**GOMEN NASAI MINNA-SAN!!!! GOMEN NASAIIIIII!!!! ::bows incessantly:: I'm soooo sorry that I haven't updated in so long. My senior year is being heck to me, as it is to most seniors, lol. Anyway, here's the update, and I'm almost done with the story--not to mention I have a sudden inspiration to write it for some reason. So, enjoy (hopefully) and if you feel like it, review. Those make me post more. ^_~;; Ja ne! --Jedi Ari**
"Okiiite!" Arashi screamed the next morning, ambushing everyone's tents. "Okite, okite, okite!! Time to wake uuup!" She toppled over onto her own empty tent, it collapsing underneath her weight. She continued yelling, "Wake up!" even as she lay there.
Yueh rubbed her eyes and sat up in her own halfway-collapsed tent. Arashi must've fallen on it during her screaming, she mused. Her brown eyes turned to Niet, still soundly asleep in the other sleeping bag. Yueh shot her with a mini-bolt of lightning, sending Niet straight up and out of the tent.
"I'm up, I'm up!"
Yueh let out a laugh, glad no one would ever do that to her, then stretched out and pulled herself out of the tent. Arashi was flailing on top of her own tent, smiling and still shouting. Gage was already up, shaking his head as he watched Arashi flop like a fish out of water. Hunter and Mattian were just dragging themselves out of their own tent.
Mattian winced at the summoner's shouts. "Can you keep it down? I didn't get much sleep last night and I've got a killer head ache."
"Ah ah ah!" Niet said, shaking a finger at him and grinning. "Auron wouldn't whine about being sleepy!"
"That I would not," Auron's voice came from Arashi's belt, now back in its proper place.
"Yeah, you're just always a grumpy-pants, no matter how much sleep you get!" Rikku's voice chimed in. Yueh's group laughed, while Auron simply let out a "hmph" from inside his jewel.
"Hush, you two!" Arashi admonished, finally getting up. "We're going to see Sin today, and being grumpy is not an option!" She brushed off her skirt. "That includes Mr. Grumpy-pants himself."
This time, Auron was silent, but Rikku could be heard giggling from the belt. Arashi simply smiled.
"Anyway, we've gotta get going," Arashi said, a bit more serious. "To Yunalesca's lair. The deep ruins of Zanarkand."
The group became silent. Yueh swallowed and bit her lip. The final battle…
"So, grab your weapons and bags, leave the tents."
This simple statement caused an uproar.
"Leave the tents?"
"Why leave the tents?"
"Dat's, like, a bad omen, ya?"
"We need a place to sleep!"
"When we get back," Arashi said quietly but firmly. "We'll use the tents when we get back."
No one said the unspoken phrase, but Yueh was sure they all thought it. If we get back.
"So!" Arashi said, clapping her hands together, "Grab your bags and weapons, and let's head out to kick some butt!"
"Ya, dat's th' way!" Hunter cheered, pumping a fist. "Ya!"
"Awright! Let's go!" Niet shouted, swinging her rapier around. In her excitement, she swung it near Mattian, who ducked just in time. A few pieces of hair got skimmed off the top of his skull. Yueh winced and waited for the backlash.
Mattian reached out and grabbed Niet's rapier's handle. "Stop throwing that around. You nearly cut my head off!"
"Maybe I should have," Niet retorted, sticking out her tongue. Mattian gritted his teeth and began muttering.
"Why you…"
"Ah, another chase," Arashi said rather happily as the always-bickering duo ran off. "At least they always seem to run in the right direction. Follow those two!" With that, Arashi ran off, laughing.
Gage blinked before turning to his other two companions. "Oh, boy. C'mon, guys, we'd better book it if we wanna keep up." Gage took off, following the summoner.
"I guess that means its time to go," Yueh said with a shrug. She went to follow, but Hunter grabbed her shoulder. She turned around to see Hunter blushing madly. "What?"
"Um…" He quickly grabbed her hand and held it tight. "Now we can go." He ran forward and tugged on Yueh's arm. Blushing as well, she followed.
She smiled. Maybe they'd win this battle after all.
*-*-*-*-*
"Oh Yunalesca! We're heeeeere!" Arashi sang.
They had reached the vast chambers of Yunalesca after a long run. Everyone had his or her weapons out with the exception of Arashi, who was yelling throughout the echo-y chamber. Her belt was still in its place halfway around her waist as she shouted, "Yunalesca, come on! Don't you wanna fight?"
"I don't think she's comin', ya?" Hunter said finally, holding his blitzball at his side. "If she was, she'd have kill'd us by now, ya?"
"Maybe she's boding her time, trying to scare us," Gage suggested, shrugging. He put his sword point down into the ground and leaned on it. "Not that it's really working at the moment."
Yueh bit her lip. She just wanted to get this over with, and quickly. Yueh walked around the chamber, a shot of lightning at the ready. She crept around the chamber, peeking around corners and columns.
"I don't see anything," Niet said, sitting down. She yawned. "Boring."
"Get up!" Mattian growled, pulling Niet up by the back of her tanktop. "You don't want to be taken by surprise, idiot!"
"Why you—"
"I'd suggest that both of you be quiet," Arashi said suddenly. All eyes were quite quickly upon her.
"Why?" Yueh finally asked.
"Because we have company of a different sort," she explained, pointing to a far reach of the chambers. Everyone turned to look in the farthest corner of the place, only to find two figures standing there:
Mariana and Genki.
"What're you doing here?" Niet shouted, her rapier at the ready.
"We will fight you!" Yueh added, holding up her lightning encased hands.
Mariana held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I do not wish to fight. I've been waiting for you to arrive." Putting her hands back down, she smiled. "Arashi might know this. She spoke to me before."
Hunter's brown eyes looked at Arashi, confused. "She did?"
"Yes, I did speak to her before," Arashi said, stepping forward. "In dreams, we spoke. Although, I didn't expect her here, of all places. At least, not without having sacrificed herself for Sin."
"I found out a few things on my way here," Mariana began, taking a hold of one of Genki's hands. "In doing so, I knew that sacrificing myself in the traditional way wouldn't help anyone at all. Instead, I helped you." She waved a hand at the empty chambers. "Yunalesca has been taken care of and sent. Its…its all clear for you."
"…thanks," Yueh said, unsure. "I still don't quite trust you."
"Understandable," Mariana said, nodding. "But go ahead and take care of Sin. I know you have a plan. Isn't that right, Arashi?"
It was Arashi's turn to smile. "Yup. First, we gotta call him here." Pushing up her sleeves, she walked back towards the center of the room. "And I know just how to get him here."
"Do I want to know?" Gage asked Niet under his breath.
"Probably not."
Yueh watched as Arashi grabbed her belt and began swinging it around, as if performing a sending. Music chords began to rise up throughout the chamber, coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Blue and pink shining lights surrounded her, completely engulfing her for a moment.
"What's happening?" Niet shouted.
"I have no clue," Yueh replied, watching.
The cloud of lights burst away, revealing Arashi in her normal outfit, only differently hued. Her shirt was now a beautiful, cherry blossom pink, and her skirt was white at the top, dissolving into a sky blue at the very bottom. Her belt was wrapped around her right forearm, the jewels sparkling in turn.
"Here we go!" she shouted. A microphone appeared in her right hand. "Atrah's favorite songs, in no particular order! Starting with…"
"Chikazukitai yo, kimi no risou ni, otonashiku nare nai—"
"You've got t'be kiddin' me, ya?" Hunter shouted incredulously.
Yueh blinked. "Utada Hikaru's—"
"Can you keep a secret?"
As the song's "hit it off like this, hit it off like this, oh baby" lines went off in the background, Arashi looked at Niet and Yueh with a conspiratorial look in her eyes. "C'mon guys…join in!"
Niet put her hands out in front of her. "No way, I don't even know all the words!"
"Same here!" Yueh said, stepping forward. "I know the melody, but Japanese—"
The two were pulled forwards next to the summoner in a cloud of blue and pink smoke. Their clothes were changed much the same, Yueh with a pink tank top and darker pink armwarmers and blue khakis with pink cuffs, and Niet with her white tank top over a pink one, a blue armband, and matching pants with pink colored cuffs as well. They both had microphones appear in their hands.
"Woo! Pop performance, ya?" Hunter shouted, pumping a fist happily. "Yeah!"
"But—"
Words in shifting blue and light pink appeared on the empty, dark chamber walls in front of the trio. A moogle-like apparition appeared atop the first syllable, ready to go.
"Follow the bouncing moogle!" Arashi yelled out.
"Koko kara zutto okutte'ru angou…
Kimi wa mada kaidoku dekitanai, come on!"
The ground began to rumble as the music picked up a bit. The guys, Mariana, and Genki went to catch their footing, but Arashi grinned and gave a quick glance to Yueh and Niet during the small break in music.
"Tsutaeyo wo yame yo
Kono mama kakusou
Nigekirena kunaru made
Shinjiyou dame yo
Mada utagae sou da mono!"
"It's working!" Mattian shouted, shocked as the ground gave another hefty rumble.
"Somehow, yes, it is," Gage agreed, finally falling to the ground, unable to keep his balance. He sighed and shook his head. "Somehow, it is."
The trio of girls went on singing, all three finally getting into the whole deal of acting like a pop singer. They began dancing a bit as well, and were actually having quite a bit of fun with it all as they reached the chorus.
"Chikazukitai yo kimi no risou ni
Otonashiku nare nai
Can you keep a secret?
Kanashikunai yo…"
*-*-*-*-*
Atrah and Tidus were playing blitzball (again) to try and pass the time, kicking it back and forth, each trying to catch the other off guard. Tidus was kicking it back to Atrah when the second boy stopped and ran to the window to the world. The ball bounced off the wall and back into an unsuspecting Tidus' stomach, throwing him to the ground.
"Hey, what's up? You were supposed to catch it!" Atrah didn't respond, but instead pressed his ear to the window. "What're you doing?"
"I hear something…" Atrah's ear was now flat against the glass, and he could hear the song faintly, but clearly.
"Chikazukitai yo, kimi no risou ni…"
Leaning back, he grinned. "That's Arashi! That's gotta be her!"
Tidus put his head to the window and listened. "How d'you know?"
"Only she would sing a Japanese song to try and find me." Atrah began looking around their mini-prison within Sin. "She's calling us. She's figured something out and needs us. We've gotta get moving." He began pounding the walls, as if trying to find a hidden panel. "How'd we move this thing last time?"
"I dunno!" Tidus said, copying Atrah. "Maybe if we—ack, I don't know!"
Finally, Atrah just looked up at the ceiling and screamed, "Hey, Sin! Or whoever the heck you are! We wanna move, and we wanna find the person who's singing that music! Bring us there now!" He pounded against one of the walls to emphasize his point. "NOW!"
"Yeah!" Tidus joined in, screaming loudly and rather high pitched. "Get movin', you big fat blob!"
"Move it!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's get a move on—whoa!"
Both were quickly thrown to the back of the "room" with incredible force. Atrah looked over to Tidus, grinning widely.
"I think we're moving, huh?" he said, laughing.
"No kidding!" Tidus replied.
Atrah closed his eyes, still laughing. He could hear the music coming, getting ever closer with each passing second.
"I'm coming, Arashi! I'm coming!"
*-*-*-*-*
"How much longer now?" Niet asked after the song was finished.
"Well, I dare say we could use another tune!" Arashi said, giving a lop-sided grin to both girls. They returned it.
"What did you have in mind?" Yueh asked, laughing.
Techno music with a loud banjo melody began to play, increasing in volume as time passed. Niet snorted.
"Yamerarenai? From Tenchi Muyo?" she asked.
"But of course!" Arashi said, spinning around once. "He loves techno, and this one has lyrics!"
"This is techno?" Gage asked from the back, a look of disbelief set on his face.
"Yup!" The ground began to shake even more, which made Arashi smile even wider. "He's getting closer! Here we go!"
"Yamerarenai, yamerarenai,
Yamerarenai, yamerarenai
Asane yokukashi hirune
Yamerarenai, yamerarenai,
Yamerarenai, yamerarenai
Tsumamigui yashoku ochazuke!"
Suddenly, the top of the chambers burst open, and the ceiling began to fall down around the singers—and everyone else. The music cut out and the singers outfits went back to their normal hues as everyone scattered to the far corners of the room.
"Everyone! Surround a magic user!" Yueh shouted, trying to take charge.
Arashi nodded in agreeance, getting what Yueh was planning on doing. "Mages, cast Shell and Protect ASAP! Even if you don't know the white magic spell, just try!" Arashi jumped into a corner with Mattian and Niet, while Yueh, Gage, and Hunter huddled together in another corner. Genki and Mariana remained in their place, as they were next to each other to begin with.
"Mages! On the count of three!" Yueh shouted over the deafening roar of the chamber. "One! Two! THREE!"
Three spells of Shell and Protect went off simultaneously, sending rings of white magic echoing throughout what was left of the ceiling and walls of the room. The falling ceiling stones bounced harmlessly off of the Shells, clattering to the floor next to them.
Once the shaking stopped, Yueh dared to look up at the now open-top chamber. She swallowed hard and struggled to keep her eyes open.
Sin was there in front of her, looking down upon all of them.