The saga continues at last…


Final Fantasy X: Apocalypse

Chapter 6: Old Rivals

Lulu fingered her newly restyled hair, thoroughly disgruntled. With Rikku's supposedly kind assistance, she'd managed to pull her hair—all of her hair—into a single long braid that stretched all the way down to her waist. She did not like this arrangement. Yes, it was nice to have it all out of her eyes, but that braid was heavy. It hurt. And her famous dreadlocks had been straightened out. She missed them. She missed her hair sticks. All she had now was a few elastic bands and more small metal clips than she could count. And a headache.

She'd been forced to change her clothes, too, on the premise that her belt-o'-skirts was just too distinctive. She now sported a loose-fitting dress of a style popular in Bevelle, and she had to admit, it was far more comfortable than what she usually wore. Plus, people no longer stared at her chest when she walked by. That was definitely good. She decided she could live with her new attire, at least for a while.

Wakka wasn't so pleased with his change of dress. He looked endearingly out of place in his trousers, tunic, and jacket, and he seemed to be having trouble walking in the heavy boots he was wearing. He kept reaching up to pat his hair, which had been flattened out and tamed into a less flamboyant style. He straightened out his jacket, clearly flustered.

"I don't think I like my disguise, Lu."

She tried unsuccessfully to hide her smirk. "We only have to wear them while we're in Bevelle."

"Which won't be long, thank Yevon or whoever…" He eyed her dress. "Hey, where'd you put the phone?"

"In my pocket," she replied innocently.

"Okay," he replied doubtfully, not realizing that the pocket in question was hidden between the two layers of the dress. "Well, let's get goin', ya?"

This time she made no attempt to hide the smirk. "You first."

Wakka rolled up his sleeves and took the lead, gamely striding up the path toward Bevelle. It wasn't long before they were stopped by a guard.

"Halt!" the man ordered, brandishing his rifle. "This road is closed. No traffic into or out of Bevelle."

Lulu peered at Wakka, her eyebrow raised. Flashing the guard a winning smile, he stepped forward and launched into a most convincing story about how he and his wife had gone away on travel shortly after the "incident" involving Lady Yuna's party and now simply needed to return home. He even produced a very authentic-looking proof of residence, which had been expertly forged by Rikku and Brother--not that the guard needed to know that last bit. Miraculously, the man was satisfied, and he let them pass.

"I'm good, ya?" Wakka boasted as soon as they were out of earshot. Lulu rolled her eyes and shook her head a couple of times, but to be honest, she was rather impressed. Wakka's gift of gab was extremely handy at times.

"You've managed to impress me," she said at last. "Now we need to go to the temple."

"You think they'll let us in there?"

Lulu shrugged. "They aren't allowing anyone from outside the city to enter the temple…but they think we're residents. They'll let us in. Now, shall we?"

She marched on down the road, Wakka following closely behind her. They walked into Bevelle proper as casually as they could, blending neatly into the flow of traffic on the streets. With a calm she didn't quite feel, Lulu led the way to the temple, which, surprisingly enough, was unguarded. The two of them glanced at each other, took deep breaths, and entered the temple.

Except for a handful of people praying before previous summoners' statues, the place seemed to be deserted. There was only one monk in the room, and he was standing before the entrance to the Cloister of Trials. The temple itself seemed much darker than it had been on her previous visits. Lulu shivered slightly, wondering whether it was the temple itself that gave her such a creepy feeling, or merely the fact that their visits tended to come under such undesirable circumstances.

While she pondered the atmosphere of the temple, Wakka meandered off to peek into the little rooms on either side of the doorway to the Cloister. When he came back, he looked slightly guilty, and his pockets seemed a bit fuller than before. Lulu raised her eyebrows.

"Stealing from the temple? Wakka, I'm shocked."

"There was a treasure chest with some potions in it. It wasn't locked, so I thought, sorry, brudda, but we probably need these more than—"

He stopped in mid-sentence as the temple doors swooshed open. Lulu watched with thinly veiled hostility as a man in long robes walked in, her eyes boring into his back as he turned to push the heavy doors shut. She toyed with the idea of readying an Ultima spell, just in case he recognized them and tried to call in the warrior monks. Then the man turned to face her, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Isaaru?"

**************************************************

Dona rose and walked carefully out of the Chamber of the Fayth, swaying slightly. Six hours, she thought. Six hours proving myself to him…well, he is the King of Dragons. It's only natural for him to be picky.

She chuckled softly to herself and nearly fell over. Barthello caught her, his grip surprisingly gentle for a man of his size. She'd always rather liked him, in a purely platonic way, of course. He was endearing. Oafish and of slightly substandard intelligence, but cute nonetheless.

"Are you okay, La—uh, Dona?"

"I'm perfectly fine," she lied, regaining her balance and pushing her hair out of her face. It wasn't exactly a lie, she told herself. A glass of water, something to eat, and she'd surely be as good as new.

She walked casually out of the Cloister, unable to hide a small smile as the moving platform took her and her guardian straight to the exit. If only it was that easy to get through the trials…She pushed the door open and blinked.

"Well, hello, Isaaru. I've been looking for you."

"Truly? I seem to be quite popular these days." Isaaru indicated the two people standing next to him. "I'm sure you remember Lulu and Wakka?"

Dona's perfectly shaped eyebrows rose as she studied Isaaru's companions. Their disguises were clever enough, but Wakka's flaming red hair and Lulu's crimson eyes would be next to impossible to hide. She inclined her head, seeing no point in performing the prayer, as none of them followed Yevon's teachings any longer.

"This is a surprise," she commented. "How did you ever get in? The roads are blocked."

Wakka grinned and produced the false papers he had shown the guard. "We've still got a few tricks up our sleeves, ya? Besides, those guards, they ain't the sharpest weapons in the—ow!"

Lulu had elbowed him sharply in the ribs. Glancing sideways at him, she said, "As he was saying, we forged identity documents and simply walked into the city."

"How do you intend to get out?" Isaaru asked. "Even citizens cannot simply leave."

"We'll find a way when the time comes," Lulu replied.

"Of course you will. Anyone who can escape the Via Purifico shouldn't have any trouble sneaking out of a mere city." With a hint of a smile, he added, "Or those who swore to take down Sin forever. Could you tell me what happened?"

Lulu inclined her head. "Of course, but can we go someplace less…public?"

"Of course. Come, we'll go to my private rooms."

The four of them followed Isaaru into a section of the temple none of them had seen before. Wakka whistled when he saw the lush interior of the summoner's quarters.

"Wow…they make you a maester or somethin', brudda?"

Isaaru laughed softly. "No, nothing of the sort. When I agreed to serve as Bevelle's guardian, the maesters felt that I should be given accomodations 'equal to my status.'" He motioned toward the chairs that were arranged haphazardly around the room, and his four guests piled into them. "Now, will you share your story with us?"

************************************************

It took almost two hours for Lulu and Wakka to tell their story, mainly because Dona and Isaaru couldn't seem to resist the urge to interrupt and ask questions. Well, who could blame them? It was a fairly unbelievable story.

After a long silence, Dona finally asked, "But how did you get out of Sin? Are you…unsent?"

"No," Wakka replied, "I think Yuna used some kind of spell to get us out. I'm not sure what it was. We just sort of appeared on the airship."

"A teleport spell," Isaaru said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"A what?"

"Teleport. It's an ancient magic which, when invoked, can move a person from one place to another instantaneously. However, it would take an extremely powerful white mage to cast that particular spell on a whole group of people."

"Perhaps Seymour did it?" Dona suggested.

Lulu shook her head. "No, he would have let the Final Aeon kill us all so we couldn't come back and kill him. Besides, the issue is not why we're still alive. The issue is, how are we going to defeat Sin when it comes back?"

"I'll help you, of course," Dona replied immediately, drawing surprised looks from everybody else. "Now, don't look so shocked. I'm continuing my pilgrimage anyway. I'll help you destroy this Yu Yevon…thing."

"As will I," Isaaru agreed. "That is, if you don't mind guarding two Summoners…?"

Lulu's eyebrows were creeping steadily toward her hairline. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised. Perhaps because Dona had tried to cause trouble by having Barthello push Tidus into the Cloister of Trials…or because Isaaru had once tried to kill them all, under orders from the temple…but why look a gift chocobo in the mouth? She glanced over at Wakka, who looked positively ecstatic.

"All right!" the blitzer cheered, grinning goofily. "So all we have to do is go back down toward Besaid so they can get the rest of their aeons, ya?"

"Not quite. We still need to find out what's been going on here." Lulu gazed pointedly at Dona and Isaaru. "Perhaps you two can answer some of our questions."

Dona cocked her head slightly. "I know very little, I'm afraid. I only returned to the temple to acquire the aeon Bahamut. All I know is that the maesters are gone and the priests all seem to have disappeared."

"They haven't disappeared," Isaaru countered. "They're below."

"Below what?" Dona asked impatiently. She had very little patience for riddles.

"There's an enormous maze beneath the temple," Isaaru explained. "That, I believe, is where everybody has gathered--not just the priests of Bevelle, but priests from several other temples as well."

Dona frowned. "Why?"

"I suppose they're trying to figure out how to rebuild the Yevon religion. They've got their work cut out for them, I'd say. Without the Final Aeon, there is no reason for the pilgrimages." Isaaru looked at Lulu and Wakka, and a wry smile flickered across his features. "You'd do well to avoid them, I think."

"No kiddin'," Wakka commented. "But where are we gonna hide?"

"Right here," Dona said, catching on to Isaaru's idea. "In plain sight. After all, no one would dare snoop around in a Summoner's private residence."

Isaaru nodded in her direction. "Precisely. Lulu, Wakka--I don't know how long you plan to stay, but I assure you, you'll be safe."

The two guardians nodded their thanks. For the first time, Dona noticed how tired they looked, as if they'd aged several years in the space of just a few months. Isaaru must have noticed the same thing, because he rose and offered to show them all to their sleeping quarters, herself and Barthello included. She waited until Lulu and Wakka were settled in; then she turned to her fellow Summoner.

"You do realize, of course, that this is a colossally foolish and potentially life-threatening thing to do."

"The thought has crossed my mind, yes." Isaaru raised his eyebrows. "Surely you're not having second thoughts already?"

"Of course not!"

Again, that tiny smile danced across his face, and Dona felt her cheeks flush. Embarrassed, but not wanting to show it. She turned away quickly and scuttled into her room, nearly tripping over her feet in her haste. She could hear Isaaru's soft laughter as she zoomed into the changing room. Here he was, flirting with her, and she was blushing and tripping over herself like a child with a crush on her teacher. And the worst part was, they had to go all the way to Besaid together.

This was going to be a long and bizarre journey.


GAH! Three weeks! I hate writer's block. I also hate when FF.net goes down. -_-;

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers:

Refugee

Rin

Vincent Kinneas

Noacat

RocketGurl

FF Fanatic

Mugen

SoccerChick88 (lovely flowers, btw ^_~)

The Angel of the Lion

Sephira