Author's Note: I decided to keep going even though the last chapter was sorely lacking in reviews (*grumbles* Stupid people.. just because it's not a pairing..) for the simple reason that.. well.. >> They're too fun to write. Sure, inside jokes are only really all that entertaining for those who know what they mean, but I'm sure most can see the humour of the situation, regardless. Okay. Sorry about that. As per usual, I own nothing, Squaresoft owns everything from Rikku's hyperness to the noble cactuar. Lili-oo.

As she trudged down the slope and caught sight of the sparkling wood, one word caught in the mind of the juvenile delinquent: Shiny. The generous sunlight flooded the scant beginnings of dense foliage, catching on the multitude of orbs and spheres that made Macalania famous. The rainbow prisms were blinding as the light refracted and cast strange shadows over her features, and she could almost perceive that they were emitting their own music. Real music from the spheres, she marvelled. Well, it was more like a ting! sort of noise, but it was still music. Huge variations of the "trees" she had known lazily dipped and forked, the branches grown into crow's feet formations. And all was blue, and shiny. Oh so very shiny.

The equally spherically but perhaps not so whimsical save sphere hovered in front of her, before the hard ground of the Calm Lands became crystal granite, and the only sound now was a soft breeze that played in amongst the scintillating trees. She hesitated, looking hard at Macalania. A crazy, ridiculous plan blossomed in her head. She did have some odd souvenirs in her pocket. Her mobile, for example. A couple of coins, her pen, and one of her favourite runes, Perb. What she really needed now was some training. And a weapon. Why would she want to go see the others, anyway? Other than the fact that the airship could take her to Bikanel to see the cactuars, she had no use of the guardians or Yuna.

Maybe I should check to see if the option's available, should the need arise. That would be the.. smart thing to do. Yes, Aku. Take some caution, and see whether the save sphere summons the airship. Quivering, she placed her hand upon the smooth rotating surface. It glowed, and projected text in front of her eyes:

|> Save
Board airship
Cancel

There, then. Now, how to select.. she tapped experimentally on the "Cancel". The projection faded, leaving her vision of the cliff and wood unimpaired once more. A grin began to spread mischievously over her mouth, and she snickered. I should write a book when this is done. How to fashion your own Ultimate Weapon, I'll call it. That is, if it.. you know.. works. The problem was, of course, that if she wasn't listed, and neither were the items she carried, how would she make her weapon? And besides that, would it give her strength? No, but if I have a pointy thing, I can stab at fiends and hopefully have a better chance of making it to Bikanel, however I go. Plus, there won't be any ambushes on the way to the.. big sparkly shiny thing. Yeah. That's it. I'm going. Her sneakers bit into the gravel with a pleasing crunch noise, and the scenery was rather easy on the eye.

She wound her way inside, giggling as the music suddenly changed. The interior of Macalania was even more intense that its overall appearance, and the sparkling would have been almost blinding but for the calming turquoise and sapphire tones that saturated the plants. She came to the first fork with a halt and paused, tilting her head. It was straight ahead, wasn't it? Of course. Still she pushed on, stopping every once in a while to admire the more magnificent globes or the bird song that punctuated the wood's soundtrack. A second fork. Shit. Hadn't someone once been blocking the way here?

There was that chocobo in the Calm Lands that lead you to Bevelle, and it came through the woods. Therefore, one of these paths lead to Bevelle, the place most had fled from.. because.. of.. here her memory escaped her. Tsk, tsk. It's been too long since you last played. Something to do with Maester Mika. And Seymour. Oh, well. She was pretty sure that she had to take a detour now. Right. She'd follow the right path. Crunch, crunch, sparkle, etc.

Damnit. She scratched her head, because it was the sort of thing you were supposed to do at moments like these. Another clearing and a fork, one that was suspiciously like the first. Okay, so, she'd had some sort of.. thing.. that up was still the way to go, not right again or down. It lead her to another clearing, where the gargantuan trunks of trees were littered with crystals, and the sun rays that streamed in glinted like a heavenly body. Her eyes widened. There were PEOPLE here. Two Guado, if she could tell by the skin colour, although it was mottled in here. Both were of the female persuasion, and one was older.

And, uh, both happened to be staring at the girl, who was garbed in possibly the strangest attire they had ever seen. "Uh.. hello. Excuse me if I intruded, or anything, but, you see.. I'm lost. Can you.. can you tell me the way into deeper Macalania? You know.. towards the snow fields?" She frowned. Snow fields. That was the direction she wanted to go, yes. After a moment's silence, they nodded. "Out here, turn left, and left again," the younger one said, raising an eyebrow at Aku. "Oh, er, thanks. Very much." Her eyes shifted from side to side as she pondered whether the move she was about to attempt was acceptable. The Guado worshipped Yevon, did they not? And.. there possibly wasn't a problem with this at the time.. And I really wanna try this out, she whined internally.

Grinning sheepishly, she walked forward a step on her right leg and bent down, raising her arms in a wide arc and finishing with her hands hovering over each other, bowing neatly. The Guado were too surprised to say anything at this display, so she dashed off before they could comment, cackling wildly. "Praise be to Yevon!" she yelled over her shoulder, and as an afterthought, "And Og, of course." Dun dun DUN. She'd always wanted to do that properly. Aku followed their instructions and soon found herself in greater Macalania, the tell tale music affirming this. The path amongst the trees wound scarily, and when she looked down it was difficult to quell her vertigo.

I really am here, she thought, blinking. Time to make the most of it. She dashed ahead, and two great sources of light greeted her. The one was a giant sphere up on a solid path, of the same variety as the one she was on now. The second one was the one she was after, really. It appeared to be made entirely of mist and glittering sparkles, ascending high into the tree tops. There were no rails, she noticed nervously. What would happen if she fell? Onwards and upwards! Think buoyant thoughts. She paced over to it to inspect it further, and anxiously placed on foot onto it. Solid. Time to start climbing..

One more pleading to REVIEW, YOU SWINE: You would all be infidels not worthy of the light that FFX has added to your lives unless you review. >> Uh.. presuming you read that drivel, that is. PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU. :}? REVIEW.