**Whee! A new chap. What's new? Um...the next update won't be for about a week and a half. I've been gone from school and have to catch up, guys! Gomen! But please enjoy this chapter while you wait...Ja! And please review if you feel so inclined. ^_^**
Yueh was thankful that, by the time the four girls had just walked past the kitchen, Arashi awoke in the priest's arms. She simply hopped from his grasp and walked into the kitchen, commenting on how delicious everything smelled.
Yueh blinked slowly, and Katy pointed. "Is she...does she do things like that a lot?"
Niet shrugged. "She's always doing weird stuff. Now, let's eat!" She jogged in the kitchen after Arashi, leaving Katy, Yueh, and the priest to stare. Finally, Yueh and Katy followed and sat down across from Arashi and Niet, grabbed a plate each, and dug into the smorgasbord.
As they ate, Yueh laid out the itinerary for the last legs of the pilgrimage.
"We'll use the wagon as far as we can. The chocobos should be able to carry us until Mount Gagazet, and from there on we'll have to walk again." Niet groaned, and Yueh went on regardless. "From there, it's to...well, you guys know. And we'll tackle it and reach it before Mariana can even lay eyes on it." She nodded to finish her statement and took another mouthful of rice and beef.
It was then that Arashi looked up and past Yueh, smiling. She laughed and said, "Well, gals, you'll never guess who just walked in."
Yueh turned around to see, of all people, Ben. His hair was still bleach blond, but he had even more of a tan than he had had when they'd first met him. He gave a lopsided grin and threw out a small, mock salute.
"Yo." He scratched the back of his head. "Can I...sit down?" He gestured to the seat next to a now red-faced Katy. Yueh and Arashi nodded and Ben gave a short bow as thanks. He looked around nervously before talking in a rather low whisper.
"I heard that you got sick, Arashi, so I bolted out to check up on you. Most of the good games were already over, anyway," he explained, taking a plate and piling on food. "When I got to the other temple, they said you had left, so I skipped past the Moonflow and got here, and--" he quieted his voice even more, to Yueh's annoyance "--I saw the whole deal with Mariana. I don't know what exactly is up, but it doesn't sound good. I feel sorry for Genki."
Yueh sighed. "We're leaving after we eat to catch up and pass her. As for Genki...I dunno."
Katy looked up from her plate and at Ben, then to Arashi. "Um…who's he?"
Ben smacked his forehead with his palm. "Sorry! I should have--I'm Ben. I was a sort of…um…" He looked to Arashi and Niet for the words. "…a…tag-along?"
Katy nodded and stared again at her plate. Ben coughed uneasily in the silence.
"Um…what's your name?"
"…Katy," she said quietly.
Yueh grinned as the two looked at each other for a long moment. Another relationship, I guess…
*-*-*-*-*
They took off to the temple a short while later, Katy and Ben conversing at the end of their little line. Arashi headed the way in, and when they stepped into the Cloister of Trials, the five of them split apart and began working on the puzzle to enter. Katy managed to piece the whole thing together, and the five entered the waiting room outside the Chamber of the Fayth. Arashi had just opened the door, so the other four were settling in for a good length of a stay when the blond was rocketed back and straight into Ben. The two hit the wall, and the door to the Chamber slammed shut.
Yueh ran to the two on the floor and began talking rapidly. "Arashi! Arashi, are you okay? Can you talk? Did you break anything?" Arashi tapped her head, where her goggles normally sat. "You hurt your head?"
"No," she said slowly, "I lost my goggles. They're jammed in the Fayth's door." She pointed, and Yueh followed where her finger led to the pair of red-lensed goggles stuck in the very corner of the door.
"That and I really hurt my thigh…" She trailed off and stood up uneasily. Limping to the door, she began to tug on the goggles.
"But--what happened?" Niet babbled. "I mean, what about the Fayth? The aeon? Did you get it, or--why did you--?"
"I got it," Arashi said quietly. She continued to pull on the goggles. "I can tell that I received the aeon, but the Fayth..." She trailed off as she gave a final tug on her goggles, which freed themselves from the door, again flinging Arashi a good distance backwards. Sticking them triumphantly on her neck, she went on. "The only reason I can see is that, is that..."
"The Fayth sense the need for us to hurry," Yueh finished. Arashi nodded. Sighing, Yueh sat back down on the stone floor. She hung her head down low. "Wonderful..."
"So we should get going, right?" Katy piped up. Ben stood up finally and nodded once.
"Yeah. Right away." He stomped out of the room, Katy following closely behind. Arashi came after them, and Niet and Yueh were the last out.
They set out for the Calm Lands immediately thereafter. Ben, Katy, and Niet remained in the back, while Yueh took on the job of driving with Arashi as the navigator.
"We should tell Ben and Katy to stay in the Calm Lands once we pass through," Yueh said quietly. Arashi gave her a small glance, her gray eyes rather calm.
"Why?"
Yueh's bangs covered her eyes and she simply stared down the road. "I don't want them to get hurt. Katy's seen enough bad things, and we already almost killed Ben once." She shook her head. "I don't want either of them killed in this craziness."
Arashi nodded thoughtfully and looked back at the two aforementioned people. "I don't think they'd quite mind staying with each other..."
"Really?" Yueh turned back for a moment, and saw the two leaning against each other silently, with Niet's nose busy in her book. Giving a small chuckle, she faced forward once more. "I guess you're right."
"Some good things do come out of bad things, Yueh," Arashi said slowly. Yueh gave her a quick look. Arashi's eyes were trained on the road as she spoke. "Good things can come out of the bad."
"I guess you're right," Yueh said again. She kept her eyes on the road and gently tapped the reins. "But we still need to hurry. We...I need to get to Zanarkand before they do. Before Mariana..."
"I know, Yueh." She could hear just a hint of sadness in Arashi's voice. "I know..."
The jewels on her belt glinted in the sunlight, and Yueh finally asked what she had been dying to know.
"Arashi...where'd you get that belt? And the glasses?"
Arashi let out a small giggle. Waving her hand, she shook her head. "A friend. You'll find out, soon enough." She let out a happy sigh. "Soon enough..."
Yueh just groaned under her breath. "I should've known that you wouldn't have told me..."
Arashi simply went into another fit of giggles. Sighing, Yueh sped up the chocobos to their full speed. Arashi took a look at the yellow-feathered creatures and shouted out to the back, "Hold on tight!"
Yueh braced herself, and hoped that Niet and the others had heard Arashi yell out. Arashi held onto the wagon with one hand and grinned as she threw a large Hastega spell at the chocobos. Everyone already in the wagon was flung to the very back, and both girls in the front were almost thrown into the wagon. Yueh let out a yell of pure joy and grinned back at Arashi.
Good things really do come out of the bad. They really, honestly do...
*-*-*-*-*
They reached the Calm Lands in the middle of the night, with the only one awake being Yueh. The Hastega had worn off a few hours ago, but the chocobos still seemed to be feeling aftereffects of the spell. Their steps seemed lighter than usual.
Arashi had fallen asleep on Yueh's shoulder, but with every bump, she came closer and closer to falling into the wagon. Ben and Katy had fallen asleep in each others arms, a large blanket over them, and Niet had her book rested on her stomach, rising and falling with each breath she took.
Quite quickly, the restful mood of the Calm Lands became full of chaos. Three anacondaurs were slithering towards the wagon at a high speed, and one fired a stone beam right over Yueh's head. She ducked, and the blanket covering Katy and Ben turned into a very heavy stone. The two woke up screaming, and that quickly woke the other two girls up.
"What? Huh? Nani?" Arashi said, sitting up. Another stone beam shot straight at Arashi.
"Look out!" Yueh shouted. She shoved Arashi into the wagon, and she tumbled over with a small screech. The beam this time hit a backpack, morphing it into stone and consequently breaking the back wheel of the wagon and bringing the whole ride to a rather unpleasant halt. The chocobos began squealing and trying to go in opposite directions of one another.
"Everyone up! Anacondaur attack! Wagon broke! Up!" Yueh shouted finally. She hopped out of the wagon and pulled out her flute. Niet was groggy and stumbled out of the wagon. Ben and Katy were trapped underneath the stone blanket, so Arashi jumped up and tried to break the thing by hopping on it a few times. The stone finally cracked under her weight, and Ben managed to free him and Katy.
All five of them were finally out of the wagon and facing the anacondaurs, all three of whom did not look particularly happy. Just behind them, Yueh could see two figures, now stone, which had been running from the sinspawn before they were frozen.
"Anacondaurs!" Niet shouted sleepily. She yawned and went on. "About 6000 HP each. Absorbs thunder...it shouldn't--" another yawn "--it shouldn't take us long." She tossed her book haphazardly back into the wagon, which shook and cracked the first wheel once more.
"Nice one," Yueh muttered. She grabbed her flute and began a usual melody, dancing as she went to dodge the stone beams. Ben and Niet began slashing wildly at the one farthest to the right, and Katy began throwing some sort of water gem at the one on the left. Arashi began singing again, in a different rhythm than when she called Ifrit or Tsuki.
Niet and Ben did a final X-mark slash on the third anacondaur, striking it with an overkill that sent it flying into pyreflies. They began helping Katy with the first one, and Yueh finished her melody that sent a large wave of water straight at the second anacondaur, bringing it down to half of its health.
Arashi had finished chanting, and the sky seemed to part as Bahamut came flying down until it stood in front of the summoner. Yueh stared at it in awe for a moment, suddenly remembering a time when she had thought all of this was just some glorious game.
"Betty!" Betty?!? "Itte!" Arashi pointed at the anacondaur, and Bahamut responded with a roar and a quick tackle sort of attack into the sinspawn. It scattered into pyreflies and ceased to be.
"Yeah!" Yueh shouted out. She watched as Niet and Ben finished the last anacondaur without a hitch. Ben and Katy went to collect the spoils, and Yueh pointed out the two stone statues of people just in the distance.
The trio ran up to the two statues.
"I can't see well enough," Arashi said, peering at one of the faces of the statues. "Can we get a little light, Yueh?"
"With pleasure." Yueh brought up a small Fire spell, resting it just above her hands. She brought the flame near the first figure's face. The light shone on a young girl's face that Yueh didn't recognize.
"Okay, now this one," Arashi said. Yueh nodded and brought the flame up to the second face. All three gasped with recognition.
"O'aka?!?"