A note from the Hime no Argh herself-
Bah! College essays. They just plain suck. I'm playing the application game right now, hoping that by some miracle I'll get into the school of my choice. The application is going out this week, yep yep. I finally have my personal statement written and all is almost ready. Wish me luck!
Here's Chapter 6 of Waking Dreams. I've been writing up a storm over the past week or so- I'm already about halfway through Chapter 9. You'll notice that this chapter's a bit short. That was deliberate, 'tis an important chapter and I didn't want to muck it up with filler space. The next chapter is fairly important too, though I suspect its importance is subtle enough that it won't be caught until later in the story. In any case it'll be longer, so I hope you'll forgive the shortness this time around.
I'll stop boring you all now. As always, thanks for reading! Keep the fayth! ^_^V (Yeah, that was a lame joke, I know...)
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Chapter 6
Farplane
Guadosalam was eerily silent. Yuna, Rikku, and Lulu did their best to match the quiet, walking in a closely-knit group, avoiding the suspicious gazes of the Guados they passed. Yuna could never tell just what side the odd race professed to be on. A long time ago the Guado had served their leader, Seymour, with fierce loyalty, but since Seymour's Sending most of them had retreated to their half-hidden city, having nothing to do with Yevon's last followers or the machina generation. They didn't exactly make the group feel welcome, but they weren't in a hurry to throw them out either. Yuna supposed this was a good sign.
A door had been built at the entrance to the corridor which led to the Farplane. A guard seated beside it stood as their group approached.
"Halt," the Guado commanded, holding out a large hand with long, slender fingers. "What business have you with the dead?"
"I wish to search for a missing person," Yuna replied steadily. All this was merely ceremony. The Guados guarded the Farplane, but the sacred place was open to all peoples of Spira. "There is a chance he may be dead, and I want to know whether or not this is true."
The Guado stared at her for a moment in silence, eyes narrowed. "May I ask you your name?" he said thoughtfully at last.
Yuna blinked at this. It was hardly usual for Guados to take any interest in anyone other than their own kin. Lulu apparently thought so as well, for she stepped forward before Yuna could reply, eyes flashing.
"May I ask what business it is of yours?" Lulu asked mildly, though her gaze was dangerous.
"None, perhaps," the Guado replied, though his eyes remained on Yuna. "Though I wonder if you recognize me."
Yuna blinked at him, surprised. "Should I?"
"Indeed," he confirmed, a strange smile playing about his lips. "Lady Yuna, I attended your wedding."
Yuna's jaw dropped as Lulu and Rikku simultaneously gasped. "You're kidding!" Rikku cried.
"I am not. I was among the legion of guards, but fortunately-" His eyes lingered on Lulu and Rikku. "Fortunately I never met your friends in battle, Lady Yuna. They fought fiercely for you." He smiled that odd smile again. "It was quite entertaining."
"I'm sure it was, from where you stood," Lulu said severely.
"Indeed," the Guado said cheerfully. "But I have detained you for too long." He snapped his fingers, and the door silently slid open. "Happy searching."
"Thank you," Yuna said, confused. She led the way into the dark corridor and the door slid shut behind them.
The moment the door closed Rikku turned to them, eyes wide. "How weird was that?"
"I thought he was going to arrest us," Yuna confessed. "But he didn't seem to care a bit that we were the ones who'd killed Seymour."
Lulu shrugged. "I suppose we've learned today that not every Guado loved Seymour. Just as not everyone loves any leader." She paused for a moment, then added reflexively, "Then again, some simply don't care about anyone."
"No kidding," Yuna sniffed. "'Entertaining', indeed!"
They headed down the long, twisting corridor in silence. After a moment or two, Rikku said slowly, "Well...it was kinda fun."
Yuna and Lulu halted and stared at her, aghast. "Fun?" Yuna demanded. "It wasn't fun for me!"
"Oh, of course not," Rikku said earnestly. "I mean, it wasn't really fun at the moment. But now that we look back on it..."
"Yes?" Lulu said warily.
Rikku shrugged. "Well, think about it. We're kind of like legends. I mean, we're the only people in the history of Spira that have ever attacked Bevelle. We beat their guardian wyrm, we beat their guards, we survived the purification, and we got away with our lives!" She nudged Lulu. "C'mon, wasn't it exciting to be the heroes, charging into battle?"
"I suppose," Lulu said doubtfully.
Rikku grinned at Yuna. "And I bet you made the most dramatic getaway those Bevelle people ever saw, with Valefor and all."
"Everyone was pretty shocked, weren't they?" Yuna said with a little chuckle.
"You bet!" Rikku said eagerly. "And you know who led us into battle in the first place?"
Yuna smiled. "Tidus, right?"
"Yeah! It was so gallant!" Rikku clasped her hands together. "The hero of the day, fighting to save the woman he loves!" she cried dramatically, which made Yuna giggle.
"It was also pretty rash," Lulu observed soberly. "He nearly got us all killed."
"But he didn't," Rikku said cheerfully. "It was a good fight."
The small corridor had opened into a large room, where a curving staircase led straight into impenetrable fog. Sobered by the sight, the three women stared in silence at the entrance to the Farplane.
"You think he's in there?" Yuna said quietly at last.
"Maybe," Lulu murmured. "Maybe not. There's only one way to find out."
"I guess you're right," Yuna said hesitantly. Then she squared her shoulders and set her chin. "Coming or staying, Rikku?"
The Al Bhed hesitated. "Coming," she said at last. When the women blinked at her, she smiled weakly. "I want to be supportive. I'll just try not to think about any old memories."
"Thank you," Yuna said quietly, which brightened Rikku's smile.
"Sure! What are friends for?"
The three climbed the stairs, hesitating before the entrance. Rikku slipped her hand into Yuna's and gripped it tightly. Yuna nodded to her, then at Lulu, and together the women walked into the world of the dead.
The Farplane assaulted their bodies immediately. The pull of death was faint here, but they all felt it tainting them, trying to seduce them into eternal sleep. Yuna clenched her jaws and fought to hold onto her own life as the mist cleared and the Farplane was revealed before them. The endless planes covered with flowers, the shining cliffs, the raging waterfalls and the great columns of water that rose far in the distance fell away before their eyes. There were no words to express the eerie beauty of the Farplane.
Pyreflies swirled through the Farplane by the millions. Yuna stared, eyes wide, as they rose in unison to swarm around them, shrieking in their faint voices.
"So many of them!" she gasped. "Did they all come here after Sin's death?"
No one answered her. The pyreflies swirled around Yuna, illuminating her with their brilliant glow. A bit nervous, she took a step back.
"Do they sound...angry to you?" she asked her companions uncertainly.
A soft whimper answered her. Yuna glanced to her right to see Rikku on her knees, hands covering her ears. "Why are they screaming like that?" she cried.
"Rikku!" Yuna started toward her, but Lulu shook her head.
"Don't," the woman said softly, kneeling to take Rikku into her arms. "I'll take care of her. Do what you need to do, so that we may leave."
The pyreflies made a veil so thick around her that she could barely see her friends, but Yuna nodded. "I'll try to hurry."
She darted to the edge of the plane and looked down upon the world of the dead. The pyreflies followed her, their cries ringing in her ears.
"Please," she said, frightened. "I am sorry to have disturbed your rest. There is just one person I want to look for-"
She fell silent as a group of pyreflies condensed before her eyes and formed the shape of her father, the High Summoner Braska. Remembering the dream she'd had on the beach in Luca, the conversation between Braska and Auron and Jecht, she smiled shakily.
"I don't blame you for not returning," she whispered to her father's shape. "I guess you must be happy with Mother."
At these words the pyreflies took on the shape of her mother, standing at Braska's side. Yuna smiled at them both. "You make a nice couple. I wouldn't ask that your rest be disturbed. Although...I miss you," she added in a low whisper.
Her mother and father smiled at her, fading away before her eyes.
"It must be hard to let go."
Yuna turned at the familiar voice and smiled at Tidus. "How right you are. Even my father, and he's been gone for so long."
"Then don't come back here," he urged, moving closer to her, within arm's reach. "There are only memories."
"I know. I don't come here seeking anything more. I just had to know if you were dead or not."
He smiled. "What did you find out?"
She smiled back cheerily. "Pyreflies take the shape of the dead, and they don't talk. You're just a figment of my imagination."
Tidus blinked at her and shook his head. "That's hardly reassuring," he said wryly.
"More so than you'd think. Now I know that you're alive, no matter where. And I can find you."
He stepped closer to her, his hands closing around hers. Yuna blinked, shocked at his touch, only half-solid but there nonetheless.
"You make me real," he said quietly. "You make me more than a fragment of a dream."
He faded away, disappearing before her eyes. Yuna's knees gave and she crumbled to the ground, holding back tears. Pyreflies swirled around her, softly crooning.
"I'm okay," she whispered, touched by their concern.
"Yuna?" came Rikku's soft voice. Yuna blinked and glanced up. Lulu and Rikku stood before her, both staring at her, eyes wide with shock and bewilderment. Puzzled, she stared into her friends' eyes until the truth began to dawn on her- she had hallucinated again, spoken to Tidus when he wasn't even there, and her friends had witnessed it.
Pain, sudden and excruciating, struck her, filling her heart. She began to tremble violently.
"Yuna," Rikku said shakily. "You-"
Yuna leapt to her feet and pushed passed them, fleeing the Farplane without a glance back. Nausea struck her as she entered the world of the living once more and she doubled over at the waist, half-blind with tears, feeling she'd found something at last and lost so much more.
* * *
To be continued.