Believe
Chapter Seven- Attack!
Where we left off: 'Sup, this is Alex. So thankfully Ryn and the others got to Kilika safely. A day later'n we planned, but hey, can't complain. The weird thing is… whoa! Tidus? As in the Grand Lord Guardian Tidus? As in the dude who kicked Sin's ass? What the hell?! Anyway, Rynna's spilling the beans to the Mayor at Kilika 'bout "Sin's true spawn" and such. Hopefully now that Valefor's around he'll believe us!
…I still think Valefor got bored and had a sex change…
~*~
Aaron, the Mayor of Kilika Port, was a simple man. As a simple man, he had rather simple needs, especially for someone who ended up being Mayor of a place as big as Kilika was. He liked food, a fact made obvious by the roundness of his belly. He also liked his house, which was big enough to hold at least sixty people comfortably.
Finally, he liked things as normal as possible. He liked the hustle and bustle of the city, which was why he'd run for Mayor in it.
But right now…
There was no hustle or bustle. The 'clans', or Guilds, weren't so much as glaring at each other. Merchants were silent, and even the infants seemed silent.
And it was all because of the Ceremony of the Eternal Calm.
Only it's not an Eternal Calm anymore, a voice whispered to him in the depths of his mind.
He told himself to shut up and turned his attention to the grand creature that the Summoner- the real Summoner, Rynna- had called before them all today.
The creature- Aeon, he corrected himself- was easily three times his size, though obviously built for combat. In point of fact, it already seemed as though it had seen combat, by the areas where the feathers parted oh-so-slightly to reveal scars.
Lady Rynna raised an eyebrow, and he turned his attention to her. "I take it that this is proof enough?" she asked. "You know that it is impossible to fake a summoning."
He nodded- that much he knew. Everyone in Spira knew, in fact. High Summoner Yuna had banished the Aeons immediately after the death of Sin, and it was impossible to call upon Aeons when the former fayth were naught but large, lifeless statues. "Indeed, but what are we to do about this… creature that seems to be Sin?"
"We must pray to Yevon again!" one of the older women in the background cried. A few others began to shout their agreement.
It was then that Theon appeared, with his usual pristine robes. "We will not!" he thundered, momentarily silencing the crowd. "Have none of you heard of the stories of the past? It was Yevon himself who was Sin!"
"Blasphemous! How dare you treat Spira's former religion so lightly?" the first woman screamed.
"You all are so stupid!" said an exasperated, much younger voice. Everyone turned to see a small group of Swipers, no less than ten of them, all on their two-hovers. "We don't need to pray to some god! We go inland, like our ancestors should have done in the first place!"
"Inland?" someone else demanded.
"Yes, inland." The Swiper nodded. He, like the women in the group, was dressed barely enough to satisfy the most tolerant of people when it came to clothing and modesty. He wore a pair of leather breeches that were cut off right under the knee, and wore a belt where a dagger hung. The one interesting- and dangerous- thing about this young man was that he had daggers everywhere on his person- one in the top of his left boot, one around his waist, and one around his neck in a carefully-made sheath.
"We go inland to the smallest bodies of water possible," he announced. "If we must live off of rainwater, then we will."
"What about those of us who can't travel?" demanded a middle-aged woman from the crowd. She knelt next to her husband, who sat in a mobile chair because he only had one leg. "What about them?"
"That's what the chair he's using is for," the Swiper said, exasperated. He waved a hand. "I would suggest you all move as quickly as you can. We're heading to the Barrens- all the rainwater we need, just not very many rivers or plant life. We can get all the food we need from Do'sal."
"Not a bad plan," someone else mused thoughtfully.
Theon raised an eyebrow at the Swiper. "Amazing. To see the Swipers using their minds… this is something I never expected to see."
The Swiper smirked. "You're not supposed to see it, oh almighty Geezer." He looked around. "Well, it's been fun acquiring your goods, everyone, but we must move on," he announced.
With that, he stepped up behind a female Swiper on one of the two-hovers. The girl giggled and revved up the two-hover. As one, the group turned and raced out of town.
The Swipers did not once look back.
~*~
Rynna nodded, satisfied that at least one group was taking her word for it and looking for whatever safety they could get. I just hope everyone else follows their example.
:Am I needed any longer?: Valefor questioned politely.
No, I don't think so. Thanks a lot, Valefor. We'll see you later.
The giant bird-Aeon pulled back, assuming a dignified pose. :Indeed,: was his reply. He looked then at Tidus, who stood watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. :This one.. he is not supposed to be here.:
He said that he was your dream.
:Be that as it may, even the best or worst of dreams are meant to fade from even the best of memories. This one should not be here.. Unless…: Valefor grew silent.
Unless what?
:…Nothing.: Valefor watched Tidus for a moment, then bobbed his head at the young-looking man.
Tidus, in return, blinked.
Then Valefor turned and flew off into the sky.
Her grandfather (many times removed) looked after him, his face a mixture of awe, recognition, and sadness.
"Tidus…" she murmured softly.
However, her attention was returned to the villagers when they broke into groups of chaos, racing here and there to get their belongings together.
She sighed. I know I would probably do the same in their position, but this is ridiculous! The fiends won't show up where there aren't any prey. And animals won't come in here to take over, either. Not with the human smell.
"And this, ladies and gentlemen," Alex announced dramatically, "is the result of millennia of humans forming into the most intelligent species of the planet."
"I dunno, Alex," Darian said. "You seem to be a better specimen for observing the 'intelligence' of human life."
"Than- hey!"
The group shared a small laugh before Rynna looked at the people racing about. She sighed. "Should we try to stop them?"
"No," Tidus said.
Everyone looked at him.
"People are people. They'll calm down a little when they get moving. Besides, they'll only resent you if you try to help them with their lives." His face was once again expressionless.
Darian looked at the blonde. "I suppose… you know that by experience." It wasn't a question.
Tidus shrugged.
Rynna sighed. "Well, we're not getting anywhere by standing and making fun of the 'little people'. Let's get going to Kilika Temple. Maybe another Aeon will have awakened there." She glanced at Tidus.
He understood. "When I was with Yuna, the Aeon Ifrit was in Kilika. His element was fire."
"What's Valefor's element? Does every Aeon have an element?" Amie asked quietly.
Tidus gave her a small smile, but shook his head. "No. Valefor is a neutral. Only a few Aeons have elements. They're Ifrit, Shiva, Ixion…" he trailed off. "The others I remember are, um, Bahamut, the one that's supposed to be in those ruins at Baaj Temple, and one that's supposed to be in the hidden temple in the Calm Lands. Oh! And there's Yojimbo, but I wouldn't recommend him. He's a waste of gil, or at least he was."
"Gil?" Rynna blinked.
"He demands payment for his assistance." Tidus made a face. "I spent over two hundred thousand gil on that guy, and he lost almost every battle we used him for. And his dog-! Ugh."
Rynna couldn't help but laugh at that. "Okay, so I suppose your… Yo-jumbo?"
He laughed back. "No, Yo-JIM-bo," he corrected.
"Yeah, him. Well, guess we're not gonna use him."
"Please don't."
"All right then." Rynna turned to the others. "Let's head off to Kilika then, shall we?"
The others nodded.
~*~
"What was Lulu like?"
Tidus blinked in surprise, and looked around to see who was speaking to him. He then realized that Amie, the Lulu look-alike, was speaking to him.
He turned to give her another small smile- she reminded him of Yuna, a little. Except Amie was a lot shyer than Yuna had ever been….Well, that was a thought to follow for another day. Shoving the thought of Yuna away, he said, "Lulu?"
She nodded.
"Well… she was quiet, though she had this… presence that filled the room." At her questioning look downward he shook his head, waving his arms. "No, no! Not a physical presence!"
She had the grace to blush at that.
"No, she just had this immense amount of wisdom. No doubt if we hadn't had Auron along, well, she would have been our leader. In fact, Yuna thought of her as an older sister."
"Was she… um, nice?"
"Nice? The first thing she ever said to me was 'who are you?' And the first thing she said about me pretty much implied she thought I was an idiot, a liar, a criminal, or all three." Tidus smiled. "Though after a while she warmed up. She always had really good advice about things."
"…Oh." He looked at her again to see that Amie was smiling a bit ruefully. "We're given to believe that every one of them didn't have a single flaw. That they were all perfect. I didn't believe it, not really, but…"
"Not a single flaw?" Tidus shook his head. "Please. Wakka hated Al Bhed, Lulu threatened to cast Fire spells on anyone who looked at her funny, Auron kept secrets, Kimahri had a bunch of rivals from his home, Rikku was impossibly hyper at all of the wrong times, Yuna would randomly laugh at nothing-"
He stopped. He couldn't help himself- the memory of his beloved returned, slamming itself into his mind and attaching itself like a… well, a parasite. Granted, Yuna could never be something so horrible.
But he couldn't stand the idea of them being dead, any of them…
Yuna looked at him oddly. "What's wrong?"
"Huh?" He blinked. "Um… nothing really…"
She smiled teasingly. "Want to scream?"
"I don't really think that'll help," he said, smiling faintly.
She looked away. "You know, it's embarrassing to say this myself, but Summoners are kind of like Spira's ray of light. So… when I'm feeling sad, I practice smiling, you know? I know it's hard, but…"
Tidus considered that. "Well…" He recalled losing blitzball games, but always putting on a cheerful face for his fans afterward. "I understand. I think…"
"Right. Now, let's see what you can do!"
Tidus sighed, looking up at the sky. "Let's see what you can do," he repeated to himself.
Amie blinked. "Huh?"
"Nothing," he said quickly. He was rewarded by a frown, which he decided to ignore. "Anyway, legends are always different than you'd expect. Like Wakka would probably cheerfully give the lot of us noogies while ranting about how much better at blitzball he is than us." He shrugged.
Amie chuckled.
"Hey, guys! We're here!" Rynna called.
Tidus blinked. "That was fast," he commented. "Last time we had to fight about twenty fiends before we got even halfway there!"
"There was a cleaning of sorts after Sin disappeared," Darian said, falling into place beside Tidus. "Crusaders, having no other purpose, were directed to use their abilities to clean the planet of the remaining fiends."
"Makes sense. Would suck to have Sin die and then get killed by a little fiend."
"That, too, but the main thing was that bored humans start picking fights." Darian shrugged. "Bored Crusaders might have ended up fighting each other. So High Summoner Yuna told them all to kick ass against the fiends. They did, and up until now you only see about three or four a year."
"Wow…" Tidus shook his head. "We fought hundreds of them, wave after wave."
"It's so strange to hear you talk about this sort of thing," Darian said.
Tidus paused, and Darian did too. Amie watched them for a moment, then hurried forward to talk to Rynna at the foot of the temple.
"It's stranger for me, believe it," Tidus said softly. "I could have sworn that only twenty minutes passed between the time that I disappeared and when I met you all. I went from Zanarkand… to Spira… to future Spira… Where the hell am I going to end up next?"
Darian shook his head. "I dunno."
The two probably would have continued along that line of thought had Rynna not called for them to hurry up.
"Let's go. Your granddaughter's being bitchy," Darian said.
Tidus smacked him upside the head.
"OW!"
"Just because you're her friend doesn't mean you can make fun of her." Tidus smirked at him, then hurried after the others.
"Bastard," Darian muttered. But he said it with a small grin, before hurrying after.
~*~
"Okay… um… how the hell are we supposed to go through here?"
Tidus shook his head at his granddaughter's question, dumbfounded.
The temple was rundown. Very much so. Vines had managed to grow around the pillars supporting the ancient stones both within and without the building. It had been a struggle itself to get inside, as the doors had been sealed shut by the wildlife.
But now…
Moss and grasses had been burned away entirely, once they had entered the Cloister of Trials.
This was because the Cloister was filled with a living, never-ending flame.
Rynna turned to her grandfather after watching it run across the stones like a wave. "Well?"
"It's… different," he said slowly, considering. "Are there any gems about?"
Everyone looked blank.
"You know, spheres? Maybe a red, glowing one? If you see one nearby, maybe we can use it to get rid of some of the flames." Tidus wiped some sweat from his forehead.
Wordlessly, Amie offered him a Water pill. He took it, smiled in thanks, and popped it into his mouth. Now that he knew he was not supposed to swallow it, but to suck on it, they worked wonderfully to ease the heat and his thirst.
"Red spheres…" Rynna nodded. "I remember mentions of those in Histories. Remember that class, Dar?" Then she grinned mischievously. "Oh, never mind. You were always asleep."
"Hey!" Darian protested. The rest of the group shared a chuckle, before returning to the problem of the Cloister.
Amie was the first to move, surprisingly, edging towards one wall that seemed to be a wall of flame that never moved.
"Be careful, Amie!" Alex said, alerting everyone else.
She waved away his worried exclamation, casting a Reflect spell on herself. Then, she reached out to the wall…
And the flame winked out, leaving the room half as bright, and half as hot, as before.
"Huh?!"
Amie walked over to them, holding out a sphere that seemed to be on fire. However, it didn't seem to touch her. "I know what to do," she said, pleased. "Here, wait a moment."
She held up a hand, casting Reflect on the rest of the group one by one. Then she offered the stone to Rynna, who touched it gingerly, as though she expected it to burn her anyway.
"We should be safe from the fire, or at least any fire that's cast from a spell. Real fire, I don't know for sure," she admitted, talking more to the floor than to the group.
"Hey, this is a good idea!" Tidus exclaimed.
"So what, should we try to walk through the flames or something?" Rynna asked.
Darian lightly elbowed her. "Stupid summoner. Good thing we're here with you. No, we search for a spot that's not as hot as the rest of it, and pull out on it like Amie did. It should form into another sphere, and show us a way through."
"…Ooh… Hey!" She smacked him upside the head.
"OW!"
"Don't insult me!" Rynna turned back to the next wall of flame. "Okay, let's try this out."
~*~
About two hours later, the group stood before the Chamber of the Fayth.
"Okay, um… what did you do last time?" Darian asked.
Rynna moved to smack him. He hid behind Brand, who gave him a bemused expression. "I just do the ancient Yevon bow like last time!"
"Oh yeah," Darian said sheepishly.
"Are you sure you're not actually Wakka?" Tidus teased.
He got smacked by both girls in the group. "Ow! Hey!"
"Are humans done smacking each other?" Brand asked pointedly, shoving Darian away from himself. "Luck, Rynna."
"Thanks, Brand." She turned, smiled at the group, then went up to the door. She did the ancient Yevon bow.
This time, the door opened more quickly. Rynna quickly ducked under, and it closed behind her.
~*~
This Chamber was a bit different from the one where she met Valefor. For one thing, the walls were a bit cleaner (no doubt cleared of the debris by Ifrit's magic fire), and the theme colors were all warm- red, orange, and so on.
But in the middle of the chamber, there was a giant sphere, where a glowing figure lay, seemingly trapped into the sphere.
"This must be Ifrit after all," Rynna said to herself.
For a moment, she hesitated. What was she doing? Wandering around, summoning aeons like the people of the past. What right did she have to this?
Or more importantly, why was she the one chosen to do this?
She shook her head. "Because you're Yuna's descendant, most likely," she muttered wryly aloud. "Well, let's get this over with as soon as possible. I'm getting hungry."
With that, she knelt before the glowing sphere and again did the bow.
The song began, as it had in Valefor's Chamber. This time, however, the voice singing it was much deeper, maturer. Rynna listened to it with wonder- now that she knew what was to happen, she didn't have to spend time freaking out over it.
After a moment, a figure formed atop the sphere. Another male, by the looks of it, though he appeared to be older than Valefor had seemed to be.
This one looked at her gravely. "Who are you, to enter my chamber?" he said.
"I'm summoner Rynna. Well," she temporized, "I'm not a real summoner, but I'm the closest thing to it right now."
Ifrit blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Look, Sin's come back again, and I need help- we haven't trained any new summoners in over two centuries. I'm of Yuna's bloodline, if you recall her."
"And you would use me to defeat Sin?"
She nodded.
Ifrit paused, as though listening to something. "I sense…"
She waited.
"I sense another aeon already within you."
"Yes, my first aeon, Valefor."
"Hmm." Again, Ifrit paused. "I sense truth in you, Rynna, though I also sense that this was meant to be some sort of…. Ploy."
"Not a ploy, a celebration of when Sin was last defeated," Rynna said.
"Ah. Well. You seem to be of good heart. Will you accept me?"
"Uh… Sure." Rynna blinked. "Aren't you supposed to accept me?"
"I did before, yet the feeling must be mutual or no bonding can take place. Brace yourself."
With that, Ifrit lifted into the air, aimed at her, and hurtled into her body.
She gasped, her body going into a spasm of pain. Thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as hurtful at the last time. However, it did still hurt, to feel another presence take residence in her mind and body.
Mostly, in her mind.
:It is a pleasure to fight with thee again, Ifrit,: Valefor was saying formally. :Though I would have preferred it if we could have had a longer rest.: His tone was wry.
Ifrit seemed to pause. :You are… different.:
:Indeed, fire aeon. I… changed over the course of time.:
:You sure did.:
Uh, guys? Rynna thought. Could you be a bit quieter? I'm trying to overcome my pain.
:Our apologies,: came the reply.
~*~
As the group headed back to Kilika Port before going on to Luca, Darian carried Rynna, and Tidus guarded their backs just in case a fiend appeared (or even a bandit). Rynna had been able to tell them that the prayers had been successful right before she had fainted.
Amie had cast Cure upon the unconscious girl, but it hadn't seemed to help much. She only stopped when Tidus explained that it was a pain in Rynna's mind, as well as her body.
So the group let her be and trudged on.
However, their peace wasn't to last much longer.
Screams from the village alerted them that something was wrong. Very wrong, by the way the villagers were racing away from the village and down the path towards the temple in a panic.
Tidus managed to grab one of the people. "What's going on?" he demanded.
"Sin!" the man shrieked. He tore free of Tidus' grasp, ignoring the group's shouted demands, and raced on into the woods.
"Damn it," Darian swore. "Why does it seem to be following us?"
"We can't be the only ones that know, can we?" Amie asked quietly. "Or the only ones to stop it?"
No one knew the answer.
"Well, come on!" Tidus said, brandishing his sword. "Let's go get it!"
The group nodded. Darian gently tried to shake Rynna awake as they went along, but even the roughest shoves couldn't wake her. She remained in a deep sleep.
So, when the village (and Sin) came into sight, the group was forced to leave her a little ways behind, with a Reflect and a Protection spell on her in case she was attacked. Darian was to guard her.
"Okay!" Tidus shouted, and cast Hastega.
Amie blinked. "I didn't know you could cast white magic!" she exclaimed.
"It's a bit rusty," he admitted. "Can you cast protective stuff on us, too?"
She nodded, and began to do so.
Alex also pulled out a sword, while Brand prepared some black magic for an attack. Darian shouted at Rynna, trying to rouse her.
But all was stopped, when Sin reared back slightly, let out a howl…
….And sent a tidal wave crashing towards them.
"By the powers!" Amie shrieked. "Run!"
Everyone turned to flee; Darian picked up Rynna, forgetting his blitzball, and Alex nearly dropped his sword-
But the wave crashed upon them all, sending them into oblivious darkness before they could even think of reaching safety.
As they disappeared, Sin gave another howl of triumph, and dived back into the water.
~*~
O.o What happened to them?! Don't worry, they're not all dead from the tidal wave. Remember Sin in the game? ^_^ Wonder what's going to happen next..
Whew! Long chapter! My fingers hurt. ;_;
Rynna- Wuss.
(Smacks Rynna) Hush you! Please tune in next time, folks!