A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
Heh... ^^; Please don't hate me for all the cliffhangers. I just can't help it, y'know? I get to the end of a chapter and I think, "wow, this would be a good place to stop it!" and lo and behold it turns out all suspenseful. Sometimes I do it deliberately, sometimes unconsciously. I dunno. Blame my muse.
Anyway, here cometh Chapter 24. Stay tuned for the others. Enjoy!
***
Chapter 24
The Airship Attacks
On the way to Bevelle, Cid took Rikku, Lulu, Auron, Wakka, Kimahri, and Jecht to one of the storerooms on the airship for "a little surprise," as he put it. Inside the dim, cramped storeroom he pried open the bolts on a large wooden wardrobe and let his companions peek inside.
"Oh, wow!" Rikku cried, snatching up her best claw and immediately securing it on her arm. "Dad, these are in perfect condition! I didn't know you were saving them!"
"Well, I thought you might need 'em again someday," Cid told her, pleased, as the rest lined up to take their weapons from the wardrobe. "Guess this is that day, huh? Probably gonna be a bit of a tangle with them priests."
"I do feel better going in armed," Auron admitted, adjusting the weight of his enormous sword on one shoulder.
Lulu cuddled one of her dolls in her arms, tickling its belly, then produced an enormous burst of flame. "Watch it!" Wakka yelped, leaping away from her.
"Still works," Lulu commented with a devious smile.
Jecht peered forlornly into the wardrobe after it had been emptied. "Nothin' fer me?" he asked plaintively.
Cid grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "I got something for you. Here." He handed Jecht a rifle from a crate in the storeroom.
"What's this?" Jecht asked dubiously, examining the long, sleek weapon.
"It's a rifle, of course!"
"You mean like them priests use?"
"Them priests use what we use," Cid said irritably. "Look, it's easy enough. It's already loaded, all you gotta do is pull the trig–"
"Is it really wise giving Jecht a loaded rifle?" Auron asked, earning him a dirty glare from Jecht.
Cid smiled. "Rubber bullets. It'll stun, not kill."
On the bridge again the six paced around, anxious to get to Bevelle. Dawn was mere moments away, as indicated by the rapidly lightning sky. Cid stood by the window as they flew, watching the stream of pyreflies around them with an unreadable expression. Watching him, Rikku could only imagine how worried he was about his niece and Tidus.
We're all worried, she thought grimly. But we'll save them. We have to.
It was easier said than done. As they neared Bevelle the airship dropped out of the stream of pyreflies to skim the sea below. "This is gonna be a delicate operation," Cid told the others earlier. "We're gonna sneak up on them from below, rescue your friends, and then give 'em something they'll never forget. The key here is secrecy. We wanna be on them before they even have a chance to think."
Now they grouped in the bridge, watching as the city of Bevelle, shining in the dawn light on the seaside cliffs, came into view. The airship slowly maneuvered into the shade of the cliffs. Kimahri, situated at the windows with his eyes on the city above them, suddenly gave a snarl and pointed.
The others rushed to his side. "Damn!" Rikku exclaimed. "There they are!"
On a balcony high above them, they could just make out two figures standing on the very edge, their backs to open air. It was Tidus and Yuna.
"Just like the vision showed us," Lulu commented softly. "The pyreflies were right."
Rikku abruptly screamed and clapped her hands to her mouth. The two figures leaned back and began to fall.
* * *
Kimahri didn't hesitate for a second. He tore out of the bridge and through the twisting corridors of the airship, following instinct rather than any familiar direction. He could feel the airship rising to meet the falling prisoners, but he knew it was not enough. It was up to him to save Yuna.
The elevator in the upper cabin was too slow; he didn't bother with it, but ran up the incline to the doors that led to the outer deck. Digging his claws into the metal doors, he wrenched them apart in one mighty burst of strength, then dropped to all fours and bounded across the outer deck of the airship.
Yuna fell head-first, eyes closed, toward the hard deck.
Kimahri leapt the highest leap of his life and tackled Yuna in midair. He hit the deck on his shoulder and rolled, protecting her with her body. It was not until they came to a complete halt that Yuna opened her eyes, still encircled safely in his arms.
"Kimahri?" she said wonderingly. "Did you die too?"
Kimahri shook his head. "Kimahri not dead. Neither is Yuna."
"I'm...I'm alive?" Her eyes widened. "Where's Tidus?! Is he okay?!"
Kimahri set her on her feet and cut through the ropes securing her hands behind her back with one swipe of his claws. Yuna looked around Kimahri and gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth. In the middle of the deck Tidus laid flat on his back, eyes closed, pale and still. His arms were limp at his sides–he had obviously managed to work free of his bonds during the fall.
Yuna dashed to his side and knelt, trembling. "No," she moaned. "Open your eyes, Tidus, please!"
He did. "Hiya," he said cheerfully, grinning at her.
"Wha–you idiot! Don't scare me like that!" Yuna cried, swatting his shoulder.
Tidus cringed. "Sorry, but could you not hit me? It really hurts."
"Oh, I'm sorry!"
"YUNIE!"
Rikku abruptly slammed into Yuna, practically wringing the summoner's neck as she cried on her shoulder. "Rikku–" Yuna gasped.
"I was so scared! So scared!"
"Rikku, you're going to choke her!" Lulu pried Rikku arms away from Yuna's neck, but hugged the summoner just as tightly a moment later.
"Not fair!" Rikku cried.
"Hi, Lulu," Yuna said shakily, laying her head on her friend's shoulder.
"Am I chopped liver or something?" Tidus demanded from the ground.
"Tidus!" Rikku shrieked. ""You're alive, too!"
"Yes, but no hugging, please," Tidus said quickly. "It kinda hurts to even twitch."
"Baby!" a familiar voice crowed. Auron, Jecht, and Wakka had joined them on the deck. "How did I know I was gonna find you blubberin' over some ouch?"
"I'm not blubbering," Tidus snapped at his father.
"Give him a break," said Auron, who was actually smiling. "He did just take a nasty fall."
"Glad to see you're all right, brudda," Wakka added, sounding immensely relieved.
Tidus smiled painfully. "I'm all in one piece, anyway."
Yuan finally managed to wrench herself away from the women and knelt beside Tidus. "You probably broke something," she informed him, pressing a hand along his ribs.
"Ow!"
"Looks like a cracked rib. Hang on, I'll patch you up."
Yuna applied her healing magic, then took Tidus's hand and tugged him to his feet. He pulled her into his arms and they held each other tightly for a few moments, wordless.
"Awww," Jecht crooned, effectively ruining the moment.
"Everyone all right, there?" Cid called from the bridge as Tidus and Yuna pulled apart. "Hang onto your hats, we're gonna make a little visit to Bevelle."
The airship rose high into the sky as the pyreflies descended on Bevelle with shrieks of fury.
* * *
When the execution was finished, Miralesca and the clergy said a prayer for the deceased, then began to retreat back into the palace.
She was immoveable, Miralesca thought, her mind on the young summoner. Even in the face of death, she refused to abandon her beliefs. Admirable, really.
"L-Lady Miralesca!"
Miralesca turned. Her priests and warrior monks stood shock-still, staring at the sky with bulging eyes. The priestess looked up and gasped.
Pyreflies descended on Bevelle by the thousands. They swirled around the palace, creating a veil so thick they blotted out the sky. In unison they began to shriek in their faint voices. The men to the left and right of the high priestess clapped their hands to their ears, many falling to their knees in anguish.
"Stay calm," Miralesca ordered her clergy as levelly as she could, though the pyreflies' furious screams made the hair on the back of her neck rise. "Stay on the balcony. Something is wrong." She took a slow breath, then began walking toward the edge of the balcony.
"My lady, don't!" cried Jeecan, the head of her guard.
Miralesca ignored him. As the pyreflies surrounded her she made herself stay on course. "You don't frighten me," she told them quietly. "You are afterimages. You cannot harm me."
But the hum of a machina engine made her halt in her tracks. The wind picked up, stirring the hem of her robe and her long hair. The hum grew steadily into a roar, and suddenly Miralesca understood.
"Ah," she commented as the Al Bhed's airship rose into view amid the shocked gasps and yells of her clergy. "You were saved."
On the airship's outer deck stood Yuna and Tidus.
"Hey there, priests," issued a voice from the airship's speakers. "Cid here, the captain of this ship and the leader of the Al Bhed. We took back our friends who you people tried to execute, but we got a little something for ya in return."
* * *
The airship shook as Cid fired its missiles from the bridge. The projectiles flew straight and true to slam into the highest tower of the Palace of Bevelle. Amid the explosion and the falling debris Yuna whipped around to face the bridge.
"Cid!" she yelled. "There are people in there!"
"Eh?"
"There's prisoners! And a lot of them are Al Bhed! You're going to collapse the palace right on top of them!"
"You gotta be–oh, man." Cid swore viciously. "Alright, listen up, kids! The operation has changed! This is no longer a destroy mission, this is a search-and-rescue mission!" As he repeated himself in Al Bhed, Rikku turned to the others, grinning.
"What do you say? Time to show those Bevelle freaks what we're made of, huh?"
"I'm looking forward to it," Lulu said with a dangerous smile.
Auron nodded. "In the meantime," he added, turning to Tidus and Yuna, "perhaps it would be best if you two stayed here."
"No," Yuna said firmly. Everyone gaped at her.
"I beg your pardon?" Auron inquired after a moment.
"I'm going down there," Yuna replied calmly, gazing steadily into her former guardian's eyes. "I want to find Miralesca. That woman–she tried to kill us, but she did it in the name of Spira and its people. She's sincere about wanting to make the world a better place. I can feel it."
"And what do you hope to accomplish?" Auron asked mildly.
"Maybe I can convince her to come with us. I'm sure Cid will take her aboard if I ask. Maybe together, we can work toward a better future." Yuna smiled. "It's what we both want."
Auron exchanged a look with Tidus, but before either of them could say anything, a group of Al Bhed came charging onto the outer deck, most wearing goggles and some kind of bright yellow uniform, all armed with rifles. Brother paused for a moment to shake his head over the wreck of the doors Kimahri had wrenched open.
"Pylg du dra crub," he said mournfully.
"Kad du fung!" Cid ordered over the speakers. "Rikku, Brother's taking a squad and going to seek out the prisoners. You and your friends can help him, but we wouldn't say no if you feel like slapping a few priests around, either. Tidus or Yuna, one of you'd better show Brother where the dungeons are."
But Yuna was already at the edge of the deck, peering intently down at the balcony as the airship circled the palace. Warrior monks ran back and forth, avoiding falling debris while attempting to build a defense. At the center of it all Miralesca stood motionless, her eyes fixed on the airship above.
"I'm going," Yuna said determinedly.
"Wait!" Rikku charged over to Yuna and shoved her guns into her hands. "I was saving them for you," she explained. "They're already loaded. Just in case."
Yuna smiled. "Thanks, Rikku." Before anyone could stop her, she sprinted to the edge of the deck and leaped off.
"Yuna!" Tidus hollered, but the summoner had landed safely, rolling, and was on her feet again and dashing after Miralesca. The priestess had fled into the palace.
"Dammit," Tidus snapped, charging toward the edge of the deck, but Auron caught him by the shoulder and yanked him back.
"Yuna will be fine," the man said firmly. "We will distract the priests from following her, and you will help the Al Bhed. That's where you're needed."
Tidus looked as though he were about to bite back, then he took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll help the Al Bhed."
"Make it snappy, kids," Cid added on the speakers. "Don't want that palace falling on top of you."
"Oui raynt res," Brother yelled at his crew. "Suja uid!" He paused to look at Rikku for a moment, then grinned. "Gelg ycc."
Rikku grinned back. "Oui duu!"
* * *
Yuna landed hard on her right ankle on the balcony, but when she stood she found she could gingerly put weight on it without too much pain. Her eyes met Miralesca's, and for a moment she and the priestess simply gazed at each other. The Miralesca turned and darted away, back into the palace.
Yuna sprinted after her as fast as she could on her strained ankle, wondering why none of the warrior monks attempted to stop her, but it seemed they were preoccupied. A group of them had formed a line and were firing their rifles at the circling airship, but the bullets simply ricocheted off the hard metal hull.
She darted into the palace, leaving her friends behind outside, whispering a quick prayer to the Fayth for their safety. The palace shook as the ruined tower above it swayed and groaned, cracks forming in the walls, ceilings, and floors. Dust trickled down from the cracks in the ceiling. Pyreflies wandered aimlessly through the air.
I hope I know what I'm doing, Yuna thought grimly as she halted on a walkway to look for Miralesca.
The priestess was on the floor below her, pacing anxiously back and forth. "Miralesca!" Yuna called.
The woman's dark eyes snapped up to her. "What do you think you're doing?" Miralesca demanded. "Get out of here before this entire palace collapses on top of us!"
"What about you?"
"I'm staying." Miralesca's eyes glittered. "Don't you dare follow."
She turned and ran off again. Yuna went to the stairs at the end of the walkway and leapt down two at a time. She sprinted out across the marble floor and down the corridor in which Miralesca had disappeared.
The corridor opened onto another walkway in the middle of an enormous room filled with walkways above and below them. The room was so high that Yuna couldn't see the floor. At the center of the walkway stood Miralesca beside a control panel.
"I told you not to follow me," the priestess said, her quiet voice echoing through the enormous room. "Leave or you'll die."
"I won't leave unless you come with me," Yuna said evenly. "Cid will take you on the airship if I ask him. I know you care about Spira. Let's work together to better it."
Miralesca shook her head. "It's too late."
"No it isn't! If I had believed that five years ago, Sin would still be here!"
Miralesca smiled. "But it isn't. Don't you see? This is a new world without Yevon. I have no place here."
"Miralesca–"
"I warned you," the priestess interrupted. Her fingers flew over the control panel at her side. Yuna heard the hum of a machina from far below them.
"You're going to leave," Miralesca said coolly as a platform rose beside the walkway, carrying an enormous machina monster with hard metal skin and long arms that appeared to pack quite a punch. "I'm going to stay. Goodbye, Grand Summoner."
"Wait!" Yuna cried as Miralesca turned, but the machina stepped out onto the walkway between her and the priestess, his enormous girth effectively blocking Yuna's path. The machina began to advance, swinging his long arms threateningly.
Yuna backed up, well aware that her handguns would do nothing against the machina's hard metal skin. Then suddenly a swarm of pyreflies appeared out of nowhere, converging between her and the machina. More pyreflies entered the swarm and began to take on an enormous, familiar shape.
"Bahamut?" Yuna gasped in shock as the aeon appeared before her.
Bahamut snarled, advancing on the machina. Clumsily the machina swung at him; Bahamut caught its metal fist in its own paw, digging its deadly talons into the metal. It shoved the machina back, then flared its wings and with one might swing of its claw knocked the machina off the walkway. A enormous crash from somewhere far below indicated the metal monster's end.
The aeon turned to face Yuna, eyes glinting coldly in its dragon-like face. Instinctively she backed away, but Bahamut had already begun to dissolve back into pyreflies. The pyreflies converged once more to form a much smaller shape–Bahamut's Fayth.
"The Fayth have come to fight with you, Summoner Yuna." His voice was that of a little boy's, yet containing the wisdom of ages. "You once undertook great personal sacrifice to enable us to end our dreaming. In gratitude, we will fight at your side one last time."
"I must find Miralesca," Yuna said determinedly.
The Fayth nodded as he dissolved into Moonflow. "The Fayth are with you."
* * *
To be continued.
* * *
Translations
Pylg du dra crub – Back to the shop
Kad du fung – Get to work
Oui raynt res – You heard him
Suja uid – Move out
Gelg ycc – Kick ass
Oui duu – You too