The Darkest Aeon

By Ninth Lady

A/N: YEAH! Chapter four, just for all of you out there! Glad that everyone loved the previous additions of "The Darkest Aeon." Keep reviewing people and I'll keep writing. Well, actually, I'll keep writing anyways.hehe. Still, reviews and feedback keep me posted on your thoughts, opinions, etc. Anyways, enough blah and on with the story!! ^__~

Chapter Four: Controversies and Passions
Auron's POV

I looked out on the water as we sailed nearer to Luca. I breathed in the sea air and looked up at the full moon. The light from the moon illuminated everything around me. Frowning, I thought back to my conversation with Lulu.

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"Auron?" I blinked and came back from my trip to Dream Land. "May I ask you something?" I nodded and patted the bed beside me. "Braska has something holding him back, doesn't he?" I blinked in surprise. Did she know.? "I'm not sure what it is, but I can feel that Braska has some reason for this pilgrimage. Not just trying to rid the world of Sin. Doesn't he?" I swallowed, it really wasn't my place to sat anything.

"Braska.he wants to make his life have meaning." I was surprised at how shaky my voice sounded. Lulu nodded for me to continue. "He's going to die.and not from defeating Sin."

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I sighed and shook my head. It was hard to tell how Lulu had taken the news. I suppose that she had suspected it, but then again, she could just be used to hearing such news. I guess her attitude in general could be considered anywhere from cold to stoic. The news didn't faze her at all. In fact, she just seemed more determined.

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"You mean, he is ill?" Her gaze was penetrating and sought the answer out itself. I nodded and swallowed hard.

Braska was a very close friend of mine and the thought of his death disturbed me. I didn't want to lose my friend at all. In fact, I had been set against his wishes to make this trip. He had made his final, irreversible decision the day I had rejected the High Priest's daughters hand in marriage.

"Auron." I returned to back to the present and looked up at her. She was standing up stiffly, and looked cold. "If he is going to die, then you ought to let him do this. He is trying to make people's lives better through this. Even if I do not agree with it, I think we ought to make this the best trip possible." She looked down and closed her eyes in thought. Maybe it was just the light, but I thought that I saw a tear run down her smooth face.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She held her hand out towards me, palm upwards. I looked at it, wondering why she was holding it out like that. Lulu laughed a little and answered my unspoken question. "You're supposed to hit it, it's called a 'High Five.' Don't worry it's a good thing." Leaning down slightly, she picked up my right hand and hit her own outstretched one with it. "There, that was so bad. Geez, and you three call me uptight."

Chuckling to herself, she left the room, closing the door behind her. One thing was now unclear in my mind. How did she know that Jecht and Braska had called her uptight behind her back?

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I leaned further over the rail to get a better view. Despite the brightness of the moon, I still couldn't see how close we were to Luca. Leaning back, I decided to see what Jecht was doing. I knew that Braska was sleeping, but Jecht would no doubt be at the bar, drinking.

Braska. In my many hours out here, I had thought about what Lulu had said. It made some sort of weird sense. I mean, she was right, if he knew he was going to die, he should enjoy his life. Still, the thought of losing him made me want to hurt something. It just wasn't fair! Braska had a life ahead of him; he had a wife and daughter, why did he have to die?

I headed into the bar to see Jecht chugging down a large glass of something. Next to him was Lulu, who was delicately sipping something from her wine glass. Jecht waved me over to where they were sitting.

"Hey man! How's Braska? He getting' used to the rockin' of this boat or somethin'? Haven't seen him in hours." He took another large sip and belched loudly. The corners of Lulu's mouth turned up and she chuckled slightly. Taking another sip, she set the drink back down.

I sat down on a chair next to Lulu and motioned to the bar tender. The tender automatically brought me a liquor that I couldn't name. Jecht laughed heartily and took another huge gulp of his drink.

"This Auron, is what a real man drinks. Try it, ya might like it." Jecht waved a hand and the bar tender gave me a drink that was identical to his. Lulu raised an slender eyebrow and shook her head in what I took to be amusement.

I was just about to take a sip when Jecht stopped me. "Auron, be a man dammit! Drink like the man you are. In BIG gulps stupid." He demonstrated this technique of drinking like a man, which must have looked funny because Lulu giggled. "What?" I turned to the Black Mage questioningly. She shook her head and pointed at me. "Your face, the expression was absolutely priceless Auron. You looked so-so shocked it was funny!" Upon finishing, she burst into laughter.

Then her laughter caused Jecht to join in and soon, they were both laughing at me. I felt my face flush as the other people in the bar turned to stare. There wasn't actually that many people, only a man and woman whom both looked ready to get it on right there on the table. "Oh shut up! I'll drink the damned drink, just stop laughing already." Swinging my head back, I dumped the entire contents of the glass into my mouth. Fire spread through my mouth before I could react and the world around me began to spin. I spit the entire drink out and coughed violently.

Clutching my throat, I fled the bar and raced to the deck as fast as I could without puking my guts up. Behind me, I heard Jecht roaring with laughter. Anger and embarrassment grew inside me as I ran. I had made such a fool of myself that I couldn't even believe it.

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Lulu's POV

As soon as he had drunken the whisky, Auron's face twisted and grew pale. Before I even knew what was going on, he was spitting and coughing all over the place. I jumped up to help him, but he was already half way out the door and running up the stairs.

Jecht was laughing so loudly that I am sure that the dead could hear him. Poor Auron was probably dying of embarrassment. I felt absolutely awful for him. He was no doubt mad at me for laughing at him, and now more than ever did I regret that.

"Auron." I whispered quietly to myself. Turning around sharply, I smacked Jecht across the back of his head. "Hey!" He protested and put his arms up to shield his head from further swats of my hand. I put my hands on my hips and scowled down at him.

"Was that necessary Jecht? Look at what he's gone and done!" Jecht shrugged and yawned. "So whatcha want me to do about it kitten? There ain't much I can do about it, after all, he's a stubborn man and he wouldn't accept my help anyways."

I looked down at the floor. Jecht was right, there wasn't much he could do for Auron, and manly pride was probably firmly in place now. Why was life so complex? But, did he just call me kitten??!!

"Oui banj! E's hud oui'na bmyo drehk!!" I smacked him on the back of his head again. Jecht gasped and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, sorry Lu, but I don't speak Al-Bhed with such great fluency like you." (I was just saying: You perv! I'm not you're play thing!!) Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the couple glared at me and began to leave, glaring at me the whole time.

"What are YOU two looking at?!" I demanded. They both stopped and the woman took a step towards me. "It's people like you," she hissed at me. "That prevent devout Yevonites like us from completely atoning for our sins." I drew myself to my full height and smirked evilly. "And it's people like you that prevent people like me from living perfectly normal lives. I wouldn't be so sure that you're lives are sinless wither, after all, Yevon places demands higher than human reach."

The woman stepped back and narrowed her eyes in anger. "Watch your tongue heathen, or I just might have you killed." I rolled my eyes and tilted my head slightly and responded in a mocking tone. "Oh dear, whatever shall I do? Some little prissy is going to have her hench man kill me. I am soooooo terrified."

Her macho bodyguard/lover boy stepped formard, one hand one the hilt of a sword. "Watch what you say to my Lady. While she is forgiving, I am not." To prove his deadliness, he pulled his sword out and stuck it into the middle of our table.

"Hey! Watch where you swing that sword buddy! We don't want anyone getting hurt now." Jecht got out of his seat and stood next to me, arms across his chest.

The woman rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance. "My goodness, now the drunkard is involved in all this." Her lover boy sniggered and pulled his sword out of the table. In the background, the waiter was looking at us nervously and deciding of he should leave before the altercation started.

A fire lite in Jecht's eyes at the word drunkard. "Well excuse me, but I didn't know that YOU were the expert on drinking!" He put his hand on the hilt of his sword menacingly. The prissy girl just tucked a piece of her brown hair behind her ears.

"Well, if we are all going to get personal about this, we'd better know each other's names. I am the Summoner Belgemine, daughter of the High Priest of the Djose Temple and the Head Shrine Maiden of the Remien Temple. And this," she motioned to her lover boy. "This is Durin, my faithful Guardian."

Jecht snorted in disgust and glanced sideways at me. We were both kind of new to this whole Yevon thing and we didn't know enough about the high- powered people to know if she was bluffing. Both her parents sounded pretty damn high and mighty and we really didn't want to make even more waves. Still, we didn't want to appear stupid, so I decided to play her game back.

"Well, I am the Summoner Lulu, uh, daughter of the High Priestess Mariah of the Baaj Temple and Rink, Leader of Faselin." I added a nod at the end to make it sound more believable. Well, it was entirely a lie, my parents were Mariah and Rink. My father had been a leader of the Black Mages of Faselin, but my mother, I wasn't too sure. She had been the only priestess/shrine maiden at a temple, but I didn't know which one, or even if that was true. "Oh this is my guardian Jecht, and I am uhh traveling with the Summoner Braska and his guardian Auron." Jecht nodded in agreement.

Belgemine's eyes light up at the sound of Auron's name. "Oh, so that is what he's doing now. Hmmm, this is quite a surprising turn of events. Well, Lulu, I suppose that I will be seeing you later. Perhaps you could show me your summoning skills, I should hope that you are better than Braska." She sniggered and began to leave.

"Oh just one more thing," Belgemine turned and smiled at me coldly. "Be careful around Auron. He may not look like it, but he'll break your heart so well that you won't be able to recall your own name." With that final note, she left, dragging her lover boy with her.

When she was out of sight, I collapsed into a chair and groaned. "Look what I've done now! I've just become a summoner and you my guardian. Dammit, why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut!" Jecht shrugged. "Hey, better than me running my mouth off. I'd have said something even worse."

"I sincerely doubt that." I exhaled loudly and pushed my drink around. "What am I going to do Jecht? I just screwed this thing up with prissy girl and Auron is probable annoyed with us." Jecht laughed. "Sounds to me like you've got too much to chew." I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, I'll let you got and help Auron." Jecht got up out of his seat and strolled to the door.

"Ruf tu E ramp y syh mega kes." I muttered in Al-Bhed. "Whaaat??" Jecht leaned forward with a hand cupped around an ear. "Oh nothing, it's just more Al Bhed, it means: how do I help a man like him. That's all."

Nodding, Jecht began to head out the door. "Well, good night Lu. I best be bunking off with Braska. Ya know." He stopped and turned to look at me. For the first time I saw how deep his brown eyes were. "If I were Auron, which I'm not, I wouldn't be worried about some dumb drink; I'd be worried about losing the best thing that's ever happened to me. You tell him that for me, okay Lu?" I nodded wordlessly and he walked off.

I straightened my dress and pushed my braids behind my shoulders. I'd better see if he was okay and wasn't asphyxiating or something, after all, that fix with Belgemine had been time consuming. I walked up the stairs and onto the deck.

The cool air was a pleasant sensation and the night was perfect. The night was so beautiful that I could have forgotten what I was there for if I hadn't heard low muttering. Returning to my self-appointed task, I walked in the direction of the noise. Auron was hunched over the side of the rail, moaning into the sea.

Careful not to startle him, I walked up next to Auron and put my hand on his shoulder. He stiffened slightly, and then relaxed. He straightened himself to full height and turned to me. He sighed and looked at the floor momentarily. Finally he glanced at me for a second before looking in the other direction. Embarrassment was clearly written on his face.

"I emm, errr don't know what to say, but I ummm." His voiced trailed off into the distance and I handed him a couple breath mints that I had bought in Kilikia. He accepted with a quick nod of his head and popped it in his mouth.

"Don't worry about it Auron. It's not like puked or anything. You just drank it too fast." He raised an eyebrow and turned to face me. "I did, did I? Is that what you think? Well, at least I didn't puke." I rested my elbows on the rail and looked across the water at the bright moon.

I nodded and chuckled quietly to myself. "What? You think my moaning was funny too!" I heard strain at the last sentence and stopped laughing. Turning to face him, our gazes interlocked; neither one of us blinked for what seemed like an eternity. He was quite a bit taller than me; I came a bit up past his shoulders, causing me to have to look up. A smile grazed his masculine features, causing my stomach to knot up.

"I-I didn't find your, your puking funny." My voice was so shaky that it sounded foreign to me. Auron tilted his head slightly and smiled fully. I looked up, startled by the laughter that came from him. "What? W-what did I do?" Our faces were mere inches apart by now, and I could smell his now minty breathe.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look so adorable when you're confused." I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut off by a pair of lips brushing against mine.

As if I was precious and breakable, he carefully placed his arms around my waist and pulled me closer gently. Before I could question what was happening to me, I felt him press his lips against mine. I moan elicited from my throat as his tongue entered my mouth. Gently, he began to explore my mouth with his tongue. The taste of mint was nice and strong in his mouth.

Placing my arms around his neck, I returned the kiss. Running my hands through his hair, we kissed for what seemed like an eternity that ended too soon, but a wonderful eternity. We broke only for air, and then resumed kissing.

Our make out session would probably gone on longer if Auron hadn't broken it gently. "Lulu," he whispered in my ear. "Mmm?" I buried my head in the crook of his neck. "It's nearly dawn." I raised my head and looked out towards the horizon. The edge of the sky was turning red. I laughed quietly and rested my head on his shoulder.

"This means that we need to go to our cabins and get some sleep. Hopefully, Braska and Jecht will be oblivious to our activities and just think that the alcohol made us tired or something." I winced at his choice of words and looked up into his face.

"Auron," I whispered. "Was that entire, umm, activity just a side effect of the alcohol?" I must have sounded really stupid at that point, but I really didn't care at that moment. For some odd reason, I really didn't want it to be that. I really liked Auron and I wanted him to like me back, maybe even love me one day.

Auron chuckled and kissed my forehead tenderly. "I don't know about you Lulu, but I didn't consume any alcohol last night." Disbelief must have been written across my face because he chuckled. "I spit all my drink out last night at the table, if you don't remember. And what about you? You drank last night, were you under the influence of alcohol?" His tone was gently and teasing, not mocking so I smiled.

"I only drank a few sips, not enough to get me tipsy." A big grin covered Auron's face and he kissed my lips.

Picking me up, Auron carried me to our room, trying our best to be quiet. Hopefully, this would be a good start to a permanent relationship. But for now, I was in paradise and didn't care what happened. I was in love.

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Third Person

As Auron and Lulu went back into their room, neither one of them noticed a figure in the shadows.

"So Auron, this is what you've found. Hmmm, let's see how well you play THIS game." Belgemine stepped out of the shadows and walked back to her room, formulating a plan as she walked. She was ready to make the "summoner" pay for her insubordinate remarks, and it was a great way to get revenge on Auron.

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A/N: Wow, that was HUGE!!! I don't think that I've ever written a chapter that long in my life! What does Belgemine have in store and how is Lulu going to cover up her lie? Find out and stayed posted for Chapter 5, coming soon to a FF.net near you! (Corny and commercial sounding, but hell I'm tired dammit!) Just read and review as usual, ya know how I feel about positive feedback! ^____^

~Ninth Lady~ "The Messiah of Silence"