A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
Argh is right!! I feel so terrible for leaving you guys hanging for so long, especially after I promised weekly updates. Well, I guess that idea is out unless I write a whole lot in the next week (which I might, seeing as how I'm on spring break and all). But I've fallen really behind on chapters so I might have to slow down a little. Oh well. Only a few left anyway.
So here's the next chapter, with an extended Hime note on the bottom that you might find interesting. Enjoy!
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Chapter 20
The Missing Lovers
"Lulu. Hey, Lulu, wake up."
The woman merely sighed and turned over, so Rikku went to the window and threw open the shades, letting the bright morning sunlight fall directly on Lulu's face. "Wake up, sleepyhead," she ordered, shaking Lulu's shoulder. "It's morning! And Tidus and Yunie are missing!"
Lulu finally opened her eyes and looked blearily at Rikku. "What are you on about?" she said sleepily. "Who's missing?"
"Tidus and Yunie!" Rikku repeated exasperatedly. "They're both gone but all of their stuff is still here, and the beds are unmade. They must have gone out last night and never came back. You don't suppose something happened to them, do you?" she added anxiously.
Lulu rolled her eyes. "Rikku, they've been separated for five years, were just reunited, and they both disappeared for the night. Put two and two together."
"Oh." Rikku suddenly began to giggle, covering her mouth with her hands. "You don't think...?"
"Well, I doubt they're off somewhere having tea," Lulu said dryly, throwing back the covers as Rikku burst into schoolgirlish laughter.
Everyone else seemed to share Lulu's view, so they decided to wait in the village for Yuna and Tidus to return. All except Brother.
"I'm going back to Bikanel," he told Rikku in Al Bhed as the crew began loading up their boat. "You girls are safe now, and Dad probably needs all the help he can get with fixing the airship. So I'll say goodbye, little sister." He gave her a hug and ruffled her hair affectionately, then turned toward the gangway.
Rikku bit her lip, then abruptly burst out, "You want to get away from Yuna, don't you?"
Brother's back stiffened, then he turned to her again, smiling rather sheepishly. "It's that obvious?"
Rikku nodded. "I've known since we met you in Guadosalam, I think."
Brother hesitated, then asked, "What about Yuna?"
"Oh, she doesn't know anything," Rikku said dismissively. "She's so dense."
"That's probably for the best," he said quietly. "She's happy now. Who am I to ruin that for her?"
"I'm sorry," Rikku said uncertainly, but Brother waved her off.
"I'll be fine. Just..."
He hesitated again, and Rikku prodded, "What?"
"Just tell him for me...tell Tidus...to take care of her, okay? That's all."
"I will," Rikku promised.
"Good. And take care of yourself, too." Brother regarded her for a moment, then smiled. "Yuna's not the only dense person around here, you know."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Rikku demanded shrilly, but Brother had already ascended the gangway. He gave her a salute, then ordered the crew to cast off.
"Bye," Rikku said softly, watching the ship pull out of the harbor.
"What's Brudda leaving for?" a familiar voice suddenly asked, and Rikku jumped.
"Wakka! You scared me!"
"Sorry," he said casually. "So why's he going?"
"Oh...he wants to help our dad work on the airship," Rikku said loyally. "He'd rather be where he's useful."
"I getcha. I guess he doesn't need to protect you girls anymore, huh? 'Cause all de boys are here now, I mean," he added with an infuriating grin.
Rikku glared at him. "Don't you push my buttons, or you'll regret it!"
Wakka's grin broadened, and he tossed Rikku the Blitzball he'd been carrying under one arm. "You up for a game? I swear, if I hear Lulu and Auron's old-folks talk for anudder second, I'll go nuts."
"Better not let Lulu hear you calling her 'old folks,'" Rikku said with a laugh as they headed down to the beach. "She'd rip you limb from limb."
They played a game, or as close to one as they could get with two people, then eventually got tired and ended up throwing the ball back and forth in the surf. "It's my off season anyway," Wakka commented by way of explanation.
A quarter of an hour later, Kimahri came wandering by on the beach. He was on all fours, muzzle close to the sand. Rikku and Wakka stopped what they were doing and stared at him, trying to remember when they'd last seen Kimahri move like that.
"Kimahri?" Rikku called. "What're you doing?"
Kimahri's gleaming orange eyes flickered to them. "Tracking scent," he said shortly. "Waves wash it away, make hard to follow." Without another word he moved stealthily up the beach, heading north.
Rikku looked at Wakka. "What was that about?"
He shrugged. "Dunno."
Another quarter of an hour passed, then Kimahri suddenly reappeared on the beach in front of them, looking grim.
"Bad news," he said when they looked at him. "Yuna and Tidus gone."
Wakka dropped the ball. "G-gone? What d'you mean, dey're gone?"
"Kimahri track their scent north. Then there more scents. Men, with weapons. All scents go north." Kimahri paused briefly, then added grimly, "To Bevelle."
"What?" Rikku said stunned. "You don't mean–they were ambushed?"
Kimahri nodded. "Kimahri think so."
Wakka and Rikku stared at each other in shock. "What do we do now?" Wakka ventured at last.
Rikku bit her lip. "We'd better find everyone and tell them what we know. Let's split up," she ordered as she and Wakka waded up to the beach. "Find the others and meet in Lulu's and my hut in ten minutes."
"Dis is bad," Wakka said grimly, and Rikku and Kimahri agreed.
* * *
Their captors dragged them through the dark of Macalania Forest, to the city of Bevelle as the early morning glow tinted the sky pink. Into the heart of the city and the Palace of Saint Bevelle, through countless corridors and stairways, deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of caverns that lay beneath the city.
"Why don't you tell us where the hell you're taking us?" Tidus snarled to their grim-faced captors, who'd said barely a word since their arrest on the beach. They'd bound Tidus's hands behind his back but left Yuna alone, obviously considering her less of a threat.
"Please," Yuna said quietly, trying to reason. "There has to have been some mistake."
"There was no mistake," said one of their guards, leering at her. "We have our orders, so I suggest you keep your pretty mouth shut."
"Don't you dare talk to her like that," Tidus said murderously. One of the guards slapped him hard with the back of his hand. "Oh, that's manly of you," he taunted sardonically. "I bet you feel real big, hitting a bound man–" The guard struck him again, harder, and Tidus spit blood from his mouth. "Hit me again, why don't you?"
"Tidus, stop!" Yuna cried as the guard raised his hand again. "Please!"
Tidus looked at her for a moment, then averted his gaze and shut his mouth, the muscles in his jaw clenching.
"Move on," snapped the guard who had hit Tidus, rubbing his knuckles.
They continued on through the labyrinthian halls of the palace, going deeper and deeper into the earth. The deeper they went the paler Yuna became. Tidus kept an eye on her, not liking the pallid color of her cheeks and the fine sheen of perspiration that coated her forehead.
At last they reached a locked and barred iron door on one of the lowest levels of the palace. A warrior monk standing guard at the door rose to meet them.
"More prisoners for the dungeons," reported the guard who appeared to be their captors' leader.
"Fresh ones, huh?" The monk smirked, looking Yuna over from head to toe. "This one's not bad looking, either."
"You wouldn't dare," Tidus told him, his voice very soft and very dangerous.
"These ones are special," their guard said brusquely. "You're not to touch 'em." He glowered at the monk. "Are you opening up, or are we gonna stand here all day?"
The warrior monk muttered something under his breath as he produced a ring of keys and unlocked the door. He opened it and stood back, and the guards escorted Tidus and Yuna through.
It immediately became apparent that they were in a dungeon, heading down a narrow walkway between rows of small, barred cages, most containing people. The prisoners inside were dirty and emaciated, dressed in rags, their hair a dirty, tangled mess. One woman looked quickly up as they passed by, her eyes dark and wild, and began screaming in plain Al Bhed.
"Holy Fayth," Yuna whispered, all the blood draining from her face. Their captors ignored the Al Bhed woman, dragging Tidus and Yuna on.
They stopped beside the last cage, and as a guard unlocked it Yuna glanced to the cell opposite them. A lone man was sitting in it on a dirty cot, staring blankly into space.
Yuna abruptly let out a sharp gasp. "O'aka?"
The man glanced up sharply. His mouth fell open and he leapt across the cell, wrapping his hands around the bars. "Lady Yuna?" he cried. "Tidus? What in the name of unholy Sin is you two doing 'ere?"
Yuna opened her mouth to reply, but one of their guards produced a short, narrow black club and abruptly struck O'aka's knuckles with a loud crack. O'aka cursed savagely and let go of the bars, stumbling back into his cell.
"No talking," the guard snarled.
"You bastard–" Tidus leapt at the guard, livid with rage, but another grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into the cell. They shoved Yuna in after him, then slammed the door shut, locked it, and left.
Yuna knelt beside Tidus and touched his lip where he was bleeding, healing the wound in an instant. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
"I'm fine," Tidus muttered. "O'aka–"
Yuna spun on her heel and went to stand at the bars of their cell, peering worriedly at O'aka. "O'aka? Are you all right?"
The man sat on his cot again, cradling his injured hand. "Bastard broke my fingers," he said in a voice taut with pain.
"Can you move them?" Yuna demanded.
O'aka tried and winced as his fingers curled. "Yeah, but it 'urts like bloody 'ell."
"They're not broken then," Yuna said helpfully. "Just bruised. Stand still and I'll heal them for you."
O'aka looked at her, surprised. "Can you do it from there, then?"
"Of course. Let me concentrate for a moment." Yuna closed her eyes, letting healing warmth flow through the air between her and O'aka. This was easy magic–the body wanted to heal, and she merely speeded up the process. Summoning aeons, shooting a gun–those things were hard.
When she opened her eyes O'aka was flexing his fingers. "That's better," he said. "Thanks."
"Of course." Yuna swayed where she stood, suddenly drained, and Tidus took her hand and drew her down beside him on their own cot.
"You don't look so good," he said worriedly, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"I don't feel so good," Yuna mumbled, her face tinted a pale green. "I don't like small, closed spaces." At least they had a window in the wall above their cot, small and square and barred, through which sea-scented air drifted.
Tidus stood on the cot to look out the window, wrapping his hands around the bars. "I can see the ocean below us," he reported, "but I can't look straight down."
"We're in a cliff on the sea," O'aka said helpfully. "The palace is situated right on top of the cliff, and there's a whole network of caverns carved below it. The sea flows in through some caves into the lowest level."
"That must be where the purification is," Yuna remarked. "The Fayth's cloister is somewhere down here too."
"Big 'elp the Fayth 'ave been," O'aka said bitterly, "leaving us locked up in 'ere like this."
"I don't think they knew," Yuna said quietly. "They went to sleep."
"Speaking of which, just how did you get locked up here, O'aka?" Tidus demanded.
For a moment the man stared at the far wall in silence. "It was all well for a while," he said at last. "After Lady Yuna banished Sin, they let me leave Bevelle. Me brother Wantz n' me started a merchant business together. Then one day a group of warrior monks ambushed us–said they were sent by the 'igh priestess to imprison Spira's traitors."
"What?" Tidus yelled. "What the hell are they trying to pull? If anything, they're the traitors!"
"Trying telling it to them," O'aka said disgustedly. "We fought 'em like mad, me n' Wantz, but there were too many. They killed me brother and threw me in here." He paused for a moment, then added quietly, "I've been here for two years, I have."
Tidus and Yuna stared at him, speechless. "O'aka, if I'd have known..." Yuna said at last, dumbfounded. "I'm so sorry."
O'aka waved her off. "You're not to blame. 'Ow was you supposed to know? It's me own fault for being so careless."
"That damn priestess," Tidus spat. "What the hell is she trying to pull?"
Yuna looked at him, surprised. "You know her?"
"Wish I didn't," Tidus said bitterly. "When Auron and Kimahri and my dad and me were traveling through Macalania, a group of her soldiers ambushed us and dragged us here. Then we met her, and she apologized, told us to look for you with the Al Bhed, and let us go, no questions asked. Do you know her?"
"I think I do," Yuna said, troubled. "We met her in Guadosalam. She was the one who told us to look for you in Macalania. But–" She hesitated, biting her lip. "She seemed so–so sincere. Why would she help us if she was going to arrest us?"
"She's a crafty one," O'aka put in. "Got her own plans, you know? Can't trust a word she says, that Miralesca."
Yuna stared at him. "Miralesca?"
O'aka shrugged. "S'what she calls herself. Said she's a descendant of Yunalesca."
Tidus watched Yuna. "You didn't know?" he asked quietly. "I mean, she's practically Yunalesca's twin. Unless you met someone else–"
"No," Yuna said softly. "No, I did meet her. Rikku said she thought she was familiar, and so did I. But I didn't think–I don't know why I didn't think–"
"What did she say her name was?" Tidus asked.
"Mirana. She said her name was Mirana." Yuna raised her eyes to meet Tidus's. "I don't understand this. Has she been...has she been following her own devices from the beginning? Has she been deceiving us all along? What in the world could she want with us?"
"What in the world could she want with all these prisoners?" O'aka asked. They looked at him; his eyes were dark and flat as he stared at the wall of his cell. "What would she want with a merchant, loads of Al Bhed, and a few other people who 'elped Lady Yuna along 'er journey? Why call 'em traitors and lock 'em in 'ere to rot for years? You see 'er, you ask 'er that for me. Ask 'er what crime the traitors of Spira committed."
* * *
Kimahri, Rikku, and Wakka explained the situation to Auron, Lulu, and Jecht in as little words as possible, their explanation brief because there was little to tell.
"So we don't really know what happened," Auron surmised when they'd finished. "We know that Tidus and Yuna left the village sometime during the night, wandered up the beach, were ambushed by armed men and taken north."
"Right," Rikku confirmed.
"How far did you follow their scent?" Lulu asked Kimahri.
"To heart of Macalania," Kimahri replied. "Scent goes north on path to Bevelle."
"Ain't it obvious enough?" Jecht demanded, looking furious. "A bunch of those filthy priests kidnapped Yuna an' my kid an' dragged 'em to Bevelle."
"Yes, it's obvious what has happened," Auron acknowledged. "What isn't obvious is why it happened. For what reason would Tidus and Yuna be arrested?"
"I'll give you one," Rikku snapped. "Tidus and Yunie deserve the most credit for destroying Sin out of all of us, and those disgusting bneacdc–" She put a world of scorn into the word, "decided that it's time to get revenge."
"After five years?" Lulu demanded. "That's ridiculous. Why in the world would they wait until now?"
"They wanted them both," Auron said shortly.
They all stared at him. The man slowly drew off his shaded glasses and folded them between his hands, looking very serious. "A priestess told us that we might find Yuna with the Al Bhed. Lulu said that a messenger from Bevelle told Yuna to look for Tidus in Macalania. They helped us reunite them. And then Yuna and Tidus were kidnapped."
"But–" Rikku began.
"They're not idiots," Auron interrupted. "They know Tidus went missing after Sin's defeat. They wanted them both, so they wait for both."
"The priests dismantled after Sin's defeat," Lulu added quietly. "But how many times over the last year or two have we heard about the Yevon Order?"
Auron nodded. "They've been growing in power. They have a new leader–I'd bet my life that it's that high priestess we met in Bevelle. They heard Tidus was back in Spira and went out of their way to help reunite him with Yuna, just so that they could catch them off guard. They've been waiting all this time, and now they've made their move.
"The question is," he added darkly, "what are they planning to do?"
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To be continued.
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Translations
Bneacdc - Priests
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An extra note from the Hime no Argh herself–
Over the last few chapters I've received a lot of inquiries into the nature of Yuna and Brother's relationship, so I've decided to take the time to clear it up a little. As the chapter you've just read confirmed, Brother does in fact "like" Yuna, very much so. You could even go as far as to call it love. But does Yuna have any idea how Brother feels, and does she feel the same way?
That's a definite no. Yuna has no idea how Brother feels, and if she did, she wouldn't know what to do, because she loves Brother as a friend, and that's as far as it goes on her part. Brother knows this. He cares about Yuna's happiness, and he doesn't want anything (including himself) to interfere with Tidus and Yuna's post-reunion bliss, so he'll never act on his feelings. And that's all I can say on the matter at this point.
Actually, I can at least answer this reader question...
Q: "How can Brother have a crush on Yuna? Aren't they related or something?" –Courtesy of fufufufu
Thank you very much for the question, I was hoping someone would comment on this. As we all know, Cid is Yuna's uncle and Rikku and Brother are his children, thus Rikku and Brother are Yuna's cousins. So yes, they are related.
I'm sure there's at least one or two readers who think the idea of falling in love with one's cousin is pretty gross, and that's perfectly fine. You have to consider, however, the fact that Brother and Yuna probably never even met before Yuna's pilgrimage. They don't have a family-oriented sort of relationship, and I doubt they even think of each other as cousins. Also, please keep in mind that this world is Spira, which is not necessarily governed by the same laws as our world–thus incest may be perfectly acceptable, especially in a society like the Al Bhed, who are very much like one big family (at least in this particular fanfiction, they are).
Am I promoting incest? No. Am I admonishing it? That's a negatory. I'm not taking any stand right now because incest is a particularly complicated matter, and I'm just here to tell a story. I will, however, add that I don't believe people can control whom they fall in love with.
As always, I'd love to hear your opinions.