Bad Blood

The temperature was warm and the sun shone bright. Thin lines of cloud streaked the sky and a slight breeze was blowing. The air was calm, and so was Luca. When the crew arrived, only a small portion of inhabitants roamed the area. The streets were quiet, the stands were empty, and even the stadium was almost deserted. There wasn't a game playing, an unusual thing for Luca. The boat docked at dock five, where shipments of cargo remained untouched. They piled up high and the crew had to jump over them after getting off the boat.

"Why are these here? Shouldn't someone have already picked them up?" Rikku asked quietly. Inscribed on the edges of the boxes were various shipping addresses in the Al Bhed alphabet. Rikku guessed the people once again considered them as taboo and avoided touching them. All of the small businesses have been boarded up, or shut down entirely. The screens that hung from the ceilings were offline, and some were cracked. There were no signs of Rikku's kin on the surface.

"Where is everybody?" Tidus asked.

"Um… I'm not sure. I hope they're still there…" Rikku said.

"Who?" Yuna asked.

"Follow me." Rikku said. They walked around the premises, passing each dock. The ships were left without a crew, still attached to the docks. They spotted two children, a boy and girl, sitting in a dark corner, dirtied and ragged, and looked as if they hadn't been fed in days. The boy was laying in the arms of the girl, coughing and wheezing. Gaia lagged behind the crew and walked towards them.

"Are you two okay? Where are your parents?" she asked.

"Mommy said she'll be back soon." The girl said.

"When did she say that?"

The child shrugged. Gaia noticed bread crumbs around them, pieces of their clothes were torn off, and the coughing child had spit up all over his shirt. His body was small and frail, and his face lacked color. He was shivering vigorously and breathing short breaths out of his mouth. Gaia bent down in front of him. She put her hand on the boy's forehead. The girl got up and pulled him away.

"Leave him alone!"

"It's okay, I won't hurt him. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. His forehead is burning. He's very sick, you see?" The girl calmed herself.

"I know he's sick."

"We should go get him some help."

The girl shook her head. "Mommy said to wait here until she came back. She'll be back soon. She promised."

"How long have you two been here?" Gaia asked.

"I dunno. Mommy went to get medicine for my brother, and she told us to wait here 'til she got back."

Gaia looked at the party. They all had concerned faces for the two children. The boy couldn't even move on his own, and the girl didn't look too healthy herself. Gaia had the idea that they might've been abandoned.

"Rikku, do you know where we can find some medicine?" Gaia asked.

Rikku perked her head up. "Uh… y-yes! W-we have a tent around the corner where we keep some medical supplies and emergency stuff."

Gaia held her arms out for the boy. The girl stepped back and hugged her brother.

"It's okay, I told you I won't hurt him. We're here to help."

"But Mommy said-"

"We'll find her, but first we have to get some medicine for your brother. He needs it fast." The girl seemed to trust Gaia's intentions. Gaia picked up the small child and was surprised by how light he was. When she walked with him, with the young girl walking next to her, another long lost memory occurred in her mind.

The crew walked a couple of blocks around the area before approaching a large, old tent. The title of the business that was spelled in Al Bhed was spray painted with black lettering that read the word "heathens". On the side of the tent were "traitors", "infidels", and some vulgar language that made Yuna very angry to read. Rikku stepped in first.

"Hello? Gippal? Shinra? Anybody?" she tripped over a thin string and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Guns popped out of the ground, out from hidden places under the tent ceiling, and a voice on a small speaker on the counter spoke.

"Fru'c drana? Mayja yd uhla, un bnabyna du pa crud!"

Rikku got on her feet. "Brother! What do you think you're doing? You can't just threaten people when they walk in here!"

"Rikku?" The guns were put away and a small hatch on the ground behind the counter opened. Out came Brother, nervous and shaking from the sudden tension.

"What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

"We've got two sick kids over here. We need medicine and some food, so make yourself useful and get us some!"

"Why should I help you?" Brother said, crossing his arms.

"Please, brother, he may be dying. They've been stranded here for who knows how long." Yuna told him.

Brother gasped. "Say no more! Come with me, and we'll get the stuff!"

He started down the ladder through the hatch. Rikku rolled her eyes and followed him along with Yuna. Tidus wanted to talk to her that morning about his dream but wasn't able to because Kurgum was talking with her once again. Now he had the chance to.

"Hey Yu-" he began.

"Miss Yuna, would you like me to accompany you?" Kurgum asked. Yuna looked at him, then back at Tidus. She didn't know who to answer first.

"Oh, did… did you want to…?" she asked Tidus.

Tidus gestured to leave it alone. "No, that's okay, you guys go ahead."

Yuna gave him an unsatisfied look before following her two cousins down the hatch with Kurgum behind her. Before the hatch closed, Rikku perked her head up.

"Hey, Wakka?" Rikku said.

"Yeah?"

"This is kind of embarrassing to ask, but could you… keep an eye on the tent? I'm kind of paranoid, after seeing what they did to it, and my crazy brother's reaction, and I doubt anyone would enter if they saw you standing guard."

Wakka laughed. "Oookay, but I warn you, I can be pretty tough, ya?"

"Just don't overdo it!" Rikku said before climbing down the steps. Gaia brought two of the unopened storage boxes together with her legs and laid the boy down. She took her red shawl and gently covered his body with it. He stirred a bit, but didn't open his eyes. The girl sat by his side.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yes, dear, he's going to be just fine." Gaia told her.

Wakka was fascinated by how caring she was towards them. He often had trouble approaching other children.

"You're pretty good at that, ya?" he said to Gaia.

"At what?" she asked.

"Takin' care of 'em."

"Oh… well I was a mother once. My son used to get sick a lot. He was such a fragile little thing. It got so bad to a point where I couldn't leave his side. Those were some of the hardest times parenting. I was still pretty young myself. I don't even know how I managed my other kid."

Wakka chuckled softly. "Still just a kid yourself, ya?"

"That sounds very familiar." Lulu said behind him.

"What's that mean?" Wakka said, playfully.

"It means I'm absolutely certain I have more than one child in my household." Lulu said.

"Hey! I'm a responsible adult… -ish…" Wakka said.

Gaia laughed at them.

"By the way, Lu, who's watching over Vidina?" Wakka said.

"You're just now asking that?" Lulu said.

Wakka put his hands up. "N-no, I was gonna ask earlier… but I know you must've left him in good hands, ya?"

Lulu grinned and turned her head towards the outside of the tent.

"I left him with the Aurochs."

"WHAT?!"

Lulu chuckled. "I'm joking. I'd hoped you'd have that reaction, though."

Wakka laughed nervously and sighed in relief.

The large tent looked miniscule compared to the enormous underground facility located underneath it. After climbing down for what seemed like miles below the surface, Yuna gaped in awe at the large iron shelves stacked from the bottom to at least 10 yards towards the top. The shelves were filled with different inventions, from weapons to electronics, and various prototypes that had yet to be tested. There were also bits and pieces of ruined machinery and broken parts of abandoned vehicles. As they walked further, Yuna saw that there were small leaks in parts of the ceiling. The sound of water drops hitting the floor became louder and louder.

"Brother, haven't you thought about fixing those leaks before the place starts to floor? You know water and technology don't go together, right?" Rikku said.

Brother scoffed. "Of course! We're working on it!"

Kurgum slipped on a small puddle. He held onto a shelf and knocked a few things over. The rest of them shot him a look.

"I'm okay…" he said.

They came across a couple of storage crates that said "medicine" in Al Bhed. Brother picked one of the boxes and brought it down. He started searching through the different jars and vials.

"By the way, where's Gippal?" Rikku asked.

Brother ignored her and continued reading each of the labels.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. Where's Gippal?"

Brother mumbled a couple of words while he searched through the crate. Rikku got annoyed and sat right in front of him.

"BROTHER!"

He squealed and jumped back a little, clutching the jar of medicine to his chest.

"What?! What?! What do you want?! I'm not deaf!"

"I asked you a question! Stop ignoring me! I said where's Gippal?"

"Oh him… Yeah, hmm… I don't know."

"You don't know?" Rikku said.

Brother stood up. He walked the opposite direction from where they came.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rikku asked.

Brother walked past the shelves and led them to a spot on a wall where a large hatch with a crank wheel attached to it was. Brother turned the wheel and opened the door. Inside, Shinra was kneeling on the floor and had several of the broken CommSpheres, with some tools in his hands. There were tears that were patched up on his suit and his goggles were cracked. He looked as if he'd been working on his projects for much longer than he intended.

"Fa ryja jecedunc." Brother said to him.

"Nice to see you again." Shinra said.

"And you too." Yuna said. Brother turned around and walked back towards the entrance.

"What's with him?" Rikku asked.

Shinra didn't take his eyes off the damaged CommSphere. "Don't mind him, he's been through a lot these past couple days. Seeing our kind being beaten and chased away from everything we've worked hard for. It really messed him up."

"Yeah, I'll bet…" Rikku said, sadly.

Yuna walked into the room. It was a large shelter, with cots and blankets, and crates full of nonperishable food. There were a lot of cots, but Shinra was the only one in the room.

"What happened?" Yuna asked him.

Shinra put down the tools in his hand. He turned around to remove his goggles and keep the others from seeing his eyes.

"It was a normal day in the Al Bhed community. We run this place, and we felt comfortable staying underground, but we still interacted with the rest of the residents. This is where we house our products for the customers, and our emergency supplies. When we heard the news about Sin, the other people went insane. They rioted against us Al Bhed, they sabotaged all our stuff, and they pushed our people towards the dock, and left them no choice but to jump in the water. They even kidnapped a couple of us…"

Rikku was angry, and felt bad for the kidnapped Al Bhed. She didn't want to think about what the believers in Yevon where doing to them.

"Cid boarded the first boat that originally was sent to deliver a few of our supplies and left with the rest of the Al Bhed crowd. We were stranded here."

"You couldn't catch up to them?" Rikku asked.

"Brother wanted to look after the arsenal. He was worried the crazy people would damage our weapons next. Now, he's decided to use them to defend this tent. I stayed because I wanted to fix my own inventions. I didn't think anyone else would know how to reconstruct them."

Rikku knelt next to him. "Have you heard anything from Gippal?"

Shinra put his goggles back on and sighed, shaking his head.

"Nothing from him, or Baralai, or Nooj. Nobody's heard from them in days. We suspect they might've gone missing."

"Missing? Again?" Yuna said.

"Yes, and after finding out about the attack without knowing what to do, the people left Luca. We've heard them talking about traveling to the Djose temple, where they'd pray to the fayth. They haven't returned since."

"Praying to the fayth?" Rikku said. "W-what do they think the fayth will do?"

"Who knows?" Shinra said. "Maybe they expect the summoners to go back to doing their summoning. However, I'm not sure why they'd think that when the other summoners aren't anywhere in sight either."

"They're missing, too?" Yuna asked.

"They were wanted by the Council, apparently. Signs were put up in some places, looking for them."

"Just like in Kilika…" Rikku said.

"I've been fixing these CommSpheres, and trying them out, but nothing seems to be working. I tried redoing them, but I still can't connect with Bevelle, or anywhere else that I've installed them."

"Well… that's another thing. See, when we were in Bevelle fighting Sin, the other guys were trying to save Yuna. She was almost captured by a deranged Council sender. They accidentally blew up the palace. When we were at Bikanel, we couldn't communicate with the Bevelle CommSphere either." Rikku explained.

"That explains why we can't reach the CommSpheres in Bevelle, but what about the rest of the places?"

"We're still not sure, but we'll figure it out once we locate a spare airship. You wouldn't happen to have an oscillo-finder established here, would you?" Rikku said.

Shinra stood up. "That has to be a rhetorical question."

"What?"

Shinra laughed quietly. "Come this way." They walked out of the room. Yuna stood behind, and took in the emptiness of the shelter. The Al Bhed were chased from Luca before they could reach safety underneath the tent. Those that were kidnapped must've been tormented and cruelly discarded. It was upsetting that they were being treated this way when they've done so much for the rest of Spira. Bringing them technology to make their lives easier, trying to connect with them after being rejected for years. It wasn't fair. Nothing that had happened was.

Yuna heard the sound of the hatch slam shut. She turned around swiftly and found herself alone in the large shelter, with no source of light besides a small incandescent light bulb hanging above her.

Wakka, Gaia, and Tidus were keeping watch outside the tent while Lulu gave the medicine to the children and watched over them while they slept. Chuami was impatiently waiting near the counter. Gaia spotted a blitzball rolling across the stone paths and went to pick it up.

"Hey, Tidus!" He looked up and she tossed the ball to him. It almost slipped out of his hands.

"Woah! Who left this out?" he said.

"Toss it to me!" Gaia waved her hands in the air. Tidus threw the ball to her, and she ran away from him.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Tidus yelled.

"You gotta get the ball!" she said.

Gaia ran after him and they started playing the land-based version of blitzball. Wakka observed them. Tidus wasn't in pain, or angry at himself for having the ball taken from him so many times. For the first time since the whole journey started, he was legitimately happy when he was playing. He was happy period. Wakka folded his arms across his chest and smiled at the two. They played rough, but were careful not to bruise each other. Gaia grabbed the ball and started towards the opposite direction. Tidus ran and got in defense mode in front of her. She leapt in the air, spun around and sent the ball flying straight into his chest. Tidus slid back a couple feet and dropped the ball, his hand clutching his torso.

"Are you okay?" Gaia said.

Tidus very weakly held his thumb up.

Wakka laughed and walked towards them. "He's got a gut made of steel, ya?"

"You gotta show me some moves sometime." Tidus said, panting.

"Looks like I've got myself a fan. I guess I've still got it." Ava said.

"Yeah, can I like have your autograph?" Tidus joked.

"Sure!" Gaia ran towards the tent, searched through the drawers of the counter, and pulled out a permanent marker. She scribbled her name on the blitzball.

"Done, and done." She said. She tossed the blitzball to Tidus.

"Hey, Wakka, wanna play?" Tidus said. Wakka held up his hand.

"Nah, that's alright, I gotta keep watch on the tent, ya?"

Tidus looked at the others. "Lulu? Chuami?"

"You know I don't play that game." Lulu said.

"I… I've never played before." Chuami said.

"I'll show you!" Tidus told her.

"I'll play too!" Brother said.

While they played, Wakka and Gaia stood a few feet away from the tent, watching over the vicinity. Wakka occasionally turned his head towards Lulu. She was content on watching over the two sleeping children. When their eyes met, they both looked away shyly.

"You and Lulu sure had a great conversation last night." Gaia told him.

Wakka blushed. "You heard that, huh?"

Gaia smiled at him. "Every 'word'. I'm assuming you guys saved the talking for later?"

"We talked a little. I asked her if she was angry at me for being away for so long. She said she wasn't, so that was that, ya?"

"Did you talk to her about what you told me the other night?"

Wakka looked at the ground. "No… I didn't get to that part."

"Why not?"

"You know why not."

"But you said it's been bothering you for a year now. Don't you think you should put being intimate on hold to talk about that stuff with her?"

Wakka stood back. "Woah, there, whatever I do with Lulu is my business, ya?"

"I'm just saying, man. You told me whenever you tried to talk to her about what's going on in your head, you choke. You end up doing it instead. Don't you think you should change that?"

"That is how we communicate, ya? Anytime we get upset about anything, we… you know. It makes us feel better 'bout whatever's wrong afterwards."

Gaia sighed loud enough for Wakka to notice.

"That a bad thing?" he asked her.

"No, I just think you two should hear each other out." She replied.

"Don't worry 'bout me, ya? Really."

"Oookay."

Tidus walked over to them, sweating and panting.

"W-what's taking them so long?" he asked.

"If you're worried about Yuna, you should go check on her." Gaia told him.

Yuna was unsettled by the silence within the room. The walls reverberated her steps. She knocked on the hatch, hoping the others would hear her, but nobody answered after several minutes. There was no door handle on the other side of the hatch, which confused her greatly. She sat in front of the door, distracted by her thoughts. The Council members were missing again, former summoners were being taken, and almost the entire population of Luca had traveled to Djose temple and didn't return. With the arrival of Sin, and the ongoing hybrid fiend infestation, Yuna found herself in a conundrum. What was tying these things all together? How were they related? Then, Yuna came to a brief conclusion: it had to be all connected to her.

Yuna heard a ghostly sound in the room. She pressed her hand against her chest.

"H-hello?" she said.

She could see twinkling stars – pyreflies – at the opposite side of the large shelter. She looked closely towards the end of the room. She could see a very faint outline of a person. The person walked clumsily towards her. Yuna wasn't sure if this person was there before she was trapped in the room, but it was large enough that she couldn't have seen them. She spoke to the person, but she heard a growling response, and the person revealed razor-sharp teeth. Foamed at the mouth, the person pointed towards Yuna, trying to form actual words, but instead released noises. Yuna walked backwards and felt her back hit against the hatch. She could see more people similar to the rabid person come out from the same direction. She ran towards the east side of the shelter. More pyreflies formed more vicious, zombified people. They came from all directions and came closer to Yuna. The sounds they made were pained moans, and Yuna saw they had no eyes in their sockets, and their limbs were scratched and scarred. Yuna's lip trembled, her heart beating rapidly. She could see her father in the crowd of zombies, along with Auron and Jecht. There was no sign of humanity in them. She was whimpering and sank to the floor on her knees. She held her hands over her ears to block out the moaning. It was louder and became a unified, bloodcurdling scream. Tears ran down her face.

"Please… stop…" she begged. The rabid ghosts that were gathered around her obeyed. They disappeared and Yuna looked up to see none other than Tidus. He had the pyreflies flowing through his body, and he was staring down at her in tears.

"No…" Yuna slid back from him.

"How could you, Yuna? How could you do this to us? After everything we've done for you! How could you hurt us like this?! You betrayed us! You betrayed all of Spira!" Tidus's screams bounced off the shelter walls and felt almost like they were trapping Yuna. She fell forward onto the floor and cried.

The hatch was finally opened.

"Yuna!" The real Tidus ran to her and held her in his arms. She clung onto him, and sobbed quietly into his chest.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…" she said. Tidus comforted her the best he could, and the others stood quietly behind, without the slightest idea of what to say.