Believe
Chapter Six- Catching Up
Where we left off: Zzzz…. Oh. Brand missed chapter five? Very well. Brand will take chapter six. (Solemn nod) Humans wonder why Ronso still speak simple human tongue? Ronso can't fit many human words in Ronso mouth. So Ronsos have Ronso accent. Last time, met with odd humans who need clothes and man with too many clothes and too much ego. (Another solemn nod) Brand hope we meet with Rynna and others soon…
~*~
"Finally," Rynna breathed. "I thought we'd never get here!"
Darian grunted, massaging one sore shoulder with an equally sore hand. "Hey, give us guys some credit," he said sourly.
"Oh, Darian, you know we all love you," she said, patting him on the sore shoulder.
He winced.
She pulled away to look at Tidus, who had given up on rowing to stare, stunned, at the Kilika Port. "Well? How do you like the renovations? They've improved a bit, haven't they?" she joked.
"Hush," he said absently.
"Hush? Hush? I-" Rynna was prevented from arguing with her ancestor thanks to Amie, who, with an apologetic expression, clamped her hand over the talkative girl's mouth. "Mph! Mph mph! Mrph!"
Tidus ignored the odd group he was with, allowing his full attention to be drawn to Kilika Port.
Oh yeah, it's changed, he thought.
Not that he ever saw Kilika intact- the one time he'd been there, he'd shown up with Yuna and the others immediately after Sin had attacked the village, leaving it in shambles.
Yuna… Wakka.. Lulu…
He quickly shoved his memories aside, not wanting to deal with them for now. Instead, he tried to figure out what seemed so… bizarre… about Kilika.
Then it hit him.
"They're using machines?!" he said.
Darian gave him an odd look. "Well, duh," he said. "Almost instantly after you guys nailed Sin, people thought that machines were okay, and began to use them again."
"Whoa," Tidus marveled.
Kilika had, indeed, expanded from its original size. Without Sin to destroy human progress, the people had slowly grown, both in technology and in population, until the port doubled in size, then doubled again. Now, it was a crowded mass of buildings and people, with ladders leading to higher levels and children screaming at each other as they played haphazardly about the boats. Some fishermen were attempting to catch their meals in a slightly quieter part of the port, but weren't having too much success as of yet. A group of young men and women, probably around thirteen or fourteen, were kicking around…
Blitzball?!
"Blitzball," he murmured.
"Yup. We're headed to Luca after this, just like Yuna did," Darian confirmed. "If we're lucky, we'll get to see a game or two before we leave. It's changed a bit since you left, though. There are a number of ways to play it now…"
The redhead soon discovered that his temporary audience was still too busy staring to listen to anyone, and sighed audibly. "Why do I bother…?"
Seeing as Darian was tired and Tidus was busy, the two girls took it upon themselves to row the last few hundred feet into port, where they landed on one of the poorer yet less crowded docks. Rynna managed to shake Tidus out of his reverie long enough to get him to tie the boat to the dock. Then they climbed out, and took their possessions with them.
"Should we ask them to reserve it?" Darian asked, looking at the now-shabby fishing boat.
Rynna thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Let's notify someone that Besaid is short of a fishing boat," she suggested. "I'm sure, seeing as this is the pilgrimage and all, that they'll oblige us a little."
"Especially since it's a real one," Darian began, then was nudged sharply in the gut by Amie. "What?" he asked, turning to glare at her.
She looked at Rynna, who had paused with a flash of uneasiness crossing her face.
"Oh." Suddenly, Darian felt like an idiot. "Um, never mind."
"Huh?" Tidus asked. He was ignored.
"How about we ask around for Al and Brand?" Darian continued.
"Al?" Rynna looked amused now. "First Alexander, then Alex, and now Al? What's next?"
"A, of course," Darian said, nudging her. "Come on, let's look for the others."
"Right." Then a sour expression passed over the young woman's features. "I don't have to change into Yuna's outfit, do I?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Amie said shyly. "Um, I think it was just for the first temple. From now on we can dress as we wish."
"Good. I hate that outfit, no offense to my ancestor." Rynna ran one hand against her leggings in open relief, as Amie self-consciously toyed with the hem of her shirt. "Let's get going. With any luck, we can head out to the temple and get this part over with soon."
Amie turned to give Tidus a small smile. "Is it so very different from when you visited last?" she asked softly.
He grinned at her, and waved one arm in the air. "Oh, very different. For one thing, I never got to see Kilika intact before. Y'see, Sin attacked just before we arrived, and Yuna had to perform a sending…" he trailed off as his memories grabbed hold of him for a moment.
…The young woman paced out onto the water- yes, onto, and not into, as Tidus had expected. The water held for her as solid ground would. She took a few more steps out, then paused before slowly raising her staff above her head.
For a moment, Yuna wasn't Yuna anymore. She was the Lady Summoner, a pillar of impossible strength and determination. An inner glow seemed to shine through her being at that point. Tidus couldn't help but think it really was an inner light, and not a trick of the sunset's glow.
Time slowed, and paused.
Then…
She began to sway, and someone… no, something.. Began to sing the Hymn of the Fayth as she started to dance.
The dance was beautiful, and fascinating. Yet, at the same time, it was so haunting… The glow intensified, and soon spread to the coffins of the deceased floating below her. With sad cries, small lights- pyreflies- floated out of the coffins, up out of the water, to swirl around Yuna as she was lifted upon her own platform of water.
All Tidus could really think was that it was so beautiful, but, at the same time, so horrifying…
"…Tidus? Tidus?"
The blonde blinked and shook his head, realizing that Rynna was waving her hand in his face. And, by the impatient look on her face, she had been doing so for some time. He put a smile on his face then, once again shoving his memories back and telling them firmly to shut up. "Sorry, fazed out."
"Yeah, we noticed. C'mon, we gotta find out if Alex and Brand got here or not. Hopefully they did…"
Tidus nodded, and the group moved away from the docks, towards the area where stands were up, with people calling their wares to each other.
~*~
"The lady summoner!"
"Huh?" Alex rubbed his eyes, yawning, then looked around to see whom had made the outburst.
"The lady summoner has arrived from Besaid at last! Let's go see her!"
"Yes, yes! I heard this time the celebration's summoner is a direct descendant of High Summoner Yuna!"
"Really? Amazing!"
"Let's go!"
"Descendant of…" Alex blinked, then jumped up and grabbed his sword with one hand while trying to jam his feet into his shoes at the same time. "Brand-"
"Heard already," the Ronso replied.
Alex jumped, and whirled around to see Brand already waiting at the door. "Oh," he said, feeling stupid.
"Hurry, make appearance now," Brand urged.
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!"
Alex scrambled to ready himself- i.e. a quick washing and relieving of himself, straightening out a few wrinkles in the clothes he'd slept in, and so on. Finally, he and Brand ran out the door to follow the crowd going out to meet the summoner.
If only they knew, he thought grimly, suddenly reminded of the horrific monster that had attacked Besaid. I hope she'll be the one to break the news, and we won't have to…
~*~
"What's the matter, Rynna?" Tidus asked.
"Huh?" She blinked out of her self-induced trance, looking over at where he stood with Darian and Amie.
"You completely spaced out. Somethin' wrong?"
She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "No…" She paused. Then, "Yes," she admitted.
"Well, what?" Tidus asked.
"You remember how I told you on the boat, more about why this is a kind of celebration of the Eternal Calm and all?"
Slowly, he nodded.
"Well, we didn't tell you everything that's been happening, Gramps," she said softly. Ignoring his shouted protest that he didn't want to be called that, she continued, "Sin's here again. Or rather, it's a different kind of Sin, but it's a Sin all the same."
"What?!" Tidus asked. "But that's impossible! We defeated him, I mean we really did!"
"I know. This is a 'true spawn of Sin,'" Rynna said. "I'll explain later," she added quickly, before he could question her. "I've got to speak to the Mayor of Kilika and announce this, so everyone can start moving inland. I heard somewhere that you're less likely to be attacked if you don't hang out near too many big bodies of water."
"Don't be too sure," Tidus warned her. "The Sin we fought could randomly appear in a small pool of water, if he felt like it. And he did once, too."
"Really?" she paled slightly, then bit her lip as the Mayor, a man in red and dull golden robes appeared. "Dear God…"
"Rynna!"
"Huh?" The young summoner looked about, startled at the shout. Then, her eyes widened in shock, then delight. "Hey! Guys!"
Tidus blinked as he saw two people push through the crowd. One was a Ronso; that much was obvious. The blitzer guessed that this young Ronso was playing Kimahri's part, since no other Ronsos seemed to be appearing. What was also obvious was that this Ronso wasn't too much like Kimahri- he didn't speak to greet Rynna, but he did nod at her. He took his place beside her, though not in a protective stance like Kimahri would have. Instead, this Ronso rested lightly on his spear- which Tidus realized was largely decoration- and appeared faintly bored, though relieved he was back with the summoner he was supposed to be guarding.
As for his companion…
Tidus' eyes widened in shock, as did the other young man.
"Hey!" they both cried in unison, startling not only their group, but the villagers as well. "You look like me!"
Rynna turned away from Brand, eyes twinkling in amusement. "Didn't I mention Alex was supposed to play your part? Tidus, this is Alex. Alex, this is Tidus."
"Um, hi," Tidus offered awkwardly.
"His part?" Alex asked blankly, ignoring Tidus' greeting. Hurt, Tidus crossed his arms and gave Alex a glare. "What do you mean, his part? And why does his name sound so famil…"
"This is my great-grandfather, Grandfather Tidus," Rynna said, now openly grinning. "Doesn't look like he's aged a day since seventeen, eh?"
"Will you stop calling me that?" Tidus demanded.
"Sorry, Pops."
"Hey-!"
Alex's eyes widened until they were round as saucers. "No friggin' way."
"Way," Darian informed him. "He proved it, too. He's the real deal. Cool, huh?"
"Cool? Cool?! I-"
"Talk later," Rynna instructed as the Mayor came into earshot. "We'll explain on the way to the temple."
Alex frowned again, but did as he was told, crossing his arms and pouting. Tidus sighed and found himself thanking whatever deity was currently watching over him. At least he wouldn't be questioned this time.
Yet.
~*~
Rynna went through the ceremonial lines first, introducing herself as Lady Summoner Yuna, and introducing her guardians. She explained Tidus and Alex away as brothers who couldn't decide who could take the part. Alex chimed in, claiming he was the 'stunt double', and everyone chuckled, recalling the use of such doubles in moving picture spheres.
Finally, with all the ceremony out of the way, Rynna dropped the formalities. "We've got something serious to report to you, sir," she said urgently. "And everyone must know about it now."
The Mayor, catching her tone, hurriedly returned his attention to her. "Yes, milady?"
"A giant fiend who greatly resembled the old evil, Sin, attacked Besaid Island the other day, during my ceremony," she said. "During said ceremony, Besaid was nearly destroyed, and I… well, I attained a true-to-the-gods Aeon."
A stunned silence fell on the crowd, until one man in the back yelled, "What a crock! Pull the other one, Summoner!"
"It's true!" Darian said. He shot a glare at the man that was so venomous that the man in question meekly slipped away from the crowd. "She can call Valefor, anytime, anywhere."
"With all due respect, this is something I must see with my own eyes," the Mayor informed them dubiously.
"I expected that," Rynna said, with a small, sad smile. "Please, everyone step back. I need a little room for him to land."
Tidus blinked. "Him? Wasn't Valefor a girl way back when?"
Rynna blinked back, pausing. "He was? He was obviously male to me."
"Maybe he got bored and had a sex change?" Alex suggested.
Everyone fell silent. Then, "Alex, shut up," the group chorused.
The blonde returned to pouting at everyone.
Rynna paused to make certain that no one else was going to interrupt. When no one did, she closed her eyes and held her arms out, growing as still as possible. Valefor, she whispered in her mind. I have need of you.
: I heard,: came a somewhat amused reply.
Will you come?
The voice within paused, then answered,: I shall. Prithee, make certain thou hast a large space about thee. I do not wish to harm thee, nor thy friends in mine landing.:
Affirmative. We're ready when you are. Thanks. A pause. Then Rynna couldn't help asking as she took a step back and did the formal pose for summoning, Were you really originally female?
An embarrassed silence met her. Then, meekly,: One does change over the course of time.
Rynna raised an eyebrow at that- time changed people, but surely not that much!- but before she could reply, Valefor was already swooping down to meet the now-awed townspeople of Kilika Port.
~*~