XVIII
"Like an angry portent rose the moon above them;
The sea in sympathy trembled beneath."
--Centran epic, "The Rime of Reticulus"

The world went from black to a mottled grey in the span of a few long heartbeats, and Aya thought that she might have opened her eyes. The input she was receiving from her eyes made no sense, so she decided to see if she could bring some information to her ears instead. She opened her mouth to ask where she was, but what came out was only an incomprehensible "Gnaaahh..."

Someone or something moved across her vision, turning the greys a few shades down. "We're almost to Galbadia," Squall said simply, no hint of emotion in his voice--which sounded, if a bit tinny, at least partway normal.

"Nnght cee," Aya garbled, trying for "Can't see" and failing.

"Tranquilizer," Squall explained. "Whatever you encountered gave you Ultima poisoning. SeeD Nattaka gave us his report, and--" there was a pause, and Squall's voice dropped a bit. "We will need to talk."

Aya went on edge. Squall didn't sound nearly angry enough, and it was making her more than a bit nervous. Anger she could deal with, but this sort of... quiet which Squall had been displaying was intimidating on a whole different level. "Nnk..."

"You'll still need to answer to SeeD Dincht," Squall informed her. "His temper hasn't improved since you last spoke."

A door opened, and Aya looked toward it before she remembered that looking toward it wouldn't help anything. There was a long pause that she interpreted, somehow, as an awkward one, and the pseudosound "Oohissit?" came out.

Squall stood--that much she could surmise--and walked out the door. A moment later there was a set of lighter footsteps, and someone placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"You look terrible," Kamalyn said.

"Mm nungeh rrt ooh," Aya muttered.

"Your neck is all swollen up, and your eyes are red, and you look like you got into a fight with your comb and it won't speak to you any more."

"Nnks."

Kamalyn sighed. "...we're only stopping over at Timber. We're heading straight back to Balamb Garden, and Tam and Cabe are going back to G-Garden. Everyone sped through the conference--but that was because of G-Garden's timetable, not because of us. Tam woke up long enough to get a few words off--he's going to be fine, it turns out. He wasn't as exposed to those monsters as you were." Kam paused. "...you're taking all the blame."

"Llh, duhh."

"You really shouldn't be trying to talk, you know," Kam said, sounding worried.

"Llh agk ivv Ig nnt ooh," Aya retorted.

"You're impossible." There was another momentary pause. "Are you all right?"

"Gssagle."

"You know, you could just nod, or shake your head, or something." As if it were actually possible, Kamalyn sounded a bit annoyed. Aya grinned as well as she could. "You just enjoy making everything difficult, don't you?"

Aya nodded.

There was an exasperated sigh. Kamalyn was breathing slightly heavier now--a sign that he was struggling with what to say but that he had convinced himself to say something no matter what. Aya waited, trying not to show too much interest.

"...Aya..." Kamalyn forced out, more than the usual degree of irresolution in his voice. There was another hesitation.

"Ess?"

"...why?" Kamalyn finally asked. "I--dear God, that was the question they asked the most. And I had no idea how to answer them!"

Aya's grin disappeared, and she shot a glare in the direction from which Kam's voice was coming. Her expression turned sullen, and she didn't even try to make a sound.

Kamalyn backed off, metaphorically if not literally. "...okay, okay. Never mind. This is probably just between you and them. I won't ask."

"Oove no igeeah," Aya snarled. "Etll rrk. Uvtoo ait."

There was a moment as Kamalyn mulled over that. "I'm sorry," he said at last. "Did you just say, 'It will work, have to wait?'"

"Ess."

There was the soft pumph of flesh hitting flesh, and Aya guessed that Kamalyn's head had gone down into his hands. "I don't suppose that there is any possibility in the Nine Grandidan Hells that you'll be able to tell me, clearly and concisely, what you mean by that," he said guardedly.

Aya opened her mouth to retort, but she was was cut off abruptly as the ship leaped underneath her. The world dropped out from under her, and in the spiraling view her vision afforded her, she could register an impossibly bright, sanguine light.

"Hyne!"

Kamalyn caught her before she could fall to the ground, yelping as the ship tilted and the wall reached up to smack him. Aya reached out and grabbed the nearest thing--the support for the bed on which she had been laying--and glanced around futilely.

Kamalyn extricated himself from the mess, leaving her side abruptly. Aya growled a little as she tried to make her eyes focus and register more than abstract shapes, but her attempts were to no avail. The ship lurched again.

"Oh..." Kamalyn said feebly.

"Hht? Hht?" Aya would have sold her soul to the devil at that moment if it would have let her see again.

"That's a--I mean, I can't be sure, but--" Kamalyn swallowed. "There are monsters falling from the sky, Aya," he whispered. "The sky is red. Bright bloody red."

Aya froze. "Nnurh aye...?"

"Lunar Cries are impossible," Kamalyn said, not sounding as if he believed himself. "...this must have come out of nowhere. How did it--why did it--"

The ship groaned and shuddered, and a thin wail came from what Aya could surmise was the direction of the engines. Kamalyn swallowed several times.

"...the monsters are hitting the water in a column about halfway between here and the horizon," he said with a forced calm that sounded more forced than calm. "What we're feeling is the waves that the impact is creating. ...the sky is red as far as I can see. There aren't any clouds--it's like the atmosphere just reflects the light... I bet it's something magical. ...there's another big wave coming. Hold on!"

The ship rose up like an Abyss Worm coming out of hiding, and Aya had to tighten her grip to prevent herself from being tossed across the room. The engine's noise output spiked, and then faded again. She could feel the ship trying to turn beneath her, laboring away with all of its power.

"...nothing we did could have caused this, right?"

Aya shook her head. "Uht ub."

Kamalyn paid no attention. "My... god. This is the first, Aya. The first Lunar Cry in... Hyne, in twenty-nine years. The first one since the Crystal Pillar was destroyed. I thought they were impossible. I thought they couldn't happen any more..."

A chill wound its way down Aya's spine. Her hand moved to her side, groping for her jacket. She found the fabric by touch and pulled it toward her, hands seeking the deep pockets. Reaching into one, she drew out the Crystal Pillar fragment which she had taken from the battlesite.

The stone was icy cold in her grasp, and now seemed less to pulse than to buzz.

Suppressing a shiver, she hurriedly placed the stone back into the pocket and pushed her coat away. Even had she been able to speak, she wouldn't want to--she had nothing to say beyond a dark premonition which she could not quite express.

Kamalyn, still turned and gazing in horrified fascination at the spectacle outside, did not notice as she carefully his the stone--the stone whose somber glow matched perfectly the sky outside.