Chapter Nineteen: The Love Affair…With Disaster
Amanda's Ramble:
Amanda: Sorry it's taken so long, guys, I've been uber busy with work and stuff, not to mention a hellacious case of writer's block.
Auron: *cough*slackass*cough*
Amanda: Shush you. On to the lovely reviewers.
Auron's Biggest Fan: Hmm. You're an odd one, did you know that. :D Anyway, as for Ophelia getting pregnant….I don't know. You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?
Era Yachi: Sorry, but Ophelia owns Ophelia's booty. One day I'll make a graphic and post it on one of my sites. And I don't keep him in a cage, I keep him in my closet. *evil grin*
Evrae Altana: Hmm…I'm working on the length thing. -_-*
kujas girl: After translating your internet "slang" in the review, I was very flattered. Thank you. But next time, skip the kewl shortcuts, okay? I'm not an elite.
TheBlackRaveness: Aww, thankies so much! I hope you didn't waste too much time on this meaningless piece of trash, however. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes nakkie aurie.
Okies, here's the deal. Someone's building a fanlisting for this story! Talk about flattery, ne? When it's finished I'll post the url so everyone can go join! Okay, on to…..stuff.
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They must have looked like a mob coming over the hill, Ophelia reflected. After all, after Auron's "bad feeling" they had opted for their traveling clothes, not to mention weapons and packs were very visible. She sighed and moved to the head of the group, determined not to let her role as a summoner weigh her down during the festival.
They moved through the throngs of people milling about every area of the public park, earning odd glances from people on all sides. Ophelia only smiled wider and kept moving, determined to see and do everything.
Finally, they reached the main attraction, the arts and crafts show. This was Ophelia's favorite part, and most of the time she was one of the people displaying her wares for sale. Not this year, however. She moved from booth to booth, both Auron and Kimahri close around her, guarding her from anything that looked suspicious. It was starting to get annoying, actually. After all, what could possibly happen here? It wasn't like there were any fiends in her world.
She moved on, finally losing the others in a large crowd of people and making her way to the food area. The smell of funnel cake was just too much to resist. She quickly bought one and managed to find a somewhat people-free area to sit and eat it, not looking up until a scream came from nearby, followed by lots of nervous laughter. She gathered up her plate, cup, and staff and made her way in the direction of the scream, eyes narrowed. She pushed through the crush of people, catching comments like, "Is this for real?" and "This must be part of this year's show." She felt a prickle at the base of her neck and pushed her way faster through people, nearly knocking some of them down.
She felt herself caught around the arm and resisted the urge to swing her staff at the touchy person in the crowd, whirling quickly on them, her eyes narrowed darkly. She was greeted by Marissa's heavily made-up face, who immediately gave Ophelia a once over.
"Figures. I knew you'd be part of the stage show. Someone said there was a perfect reconstruction of a Final Fantasy X fiend up there, one of the tough ones." Ophelia's eyes widened and she pulled free, finally breaking free of the crowd, coming face to face with a large behemoth. She swallowed heavily, looking around for the others, cursing as she realized that they hadn't located her yet. She glanced back up at the behemoth, who had finally noticed her, his beady eyes locked on her. She took a deep breath and turned partially away from it, directing her voice to the crowd.
"Get out of here!" She waved at them angrily. "Go! Do you all want to die? I can't kill the thing!" When no one moved, still watching in fascination as though this were a show, she let out an exasperated growl, swinging her staff at the first row. "Run, you damn idiots!"
"Get on with it!" someone called from the middle of the crowd, and then yelped as lightning struck close to where he was standing. Ophelia turned back to the behemoth, which still watched her intently, murder in his black eyes. She let out a deep breath and held her staff over her head, bringing it down in a slashing fashion, feeling the wind pick up around her. The people in the crowd felt it as well, and some backed away as she swung her staff in complicated circles over her head before holding it's pole level with her chest. The ground beneath her feet buckled and rolled, but she found she had no problem retaining her balance, and ignored the screams of the crowd as the ground caved in beneath her and she fell below the surface, only to reappear on Diablo's shoulder. He set her down gently and motioned for her to get back, which she did, feeling the crowd back away even further.
The behemoth roared in anger at the bigger Diablo, and the large demon-like summon only smirked and crossed his arms in defiance, raising a single claw as he cast Flare. The behemoth roared again in pain before rushing Diablo, slashing the Aeon's forearm with its huge claws. Diablo gave a grimace of pain but quickly straightened, slugging the behemoth a good one across the jaw. The fiend fell back and shook its head before rising again and charging Diablo again, this time its teeth finding the flesh of the Aeon's neck. Diablo gave a bellowing roar of rage and pain and shook the behemoth off before bracing his legs in the soft earth, his claws digging deeply, his arms raised above his head.
This must be his overdrive, Ophelia thought faintly, noticing the massive amount of blood pouring from her summon. She quickly cast a curing spell on the demon, relieved as the wounds began to seal once more before he brought his arms down, and both he and the behemoth were sucked into the ground. Ophelia gasped but stayed where she was, knowing that they could be back at any moment, and she didn't want to be caught in the middle of the battle. The ground was shaking and trembling with the force of whatever was happening and finally the behemoth dropped from the sky, hitting the earth hard. Diablo landed once more next to her, his flaming eye sockets brighter than every. Yet the behemoth still lived. Diablo began to rush it again, but a blur of black and red beat him to it, and there was a sickening squish and crunch before the behemoth gave a feeble death cry and disappeared into a flurry of pyreflies. Auron straightened and swung his blood-stained katana over his shoulder before moving to where Diablo panted from exertion, his huge shoulders shaking.
"You have protected her well. You deserve rest. Ophelia, dismiss him so that he may recooperate." Ophelia gawked a moment at her guardian before raising her staff once more and dismissing the summon, and he leapt into the air, far out of eyeshot. Ophelia felt a shaky sigh escape her, glad when Auron place a supporting arm around her waist. He might not have known it, but he was the only think keeping her standing.
"We go." He guided her through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea, wide-eyed faces turning to watch them go.
"That was real, dude!" Ophelia almost smiled. Yes, it was real…
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"I'll give you credit, Auron. I won't ever laugh at your 'bad feelings' ever again. Ophelia gazed into the campfire, actually glad to be back in Spira. It had become much more of a home to her than her other ever had been. Auron chuckled but said nothing, and she leaned against him, ignoring the wink she saw pass between Rikku and Tidus, and the knowing smile curving Yuna's lips.
"You know," she said finally, breaking the silence that had stretched on for nearly five minutes, "I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to be home."
Wakka frowned and stood, cracking his neck. "I'm taking first watch, ya?" He turned and moved out of the circle of firelight before anyone could protest, and Ophelia's expression turned thoughtful. Auron must have noticed, because he sighed and shifted against her, his free hand going for his jug.
"He's jealous, you know," he said softly, taking a quick swallow. "If looks could kill, and if I were alive…." He trailed off, a hint of amusement in his voice. Ophelia sat up straight and gave Auron a serious frown.
"I kinda feel bad for him. After all, it's not his fault."
"No, it's not. But then, he should know when advancements are proper and when one should just bow out and acknowledge being defeated." Auron's tone was smug, and Ophelia raised a brow in an eerily Braska-like fashion, or so it seemed to Auron.
"Mighty sure of yourself, I see," she said lightly, rising to her feet. "Well, Captain Confident, I'm going to bed." She turned and made her way through the dark to the bedroll she now exclusively shared with Auron and made quick work of getting undressed and lay down, pulling his jacket over her, her eyes shutting of their own accord. She giggled silently to herself when, after only a few moments, she felt Auron slide in next to her, an arm snaking around her waist. You could set a watch by him. She felt his lips brush her temple and settled back against him, letting herself drift off to sleep.
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They reached the trading post at midday, and Ophelia made it a point to spend her tiny amount of gil on some new armor. What she had just wasn't cutting it, but now, not only was it functionable, it was also very pretty. It was a bracelet of alternating blue and green beads with a chocobo feather hanging from a small strand of smaller, silver beads. It was also supposed to contain fire, ice, thunder, and water wards, and that certainly made her feel better. She glanced up from where she had been admiring the jewelry, noticing Auron haggling with the trading post owner, a pretty Al Bhed woman. She laughed heartily at the thought of him trying to get a sword better than his for half the price of the katana. He needed to talk to O'aka for that.
She wandered around the small enclosed area, stopping when she saw Tidus petting a chocobo, who vocally appreciated the thin blonde's attentions. She moved next to him and looked up at the tall, golden bird and then giggled. Tidus turned and gave her a confused look, obviously waiting for her to explain.
"You look like a human chocobo! They're blue-eyed blondes, too!" Tidus's face split in a grin as well, and he put a hand behind his head.
"Heh. Guess I do!" He patted the chocobo's beak one last time, and the bird squealed and nudged his back as he began to walk away. "Guess he likes me."
Yuna came over, clutching her new staff, her eyes wide with excitement as she gazed at the chocobo. "Sir Auron says we can rent a few for the journey across the Calm Lands." She reached up and scratched the chocobo's neck. "You haven't ridden one yet, have you?"
Ophelia shook her head. "No. I remember the time we tried to convince Papa to get us one. We tried to every dirty trick in the daughter's handbook." She smiled at the memory and caught sight of Yuna's shocked expression. "What?"
"You have your memory back?" Ophelia nodded and Yuna quickly embraced her. "Thank Yevon. I was worried it would never come back."
"It's been back a while now. There just hasn't been time to talk about it." She looked over and saw the others coming toward them, leading four chocobos.
"From now until we reach Mount Gagazet, we ride." Auron's voice one again carried the ring of authority, but Ophelia only rolled her eyes. "Mount up."
He grabbed Ophelia around the waist, and before she could react, she was sitting side-saddle on the giant bird, Auron behind her. He waited while the others climbed up, and Ophelia realized she felt sorry for the poor animal carrying Rikku and Kimahri. Kimahri looked more nervous to be astride the bird than she knew she herself did, and had to surpress a giggle. Once everyone was mounted, Auron spurred the bird behind the wings, and Ophelia realized something very important. Chocobo rides were extremely bumpy.
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They stood at the cavern's interest as Ophelia consulted the strategy guide she had had the foresight to stuff in Auron's pack before they had left her world, her brow furrowed.
"Okay, this is the cavern of the stolen fayth. Now, all we have to do is get in there and pray to the thing. Actually, I hope you guys brought your life savings, 'cause we have to pay this one."
"What?!?' Tidus looked downright offended and Ophelia laughed.
"Sorry, but this guy has to be paid for his services, even when he's agreed to become a summon."
"What a rip-off," Tidus muttered as they entered the dark and gloomy interior of the cavern.
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Amanda: There ya go!
Auron: Captain Confident????
Amanda: Um hmm. Chapter 20 coming soon!