**Onto this chapter 15! Having fun yet? I hope so! I greatly appreciate all the reviews and hope you continue to do so! I also want to say that in reality, this doesn't count as an insertion fic anymore, being as the personalities between the characters and their real-life counterparts have changed greatly. So, um....yea? . Anyway, this is a fairly long chapter, and I introduce some other characters in this chap that--well, wait and see. ::evil grin:: Enjoy!**
"Niet! Ben! NIET!" Arashi flung pieces of the thatched hut aside frantically. "BEN! NIET! ANSWER ME!" She looked back at Yueh to see her crying. "Yueh! Help! I--NIET! BEN!" She turned to the hut once more and threw off another large piece of the straw and wood walls, revealing the sword that Ben had held moments earlier. A small, thin trail of blood was streaming down the blade, and tears fell from Arashi's eyes.
Yueh didn't hear the cries from Arashi behind her. Everything to her was blocked out by her own tears.
I did this...we're all going to die, and its my own fault. She stood up and shouted out. "Why!? Why do this to me?! Give me a power and then have it go back on me? Why do this? Why do it at all!? To anyone?!?" She gave out another scream. "WHY?"
One of the villagers finally noticed Yueh screaming to the winds and Arashi throwing pieces of the small hut wildly and ran to Arashi's aid. Kiri, beaten up and bloodied, went over to Yueh and picked up her flute. Handing it to her, her eyes welled up as well and she hugged Yueh, who sobbed into the older girl's shoulder.
"Niet, Ben, please be okay! PLEASE!" Arashi begged to no one in particular. She threw off a very large piece with the help of the villager and there lay Niet, face up, with Ben next to her, stomach on the ground and face to the side. Both were scratched badly, and their hair was covered in straw. Ben's was also matted with blood. Arashi screamed out again.
Yueh heard nothing. This wasn't happening, was it? She was just back at home, laying in bed, dreaming all this. A bad dream, a nightmare, it wasn't really happening...
Another scream came from Arashi when she found Niet's rapier embedded in Ben's left leg. Niet's left arm had a large splinter in it, up by the shoulder. The villager ran to get help while she sobbed.
This isn't happening, this isn't happening...
*-*-*-*-*
"This is not happening."
Mariana and Genki were stuck outside the main gates of the largest "New Spira" town, named, (un)creatively enough, New Luca. There was a long line outside the gates, waiting for what was, apparently, the Championship Blitzball games. Which, of course, happened to be happening within the next week or two.
"Prelims are first," someone in front of them was saying. "Some try-outs even, for the smaller teams, I heard."
"Dude, really?" The spiky haired teen in front of Mariana jumped a little bit, his sandals clomping. "Dude, I could be the best! I kick--"
"You could not beat a three year old child at Blitzball," Mariana said, pushing her way through the two. She gave them a look that shot daggers. "Dude." With Genki following diligently, Mariana shoved her way through the crowd, finally arriving at the main gates. Three young men at the front of the line gave her an odd look, with the one in long brown hair holding a Blitzball just outright glaring. She heard him mutter a few things, then, "Dona," before being hit upside the head by the tallest, dark blond one. The last one let out a snort of laughter, and Mariana shook her head. Children.
She approached the main guard next to the gate and gave a curt bow. "Hello. I am Summoner Mariana, and I must get through so I can go to see the temple." Genki nodded eagerly.
The guard, a muscular man with long, dark reddish hair, shook his head. "Sorry, Lady Mariana, but my orders are not to let anyone--"
She stepped closer. "Perhaps you did not hear me. I must get through. I did not ask you." Mariana gave a glare that pierced the man's heart straight through with fear. "Do you understand what I am saying?"
He gave a deep bow. "I am sorry, my Lady, but I cannot--I cannot do that, my orders are otherwise. You--you'll have to talk to my boss, I, ah--" He put his hands out in front of him. "Wait right here." With that, he ran quickly in through the gate, shouting out for his boss.
One of the young men behind Mariana, the tall one, tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around on him. "What?"
"That was rather rude, especially for a summoner," he pointed out. Pushing his wire-frame glasses up his nose, he continued. "You should apologize when he returns."
She stood up taller, managing to reach the boy's chin with her height. "I will do nothing of the sort. My pilgrimage is more important than any orders he has received." Mariana poked a long, painted nail at his nose. "And you are nothing compared to a summoner."
"I beg to differ, however, opinions always change from one person to another." The young man stepped back and gave a short bow. He pointed to the gate. "And so he returns."
The blond's companions began peppering him with questions as Mariana turned her attention back to the redheaded guard. He had indeed returned, and this time with an older man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. The man gave an elaborate bow before smacking his younger companion across the back of the head.
"Pardon my employee, Lady Mariana, he is very ignorant." Waving them ahead, he used his other hand to once again thwap the redhead. "Idiot!" he whispered hoarsely. He then followed Mariana and Genki meekly, asking them of their needs.
The three young men just outside the gate stared.
"She's not the one, is she?" the brown-haired one asked.
"She can't be--she's too old," the last one said, tugging at his braid. He turned to the tallest one. "Isn't that what you said?"
He nodded. "Right. She's sixteen, and the other two are sixteen and thirteen." He looked past the gate, watching Mariana go on her way.
"So we keep on."
*-*-*-*-*
Yueh was sitting with her head in her hands in the temple's main chambers, having a couple of minor scratches from the fight treated by the village nurse. She had tried to shove her away, as she was the least injured, but the woman insisted on tending to every last wound on the mage.
"There are others more in need," she had finally said, turning away from the lady. The woman paused before giving a small bow, picking up her things and leaving. This left Yueh alone to sulk, among other things.
She stared down the hallway to the left. She hadn't heard a single thing from that direction in over an hour. At first, there had been screams and shouts, yelling about who was more critically injured. The sobbing came immediately thereafter. The crying that cut into Yueh's soul and conscience. Yueh leaned forward, having lost the strength to cry long ago.
This came first...and then I find out Sin hit the southern coast. Her bangs brushed her bare knees as she shook her head. I thought I could stop it before...before anything happened. Yueh shut her eyes tight. And now this. I...
How can we go on?
Footsteps from down the hallway interrupted her thoughts. Kihou limped out of the doorway and stopped next to Yueh. He remained silent for a moment.
"What is it?"
Kihou let out a small cough. "Lady Arashi would like you to go in now." He gestured down the hallway with one hand. Yueh pushed herself up from her seat. Kihou held out a hand to help her along, but she simply walked on by, leaving the elder priest stunned for a moment before seating himself to rest.
Yueh walked in cautiously, tapping on the doorframe lightly to announce her presence. Kiri looked away from a kneeling Arashi to smile kindly at Yueh. How can she smile at a time like this? Yueh's face contorted lightly before she saw who Arashi was kneeling next to
Niet was sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling steadily with each breath she took. At least she's breathing. Yueh crept closer and stood behind Arashi, next to Kiri. Kiri leaned in to whisper to Yueh.
"Lady Arashi's been using white magic for the past half an hour on Niet," Kiri explained quietly. She turned back to watch Arashi continue working. "When we managed all we could with our medicines on both, Lady Arashi..." Kiri leaned her head to one side, looking confused. Yueh blinked and silently urged her on. "Well, Lady Arashi hit herself on the forehead and said 'baka...'" Kiri shook her head. "She pushed us all away and began her magic."
Yueh managed a smile, her dark mood lifting slightly. She forgot she had magic. ...so did I, I guess. Yueh coughed and stepped next to Arashi.
"Leave us be, please, Kiri."
Kiri gave a shaky bow before departing silently. She closed the curtain door behind her. Yueh sat next to Arashi, setting her flute on the bed next to Niet. She took a deep breath before speaking.
"Is she going to be okay?" Arashi's silence scared her, but finally the girl removed her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose and spoke.
"She'll be fine, I think." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I managed to heal the major wounds, but her arm is probably going to be achy for a while, and that scar..." She hung her head. "That scar is going to stay, I'm afraid."
A constant reminder of my mistake, Yueh thought with a sigh. What she said, however, was, "At least she's not dead...right?"
Arashi nodded and placed her glasses back on her nose. "Right." Standing up, she slowly walked to the other side of the room. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked upon the figure in the bed next to her. "Ben, however..."
Yueh's voice squeaked. "He's not dead, is he?"
Arashi shook her head. "Far from it. But...Niet's rapier did something to his leg besides stab and slash it." She gently lifted the blanket to reveal the young man's lower thigh, which now had a fresh, bright red slash from the top of the kneecap to the middle of his thigh. Yueh winced, but Arashi remained unfazed. "They stopped the bleeding, which is when I remembered I had white magic. I got it to heal over, but, well..." She set the blanket back in its place. "Niet's rapier had a paralysis charm on it added recently. She must have done it right before we came to New Besaid." Staring Yueh straight in the eyes, she went on. "His muscles in his leg probably won't function correctly for quite a while."
"...how long?"
Arashi kneeled next to the bed, rubbing her knees lightly. "Ugh, this floor is hard. I won't know for sure until he wakes up." Yueh watched as Arashi unwrapped the bandages around the young man's head. They were stained a bright crimson, but they didn't get anything on her hands when she removed them. Arashi laid them on the small bedside table and put her hands on Ben's head. The air around her hands glowed white, and the glow transferred from her hands to Ben's scarred head. The light ceased, and Arashi leaned back. Yueh waited with baited breath as Ben's eyes fluttered open.
His eyes darted back and forth from Yueh to Arashi. He coughed lightly, wincing as he did so. "I--Chocobo Eater--"
Arashi put a hand over his mouth. "Sh. The fiend is dead." He tried to sit up, but Yueh helped to keep him down.
"You--you're already hurt enough," Yueh said, keeping a hand on his shoulder. Ben relented, but didn't look happy about it. She attempted a smile. "But, hey, you're alive, right?
Ben groaned as he shifted in his bed. "Barely."
Arashi smiled widely. "You'll be fine." She stood back up once again, keeping a hand on the table next to her, Yueh noted. "Just rest, and--your leg..." Ben blinked slowly before Arashi continued. "Niet's rapier pierced your leg when you hit the hut. It had some sort of paralysis effect on it, and your muscles might not work right for a while." Ben nodded weakly. Arashi patted him lightly on the shoulder, smiling again. "I'll have Kiri get you something to drink." She called Kiri, and Yueh turned her attention back to Niet.
Kneeling next to the bed as Arashi had done, Yueh sighed deeply. "I...sorry, Niet." She shook her head, bangs gently waving from side to side. "I never meant--"
"Not your fault." The sudden voice made Yueh jump. Niet was awake and beginning to sit up, albeit slowly. Yueh leaned back, and Niet gave a wild grin, eyes half closed. "It was Ben's." Niet laughed, and after a few short seconds, Yueh did as well.
Sometimes...we really should laugh.