Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
(Revisit the Guado and the Thunder)
'Guadosalam… Never thought I'd be back so soon.' Rayne sighed, 'I wonder if I'm still remembered here…' She thought about it, then winced, 'Perhaps going through Guadosalam is not the best of ideas…'
Deciding to get through as fast as possible, Rayne took a deep breath and walked forward briskly, entering the glowing green arch entrance of Guadosalam.
She managed to avoid being sighted for the first thirty seconds before a Guado noticed her. Within ten seconds, nearly every Guado in the city was before her, on their knees.
"Please, Lady Guardian!" Tromell Guado cried, "Please, strike us down where we stand for our transgression against the Ronso, the heart of Spira, and the Lady Yuna!"
Rayne twitched, 'No wonder I was the only passenger on that Shoopuf…' "Master Tromell, what is going on here?"
"Aye, I am Tromell," Tromell sighed, his body trembling, "But 'master' no more. We Guado are the scourge of Spira, and deserve to be slaughtered for what we have done."
"For the love of…" Rayne sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She then unsheathed her staff, raising it over her head and smacking Tromell upside the head with the pole, ignoring the cries of several Guado. "Act as an example for you people and quit demeaning yourself!"
Yes, she did agree that the Guado made some stupid mistakes, and, yes, they were mostly to blame for their actions, but did that merit the death of an entire race? She hardly thought so.
"Tromell, is there somewhere you and I can talk?" She swayed, already feeling the pull of the Farplane, "And where I can sit?"
The Guado sighed ruefully, but nodded, holding out his arm to support her as he led her into the inn alcove. After the rest of the Guado had filed out and Rayne had sat, Tromell asked, "What, Lady Rayne, do you wish of me?"
"That you think clearly about what you are asking me to do." Rayne spat, scowling, "Yes, your people are at fault for many things, but you can hardly accept the blame of one man against your entire nation."
"Oh, my Lady, but we can." Tromell moaned, "We should have accepted help when we could, listened to the late Maester Jyscal's request and stopped Seymour from doing what he did, but we did none of these things. Now, we are tainted beyond salvation."
"Hardly." Rayne rolled her eyes, "And please quit being melodramatic. This is tiring enough without having to listen to you prattle on and wallow in self-pity."
Tromell bowed his head, "Forgive me, Lady Rayne." He paused, then bowed his head even lower, "Forgive me once more, but may I ask your advice?"
Rayne blinked, then nodded, "You may."
Though she hardly considered it possible, Tromell managed to bow even lower, "What are we to do now?"
Rayne blinked again, realizing that the Guado who currently held the most power and sway over the rest of the Guado nation was asking her what to do with his people.
'And go figure he would ask when I'm basically drunk off of the Farplane.' Rayne thought, sighing and swaying slightly, "I don't suppose I could get you to cut the melancholy act?"
"We Guado must act in accordance and be repentant for what we have done." Was Tromell's immediate answer.
Rayne nodded, "Fine. Well, then, the first thing I would suggest is leaving Guadosalam."
Tromell raised his head, looking at her in shock, "Leave Guadosalam?"
"Think about it," She began, "If any of the other races of Spira were suddenly to amass an assault against you, the first place they would strike would be Guadosalam. You can hardly be repentant if you're dead, now can you? In addition, Yevon will come wanting the Farplane, which may also lead to a struggle. Besides, I can't imagine your people liking being so close to the Farplane at this point."
Tromell shook his head, "That we do not…"
"Go to the forest." Rayne nodded, "Hide there and, when things have blown over, try to make amends with Spira. My suggestion would be to start with the Ronso."
"You speak as though Sin will not attack again." Tromell shook his head, "It is my understanding that Lady Yuna has been declared even more traitorous than she was when she was initially branded; what of your pilgrimage? Who will defeat Sin? No." The Guado sighed, "We Guado will more than likely be consumed with the next Sin attack. I do thank you, though, for your advice on leaving Guadosalam; I believe we Guado will do just that."
"Fair enough." Rayne nodded, closing her eyes and groaning when a wave of nausea washed over her. "I think I should leave now; being this close to the Farplane is making me ill."
Tromell stood, holding out his arm, "I shall escort you to the Thunder Plains."
Dazed and teetering, Rayne allowed him to lead her out of the inn alcove and through the crowds of despairing Guado. When the Thunder Plains were in sight and she felt a bit steadier, Rayne pulled away from Tromell and walked forward, stopping a few feet away and turning back.
"When the time comes, Tromell, and the responsibility falls to you, I expect you to do a better job than Seymour at leading your people."
Tromell just blinked and stared at her, "Lady Rayne?"
She shook her head, "You'll understand when the time comes." She then turned and walked away, raising her hand in a parting wave, knowing that it would probably be the last time she would see the Guado and their marvelous city of Guadosalam.
Sighing heavily, Rayne lifted her hand and jumped back, watching blankly as a bolt of lightning struck the area she had just occupied. Waving her raised hand slightly to regain her balance, Rayne centered herself and continued walking.
"A few months ago, this part of the pilgrimage had seemed so… exciting." She frowned, "Now it's just annoying." She paused, staring ahead for a moment before sighing and walking in, "And now I've resorted to talking to myself. Greeeaat."
"Wub wub?"
Rayne paused again, turning slowly and staring down at the small creature by her feet. A small qactuar, smaller than any she had seen, stared up at her. It tilted its head.
"Wub?"
Rayne blinked slowly, "Just so you know, I hate qactuars. But, you are a baby, and I don't condone attacking babies. So, for the moment, I am going to forget what you are and let you walk away unharmed. I suggest you take advantage of my moment of weakness."
The little green arms tweaked into the air and the qactuar jumped, "Wub wub!"
"No. You stay here." Rayne sighed and smacked herself in the forehead, "Great, now I'm talking to fiends." Shaking her head, she turned back down the path and walked in, ignoring the 'wubbing' of the little cactus.
She was so intent on ignoring the little creature that she missed the telltale flash that warned of lightning, and was nearly struck before something grabbed her skirt and pulled her back. Rayne watched, shocked, as the lightning struck down, then turned and stared down at the small qactuar that was holding the hem of her skirt.
The qactuar looked up at her and, letting go of her skirt, tilted on one foot and blinked, "Wub?"
Rayne stared at the qactuar for a moment, then asked, "You want to come with me, then?"
The cactus closed its eyes and rocked back and forth excitedly, "Wub, wub, wub, wub, wub!"
"Why is it I always attract odd creatures?" Rayne muttered to herself, sighing before she smiled down at the cactus and said, "Fine. You can come with me until the end of the Thunder Plains."
"Wub, wub!" The qactuar exclaimed, jumping onto Rayne's leg and nuzzling her, "Wub!"
"Thorns, thorns!" Rayne growled, shaking her pained leg until the small creature fell off. Sighing, she turned to continue down the path, painfully aware of the small, comical noises that the small cactus made as it walked after her, sounding like it was walking on tiny horns.
Absently batting aside several Kusariqqu, Rayne only had to really worry about thunder strikes and the impending threat of going insane on the squeaky cactus behind her.
Just when she was developing a pattern she was comfortable with, she was staring down at the silver expanse of Macalania Woods. Her time on the Thunder Plains had ended without her even noticing.
'Just when did I pass Rin's Travel Agency?' She sighed, 'Of course, go figure I would zone out long enough to cut two days of travel down to one without even realizing it.' "Well, little friend," She turned to the qactuar, smiling sadly, "Looks like this is where we part."
The small cactus stared up at her for a moment, then fell onto its back and started flailing its arms and legs, wailing pitifully.
"Quit that!" Rayne hissed, abashed. "You're acting pathetic!"
The cactus just wailed louder.
"Fine, fine!" Rayne ceded, glancing around nervously for any fiends, "You can come as long as you quit that wailing!"
The reaction to this was instantaneous: The qactuar stopped wailing, jumped to its feet, and started down the path to Macalania Woods.
Rayne stared after it, twitching, "That… little… brat!" Still twitching, she ran after the pompous, manipulative little cactus.
Already knowing the way, the cactus ran into the forest and up the path made of light, pausing every now and then to make sure Rayne was still behind him. And she was… for the most part.
Unsure if it was her lacking fitness, lower body strength, or age (she thought this last part with great chagrin), Rayne found it difficult to run for more than twenty feet at a time before she had to slow down to a fast walk. One time she thought she saw the faint glow of a pyrefly on her arm, though she thought (and hoped) that it was just the reflection of the glowing trees around her against her sweat.
'If it was a pyerfly, though… then the fayth know the dream is about to end…'
The glow faded as quickly as it shone, and in what seemed to be the same amount of time the Macalania Woods gave way to Macalania Lake, and Rayne found herself slowing down in order to think of a way to sneak into the temple.
'No way will I have been forgotten,' She though, 'And they won't just let me walk in…' Rayne frowned, 'Will I have to fight my way in? …If so, this will most likely end badly.'
"Rayne!"
She stopped and turned upon hearing Lulu call out to her, blinking when the Black Mage and Auron walked up, "Oh, right. I was supposed to meet you in Macalania, wasn't I?"
"Hm, your memory really is going, isn't it?" Auron scoffed.
"Oh, shut up, Auron." Rayne rolled her eyes.
"Huhmm." Lulu coughed, successfully preventing the impending argument, "You were… chasing something when you ran passed us."
Rayne gasped, "That's right!" She looked down the path to the temple, glaring, "Where is that little demon seed?!"
"Demon… seed?" Lulu quirked a brow.
"The little qactuar!" Rayne growled, squinting for any hint of green in the white landscape.
"Qactuar?" Auron frowned, "You've been traveling… with a qactaur?"
Rayne glanced at him, smirking, "Don't tell me you're jealous."
"Hardly."
"Huhmm!"
"Right…" Rayne smiled sheepishly at her fellow mage, "Sorry, Lu. The squabbling of a bitter married couple is probably the last thing you want to hear, huh?"
"Oh, so now we're bitter?" Auron asked.
Rayne shrugged, "I'd say you're bitter enough for the both of us."
Auron scowled, "I swear, this is not what I signed up for when I agreed to marry you."
Lulu looked between them, her eyes wide, "Is this what happens to all couples after marriage?!"
Rayne and Auron exchanged looks, then turned back to Lulu and shrugged, "Basically."
Lulu blinked, "And you're both aware of it?"
"Yes." Auron and Rayne answered simultaneously.
"Then why—"
"It's one of the joys of marriage." Rayne answered, smirking.
Auron rolled his eyes, "Don't bother trying to figure it out."
Lulu looked between them, "You two… enjoy fighting?"
Rayne smirked and Auron pinched the bridge of his nose, "Why did you ask?"
"Think of it as foreplay." Rayne basically sang.
Seeing the look of horror and embarrassment on Lulu's face, Auron shook his head, "I told you not to try to figure it out."
Lulu stared at Rayne, "Rayne… I will never look at you the same again."
Rayne smirked, "Of course you won't, Lu."
Auron stared at Lulu imploringly, "Try being married to her."
At that moment, the qactuar chose to reappear and jumped up onto Rayne's back, hugging her neck tightly, "Wubub!"
"THORNS!!"
Later, as the foursome approached Macalania Temple, Rayne trailed behind and looked down at her arm. Staring closely, she saw her pyreflies stirring.
'Just hold on a bit longer,' She thought, pulling her sleeve back over her arm, 'Soon… soon we'll rest.'
