was glaring… I wanted to too.
The air was thickened when Ke'Ania let out a sigh before slowly standing up and moving to shut off the sphere. "You shouldn't have been snooping around. That's how feelings get hurt. Remember that old saying 'Curiosity killed the cat'? If that were literally true, then right now you four just lost your nine lives. Remember that." And with that, Ke'Ania strolled out of the room to look for Yuna.
We just looked at each other with nervous glances. Things did not seem to be going well… for any of us.
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That night, at dinner, Yuna and Ke'Ania called a meeting between the eleven of us. Yuna stood in front of us while Ke'Ania remained at her side, quiet and worried. Her head was turned so that her eyes were hidden from us by her bangs.
"Everyone… I have something important to say…" All eyes were on her, making her extra nervous. "I've decided to marry Maester Seymour."
"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." Lulu sighed.
"But, what changed your mind?" Wakka asked.
"I want to marry Seymour to please the people of Spira and to honor Yevon's unity. Those are my only reasons." Yuna calmly stated.
"You're a horrible liar, Yuna." Auron scoffed. I think what Auron said was true, because Yuna tensed at Auron's words. "Tell us the real reason."
Yuna hesitated then. "Is it because of Lord Jyscal? Are you still bothered because you had to send his unsent?" Lulu asked.
Yuna still hesitated. "Why don't you show them that sphere of Jyscal, Yuna." Donald suggested.
"Yeah. Maybe whatever he said on there is the real reason why ya wanna marry him." Goofy added.
"A sphere of Lord Jyscal? Yuna. What are they talking about?" Wakka asked.
"Show us." Auron demanded.
"She can't." Ke'Ania answered. Her body was stiff and her eyes were a reddish-brown color as she turned to us. "She has to talk to Seymour first before she can involve you guys at all."
"But why Yunie? Don't you trust us?" Rikku pleaded.
"Of course I do. It's just that… I don't want you guys to fall as hard as me, if my plan should fail." Yuna explained. Everything was quiet for a minute before Yuna cleared her throat. "I am going to bed. After everyone wakes up, we'll leave. It'll take us a few hours to get through the rest of the plains, so please rest up." And with that, Yuna turned and left.
Tidus got up to try and stop her, but Ke'Ania stopped him. "Don't bother. I've tried talking to her. She knows what she's doing. I just wish she wasn't so naïve." The room's air became too thick to breathe in. "I'm going to bed." Ke'Ania sighed as she turned to leave the room.
No one talked. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. No one knew what to say. We were all lost… I wish we had a clue. The only sound throughout the entire inn… The fierce lightning bolts striking the ground.