Notes: Thanks to the people who commented on Chapter 2...it restored my faith in my ability to write a FFX fanfic. And so, Chapter 3 is dedicated to you three...because if I didn't get those nice comments, I probably would've just scrapped the whole thing. Who says feedback doesn't matter? I love it ^_^
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Chapter 3 - Diversions
Rikku had avoided Auron as much as she could during the past few weeks. Seymour was finally out of the picture and now, it was down to Sin. Lulu had somehow come across information regarding "Celestial Weapons" that could be obtained for each member and that was now the main focus of the group. Sin wasn't going anywhere, and it seemed to be backing off for the time being, so Yuna decided that the party should concentrate on powering up for the inevitable. That was easy for her to say, she had the Nirvana already powered up as her Moon Crest and Sigil were simple to find. She lay back in the soft grass of the Calm Lands and watched as Tidus sped past on a chocobo, clumsily dodging birds while trying to gather balloons. He smacked into bird after bird, eliciting a pitiful cry from his mount with each strike. The Al Bhed couldn't help but laugh, but she felt a little guilty finding pleasure in the suffering of the innocent animal. Tidus approached the group with his head hung low, "9 seconds...my best time is 9 seconds! How the hell am I supposed to beat 0? That other trainer is crazy!" Yuna giggled as Wakka put a friendly arm around the blonde's shoulders, "Ey, just keep working at it and you'll get better, ya? At least you don't need to play game after game of Blitzball to get your Sigil. The rest of the Aurochs are ready to kill me for all the games I've been making them play. I haven't even won my third limit break yet...how am I ever gonna get my Sigil, huh?" Lulu cast a stern glance at both of them, "You two have nothing to complain about. Try dodging 200 lightning bolts in the Thunder Plains. Now THAT is a true test of patience." "Yeah, and who's doing all the dodging? Not you!" Tidus muttered, running a hand through his hair, which wouldn't settle down into place since their last attempt at the Venus Sigil.
"We've worked at Tidus' Sigil long enough now...we're heading to Macalania Woods. We're low on Speed spheres and Kihmari needs to finish catching his butterflies." Auron commanded, standing and securing his Masamune to his back. The others stood silently and followed to the save sphere where they boarded the airship. Rikku ran up the deck and hugged her father as she did every time they returned. This practice wasn't merely routine; she had no clue when would be the last time she might see him ever again. She walked over to Brother and gave him the plans to Macalania Woods and a grateful pat on the back. The ship flew silently through the air, making the journey from the Calm Lands to Macalania Woods in the blink of an eye. She waved goodbye to her family as the save sphere brought her back down to the middle of the shining forest. Kihmari had already wandered off to pursue the blue butterflies and Tidus and Yuna were missing as well. Rikku smirked, she knew this was their special place...it held a lot of meaning for the unofficial couple. She was left to make camp with Lulu, Wakka, and Auron, who had already picked out the location. The glittering soil crunched beneath her feet as she made her way over to the other three. After assisting Lulu in pitching the women's tent, Rikku ran off to gather firewood for the night. Wakka watched the small girl run off and cast a worried glance into the darkened path she took. "Eh, Sir Auron...you think she should be going off alone like that?" Auron raised an eyebrow at the Besaid guardian, "Are you suggesting that I baby-sit?" Wakka gave a nervous laugh, "Na...its just...ah never mind..." He turned away in defeat, still feeling a little uneasy about letting Rikku wander off alone. After watching the young Al Bhed see her Home fall to ruins, he had a soft spot for the girl and tried to protect her like an older brother.
Unfortunately for Auron, the worries Wakka expressed had planted themselves in his brain and wouldn't leave his mind at peace. Finally, after much inner debate, he stood and followed the path Rikku had taken moments earlier. The path wound itself through the darker and more perilous areas of the forest, a simple area to navigate for a lithe girl like Rikku, but rather difficult for the taller and stouter Auron. At some points, the path was illuminated with faint streams of light, offshoots of the moonflow. The ethereal liquid vapor swirled from invisible cracks in the ground and reached towards the sky, only to be severed by the treetops. As he passed near each stream, he felt the inevitable pull of the Farplane. Millions of voices called from within, telling him to join them in the afterlife and give up his worthless travels. Worthless? He had a duty to Braska, to protect his former summoner's only daughter as she followed in his grim footsteps. After passing a few streams of Moonflow, he ignored the voices coming from within until one in particular caught his ear. The voice sounded strangely like Wakka's and he paused to listen more closely.
"...lu....Lulu..." the voice muttered, the accent obviously from Besaid. Auron's hand reached out into the vapor as if to try to connect with the voice on another level. Suddenly, the Moonflow swirled around his hand and surrounded his body in a faint blue glow. "No!" Auron growled, as he pulled back, thinking it was trying to force him into the Farplane. Suddenly, the voice came to him again, clearer, as if it were in his head. "You know Lulu...you are with her, ya?" the voice questioned. "Yes, what do you want with her?" he replied silently in his mind. "I need to see her again, be with her one last time. You'll help me with that, ya?" Auron felt the control of his body going slack and he fell to his knees, "How am I supposed to help you?" He sank to the ground in a heap as the voice continued, "I dunno how you did it, but you managed to keep a very physical body even after death. So, I'm going to borrow it for a while, ya? Don't worry, I won't hurt it none." Those words echoed in Auron's head as he felt his consciousness being pushed away from his body. Suddenly, he felt as if he had taken a back seat in his own body, he could see, hear, and feel everything happening to it, but had no control over what it said or did. His only communication was to the entity that had taken possession of his form.
After a few minutes to get accustomed to the new shell it inhabited, the spirit stood the guardian's body up, "Now, tell me where Lulu is." Auron's spirit made no comment to the intruder and kept silent as it tried to figure out a way to rid his body of the possessor. Suddenly, Rikku came wandering back along the path, her back burdened with various chunks of wood. "Ah, Auron!" she chirped, loosening the pile from her shoulders, "Good, you can help me with this." The guardian's body looked down at the pile of wood and picked it up without a word. Rikku found this normal as the man rarely spoke anyway and continued along the path. "Touch her and you die..." Auron's spirit growled to the Besaid spirit. The other voice laughed, "Don't worry, ya? She's not the one I'm interested in touching..."
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Can you tell where I am with the Celestial Weapons? Yeah, damn those three...I actually have Kihmari's finished, but he was the 4th hardest, so I tossed his Sigil in there to get them to Macalania Woods. Plot device, I know.
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Chapter 3 - Diversions
Rikku had avoided Auron as much as she could during the past few weeks. Seymour was finally out of the picture and now, it was down to Sin. Lulu had somehow come across information regarding "Celestial Weapons" that could be obtained for each member and that was now the main focus of the group. Sin wasn't going anywhere, and it seemed to be backing off for the time being, so Yuna decided that the party should concentrate on powering up for the inevitable. That was easy for her to say, she had the Nirvana already powered up as her Moon Crest and Sigil were simple to find. She lay back in the soft grass of the Calm Lands and watched as Tidus sped past on a chocobo, clumsily dodging birds while trying to gather balloons. He smacked into bird after bird, eliciting a pitiful cry from his mount with each strike. The Al Bhed couldn't help but laugh, but she felt a little guilty finding pleasure in the suffering of the innocent animal. Tidus approached the group with his head hung low, "9 seconds...my best time is 9 seconds! How the hell am I supposed to beat 0? That other trainer is crazy!" Yuna giggled as Wakka put a friendly arm around the blonde's shoulders, "Ey, just keep working at it and you'll get better, ya? At least you don't need to play game after game of Blitzball to get your Sigil. The rest of the Aurochs are ready to kill me for all the games I've been making them play. I haven't even won my third limit break yet...how am I ever gonna get my Sigil, huh?" Lulu cast a stern glance at both of them, "You two have nothing to complain about. Try dodging 200 lightning bolts in the Thunder Plains. Now THAT is a true test of patience." "Yeah, and who's doing all the dodging? Not you!" Tidus muttered, running a hand through his hair, which wouldn't settle down into place since their last attempt at the Venus Sigil.
"We've worked at Tidus' Sigil long enough now...we're heading to Macalania Woods. We're low on Speed spheres and Kihmari needs to finish catching his butterflies." Auron commanded, standing and securing his Masamune to his back. The others stood silently and followed to the save sphere where they boarded the airship. Rikku ran up the deck and hugged her father as she did every time they returned. This practice wasn't merely routine; she had no clue when would be the last time she might see him ever again. She walked over to Brother and gave him the plans to Macalania Woods and a grateful pat on the back. The ship flew silently through the air, making the journey from the Calm Lands to Macalania Woods in the blink of an eye. She waved goodbye to her family as the save sphere brought her back down to the middle of the shining forest. Kihmari had already wandered off to pursue the blue butterflies and Tidus and Yuna were missing as well. Rikku smirked, she knew this was their special place...it held a lot of meaning for the unofficial couple. She was left to make camp with Lulu, Wakka, and Auron, who had already picked out the location. The glittering soil crunched beneath her feet as she made her way over to the other three. After assisting Lulu in pitching the women's tent, Rikku ran off to gather firewood for the night. Wakka watched the small girl run off and cast a worried glance into the darkened path she took. "Eh, Sir Auron...you think she should be going off alone like that?" Auron raised an eyebrow at the Besaid guardian, "Are you suggesting that I baby-sit?" Wakka gave a nervous laugh, "Na...its just...ah never mind..." He turned away in defeat, still feeling a little uneasy about letting Rikku wander off alone. After watching the young Al Bhed see her Home fall to ruins, he had a soft spot for the girl and tried to protect her like an older brother.
Unfortunately for Auron, the worries Wakka expressed had planted themselves in his brain and wouldn't leave his mind at peace. Finally, after much inner debate, he stood and followed the path Rikku had taken moments earlier. The path wound itself through the darker and more perilous areas of the forest, a simple area to navigate for a lithe girl like Rikku, but rather difficult for the taller and stouter Auron. At some points, the path was illuminated with faint streams of light, offshoots of the moonflow. The ethereal liquid vapor swirled from invisible cracks in the ground and reached towards the sky, only to be severed by the treetops. As he passed near each stream, he felt the inevitable pull of the Farplane. Millions of voices called from within, telling him to join them in the afterlife and give up his worthless travels. Worthless? He had a duty to Braska, to protect his former summoner's only daughter as she followed in his grim footsteps. After passing a few streams of Moonflow, he ignored the voices coming from within until one in particular caught his ear. The voice sounded strangely like Wakka's and he paused to listen more closely.
"...lu....Lulu..." the voice muttered, the accent obviously from Besaid. Auron's hand reached out into the vapor as if to try to connect with the voice on another level. Suddenly, the Moonflow swirled around his hand and surrounded his body in a faint blue glow. "No!" Auron growled, as he pulled back, thinking it was trying to force him into the Farplane. Suddenly, the voice came to him again, clearer, as if it were in his head. "You know Lulu...you are with her, ya?" the voice questioned. "Yes, what do you want with her?" he replied silently in his mind. "I need to see her again, be with her one last time. You'll help me with that, ya?" Auron felt the control of his body going slack and he fell to his knees, "How am I supposed to help you?" He sank to the ground in a heap as the voice continued, "I dunno how you did it, but you managed to keep a very physical body even after death. So, I'm going to borrow it for a while, ya? Don't worry, I won't hurt it none." Those words echoed in Auron's head as he felt his consciousness being pushed away from his body. Suddenly, he felt as if he had taken a back seat in his own body, he could see, hear, and feel everything happening to it, but had no control over what it said or did. His only communication was to the entity that had taken possession of his form.
After a few minutes to get accustomed to the new shell it inhabited, the spirit stood the guardian's body up, "Now, tell me where Lulu is." Auron's spirit made no comment to the intruder and kept silent as it tried to figure out a way to rid his body of the possessor. Suddenly, Rikku came wandering back along the path, her back burdened with various chunks of wood. "Ah, Auron!" she chirped, loosening the pile from her shoulders, "Good, you can help me with this." The guardian's body looked down at the pile of wood and picked it up without a word. Rikku found this normal as the man rarely spoke anyway and continued along the path. "Touch her and you die..." Auron's spirit growled to the Besaid spirit. The other voice laughed, "Don't worry, ya? She's not the one I'm interested in touching..."
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Can you tell where I am with the Celestial Weapons? Yeah, damn those three...I actually have Kihmari's finished, but he was the 4th hardest, so I tossed his Sigil in there to get them to Macalania Woods. Plot device, I know.