A/N Hey, it's the chapter you've all been waiting for...The Gullwings get to kick Seymour's butt! Wow. This fic is coming to an end. But not just yet! Anyway, on with the story! Sorry it's late. And I think I'm lying. They don't kick his butt in this chappie. That's the next one.
Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy x2 and all that, but I do own the character that I made up for this chappie! Yay! :p
Special note for...Ultimate Xdeath: yes! Yes it does! I knew that! No I'm lying. I didn't. Ain't I dumb? Which makes me wonder why I'm in the top group for almost everything at school... Thanks!
Cid looked at the man. His mouth hung open. He took a deep breath. "Did you just say, we're falling?" the man nodded. Cid rushed over to the window. "Well I'll be. So we are" he whispered. "So we are." He watched as the ship took a vertical dive down. The sky got further, and the sea closer. He closed his eyes. And then he heard a crash. And that was it.
Yuna wrinkled up her nose, as a damp, musty smell came from the cave, up to her. "Ugh! Does it always smell like this?" she asked Tidus. He shrugged. "I don't remember it." She looked to Paine. Paine just shook her head. Yuna sighed. This was going to be a long day. She jumped into the cave. Her boots landed in something very, very squelchy. "Ewwww! This place is getting worse!"
"Its almost like its, rotting." Tidus looked at Paine. "How do you mean, rotting?" Paine looked at the floor, then jumped in herself. "Hey! What do you mean rotting!" Paine turned to look at him. Her face had a sarcastic look on it. Tidus wasn't sure he wanted to know what she was going to say. Yuna looked back at them. "Hey, you guys coming or what?" Paine blinked at Tidus, then turned and walked to Yuna. Tidus sighed, and jumped in the cave, landing in the squelchy thing, and slipped up. Yuna laughed. He was becoming more like Rikku. She half expected him to say owie. She had forgiven him for what he said, put it down to stress, as Buddy said she should. But she couldn't help enjoying the position he was in at the moment. Whatever the squelchy thing was, it was all on him now. She stopped laughing when a crackly voice spoke to her. "Yunie, its Rikku, are you alright?" Yuna smiled as her cousin's voice picked up hopefully. "Yes we're fine, but even if we weren't, there is no way you're getting out of that bed to help us! If we need help we'll ask Gippal or someone. Ok?" She heard her cousin give out a frustrated sigh. "Yunie, I have never been so bored in my whole entire life! Get me out of here!" Yuna rolled her eyes and switched off her transmitter. (I don't know if that's what it's called, but it sounded kinda right.)
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Rikku stared at the wall. It was the most interesting thing to do at the moment. She sighed, kicked her legs around, under the covers. Honestly, she felt fine. Her back barely hurt anymore. But no one believed her. She was bored of waiting around. She was bored of sitting there doing nothing. She was so bored! She let out a small scream. Unfortunately, Brother had his radar way up, for anything sounds of distress, and was up there in seconds. "What's wrong?! What happened?! Rikku?" She stared at him. Then she kicked the covers off, and shakily stood up. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm getting up, and I'm going to help Yunie!"
"Oh no you're not! Vydran fuimt gemm sa!"(Father would kill me)
"E tuhd lyna!" (I don't care) and she reached into her pocket. "Cunno." (Sorry) and she pulled out a sleep grenade. She threw it at him. He fell asleep instantly. Smiling, she picked up her garment grid. Then she changed into songstress and put the grid in her pocket.
Rikku poked her head round the door. Buddy was there. She smiled and stepped out. Buddy noticed her. "Hey! Shouldn't you be in bed?" She smiled wider. "I think maybe you should be in bed. You look tired."
"Really? I don't feel tired."
"I can change that." Buddy frowned at her. Then Rikku danced sleepy slumber. Buddy stared at her, then found himself falling asleep. He slumped against the wall and slid down. Rikku grinned. Now she only had to deal with Shinra.
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Yuna slid along the floor. It was like ice. It was like the cave had melted, but now they were walking on, it had frozen over. She spotted a fiend nearby, and shot it. She killed it in one hit. "Too easy. Got anything better?"
"Maybe I can be better." Yuna's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. She looked behind her to Paine and Tidus, but they weren't there. She looked in front of her, but she couldn't see them anywhere. "Paine? Tidus? Are you there?" She waited for an answer, but all she could hear was silence. Then, "I don't think you'll find your friends." Yuna bit her lip. "W-who's there?" a figure stepped out from the shadows. Yuna had stopped sliding along the floor. She stepped towards the figure. The figure stepped towards her. It was like a shadow itself. She couldn't see anything apart from its outline. She was reminded of when they fought Maechen down there. That battle was over quickly. It was hard, but not hard enough she thought. She wondered if this would be the same. But she couldn't do it alone. She hadn't defeated Sin on her own. Or Vegnagun. Although an ordinary fiend she could do on her own. She remembered something Beclem had said to her, ages ago, when she first met him. "Summoners are worthless now. I don't know how you beat Sin anyway." Or something like that. She wasn't sure if he did say I don't know how you beat Sin, but she could tell that's what he meant. She showed him though. She beat his gunner's gauntlet. But it would have been so much easier to do these things if she could still summon. Maybe summoners really were worthless. "Indeed. Maybe they are." Yuna's eyes widened, and she bit her tongue to stop herself from gasping. Whoever or whatever the figure was, it had just read her thoughts, and that was not allowed! "It's allowed for me." Yuna's mouth dropped open. She checked herself though, and closed it. "Who are you?" the figure stepped closer. She caught a glimpse of its face. Or her face. She was beautiful, but Yuna could see the sadness on her face. Long black hair flowed down her back. She had dark blue eyes that seemed to know everything. She had olive coloured skin. But what really surprised Yuna, was that she gave off a feeling. A feeling like you shouldn't worry. A feeling like you were safe in her presence. And apart from the mind reading and snobby way of saying things, it looked like that was true.
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Tidus skidded to a halt. Paine stopped behind him, neatly. "Its official. We've lost her." Paine rolled her eyes. "And whose fault is that?"
"Not mine!"
"Yes it is! You had to stop to get that fiend instead of following her! You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?" Tidus winced. "Well, you didn't have to help!"
"Oh, so next time I'll leave you to die then, shall I?" she retorted. Tidus sighed. "Alright, you made your point. So how are we gonna find her?" Paine stepped forward, and overtook him. She carried on walking without saying anything. "So, we'll do it your way then?" Paine didn't even bother to look back at Tidus.
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"I for one, don't think summoners are worthless. But that's just me. But if you look at it, you were a summoner, and you went on to save the world without your aeons for a second time. And Dona still manages to make herself useful. And Isaaru, actually forget Isaaru, all he does is play with the monkeys, but Seymour still managed to..."
"Wait! What about Seymour?" the girl looked annoyed at being interrupted. "I was going to say, that Seymour still managed to hurt your friend, and, sadly, many others. And take it away."
"What away?" the girl looked even sadder. "My kingdom. My people. Almost all of them. He destroyed my palace, turned the white marble into disgusting black stone."
"Wait. White marble into black stone? I think Rikku said something about that! She said she..."
"Woke up in what looked like a palace? And that it had white marble? But as she looked at it, it changed? And maybe, that it changed to black stone?"
"Ok, you are freaking me out here!"
"I'll stop." For the first time, Yuna saw her smile. Yuna smiled back at her. The girl straightened up. "You're probably wondering who I am, right?" Yuna nodded. The girl looked at her for a moment. "I'll tell you my name soon, but first I'd better explain some things." She smiled wider, and put on a Maechen voice. "Would you like to hear a story?" Yuna laughed. "You sound just like him!"
"But younger?"
"No, I don't think so!"
"Uh! Well I'd better stop! But anyway. That white marble palace was where I lived. But Seymour came. He threw me out. He changed everything." She whispered the last bit. Yuna saw tears form in her eyes. The girl looked down. "I-I'm so sorry." The girl looked up when Yuna said this. "It' ok. I want revenge though. I want to help you. Please." Yuna blinked. She certainly didn't waste time making her point. Yuna chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." The girl brought her fists to her heart. "I wont. He can't hurt me more than he already has. Please? I can help!" Yuna sighed. She sounded so pleading. And kinda whiney. Like Rikku would. Yuna looked at her. "Are you sure you want to do this? I can't guarantee anyone's safety. Not even mine."
"You never could! You thought you were going to die, but still fought Sin!"
"Yeah, but I almost changed my mind, didn't I?" the girl grinned at her. "But that was because of him wasn't it?" Yuna felt a blush crawl up her cheeks. How did she know so much about her? "I can see your story by looking at you. I can see everyone's."
"You said you were going to stop doing that!"
"Oops! Sorry!" the girl raised her arm to her hair. As she did, Yuna noticed a charm bracelet on her wrist. It tinkled as she patted her hair. There was something strange about it. "What is that?" She looked to where Yuna was pointing. "My bracelet? It's like your garment grids, only prettier! Each charms a dressphere. Why?" Yuna shrugged. "It looks cool." The girl started digging around in her pocket. "What are you doing?"
"Finding you one of course! Oh, here we go." She handed Yuna a bracelet with dresspheres already on it. "You can attach yours if you like, but they're basically the same. Mine are a bit stronger though!" she added with a laugh.
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Rikku looked towards the sky. As she did she saw a gull. She remembered Buddy's story of how the found the ship. And above them they saw a gull. It was like it had come to save them. And then they ate it. Rikku grimaced. Well, she certainly wasn't eating any gulls. No matter how starving. She began walking towards Djose temple. Everybody just nodded at her. They didn't know she wasn't supposed to be there. They didn't know she had been hurt. Gippal however, might be more difficult. Well, she'd just have to dance him to sleep. But then she would have to put everyone who saw to sleep too. She hoped she was up to it.
She walked into the entrance. Her eyes floated to the cave. When she looked at it, she felt pain all the way up her back, and in her stomach. And laughter in her ears. She felt dizzy. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked around the room to check Gippal wasn't there. He was. But he didn't even realize she was there. To busy flirting with Elma. "Cocky bastard." she muttered under her breath. "Well, why don't you go tell him off, shorty?" Rikku jumped at the sound of the guard's voice. The same one that made fun of her before. She spun round to look at him. She was happy to see his nose looked kinda broken from where she hit it. She smirked. "Want me to break your nose again?"
"No! Geez! You women! Can't take a joke!" He walked off, sighing and shaking his head. Rikku turned back to Gippal. He was still flirting with Elma! Oh well, at least it kept him busy. She would have to tell him off about it later. She glared at his back. Then Elma noticed her. She frowned then looked at Gippal, and back to her. A smile crept on her face. Rikku shook her head violently. Elma smiled harder. She pointed at her. Gippal started to turn to look. Rikku looked around desperately. She saw the cave again. She hadn't realized she was that close to it. Her back hurt again. "Rikku? Hey! You should be in bed!" Rikku was about to jump in, when she felt a powerful hand shove her in, instead. Right on her back. "Eeeep! Owie!" she landed on her butt.
She rubbed her back. That had hurt. She heard the chilling laughter in her ears again. The boulder in front of the entrance slid into place, trapping her inside. "No! Oh poopie!"
"Oh poopie!" she heard a voice mock her. "Seymour, I swear, I will kill you!" she growled. The laughter was louder this time. It wouldn't stop. Louder and louder. She clapped her hands over her ears. "Stop! Stop!" But the laughter got even louder. It was deafening. Over the top of it she heard someone shout out to her. "Rikku? Rikku! Hey Cid's girl! What are you doing?" She had closed her eyes, and even though only one person ever calls her 'Cid's girl' she just couldn't figure out who it was. Well, actually, she thought it was Seymour, but then he was deafening her, and she was about to go crazy, so she had her reasons for not realizing it was Gippal. "Why wont you die? Why won't you die! Just go ahead and DIE!!!!!!"
"Uh, excuse me? How about a hello or something? I don't think that's the nice way of greeting people, telling them to die. But I guess my manners aren't as good as yours."
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Die! Die! Die, god damn you, die! Wait a minute...are you saying I've got bad manners! How dare you! I've got better manners than you, Gippal!" Gippal widened his eyes. "At least I don't go round telling people to die!" Rikku pouted. "I thought you were Seymour. And I may go round telling people to die, but I don't go round flirting with other people! Well, except Buddy, but I have my reasons!" she folded her arms across her chest and stared up at Gippal. Who stared down at her. "You flirt with Buddy?"
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"You know, I don't think Yuna will be down there anyway, so how about we just go ahead and leave? Huh? Please?" Paine turned back to look at Tidus. "Scared?" she couldn't believe it. She'd expect this thing from Rikku, but Tidus? Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought. Tidus went red. "No! It's just I think that maybe we should have the whole team together before we go charging into bad guy head quarters!" Paine turned to look back at the palace. If you could call it that. It was made of a gross black stone, and had huge gargoyle statues in front of it. Definitely something Seymour would go for. At least that's what Tidus said. She sighed. "Alright, but if we don't find Yuna anywhere else, we're coming straight back! Got it?" Tidus pulled a face. "Alright," he sighed, "If I have to."
"You wanna find Yuna, don't you?" Tidus nodded eagerly. Paine couldn't help but notice how much he looked like a little kid then. Or maybe a puppy. Even if he was older, she was charge at the moment. And that was the way it was staying!
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"So, what did you say your name was again?"
"Um, I didn't?"
"Yeah I know. It's like an expression to get you to say your name. So what is it?" the girl smiled at her. "Princess Leanna IV, of Cayra."
"Right. And where's that?" she laughed. "Well right here, silly! Of course that's my title, my friends call me Lea. Well, they would but..." She trailed off and bit her lip. Yuna thought she was going to cry again, so she said something hastily. "Right! Lea it is! Or princess Lea, if you prefer."
"Nope! Lea is fine! So, we are we going?" Yuna was taken aback by this. "Well, I thought you would know?"
"Oh! We're going to battle straight away?"
"Oh! No! Uh, I guess we'd better find everyone then. Where are they?" Lea looked at a wall. Yuna couldn't help staring. Lea walked up to it and laid her hand on it. She turned back to Yuna. "The cave is dying. The palace kept it alive, but Seymour ruined it. Our protector will soon be gone. And our land open to everyone. We can't let that happen! My people aren't ready for that! The machine faction shouldn't have been here anyway!" Yuna gaped at her new friend. She sounded so angry. It was different to how she had been before. Yuna got the feeling that Lea had incredible power. She wouldn't want to be on her wrong side. Suddenly Yuna felt anger too. This was the second time her eternal calm had been threatened. Whatever Seymour was up to, he couldn't be allowed to do it. They had to stop him! She felt all of her anger fade, so quickly. She couldn't work out where it came from. Then it hit her. They were Lea's feelings. They had passed on to her, in her own anger. In her own style, as Tidus would say. She frowned at the princess. She really was powerful. But the feeling of safeness increased. Yuna would've thought it would decrease. Why did everything have to be so confusing? "That's what makes life interesting." Yuna blinked at her. "You said you would stop doing that."
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For either Rikku or Gippal, the walk in the cave wasn't a nice one. Seeing as they weren't talking to each other, it wouldn't be. Rikku was sulking because Gippal had been flirting with Elma, and Gippal was sulking, because she had kept telling him to die. And that she flirted with Buddy. "Why do you flirt with Buddy anyway?" he had asked her. Rikku smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know." Gippal had glared at her. For the rest of the time they hadn't spoken since. Rikku didn't plan on telling him this, but her flirting with Buddy was one of their childhood jokes. When Rikku, 13, had come to Buddy, 15, and asked him how to flirt. She was good friends with him, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. So they had practiced on each other, and had been doing so ever since. But Rikku didn't think this was the sort of story that would make Gippal turn green with envy. Not that he could turn green. She couldn't help wondering what a green Gippal would look like. Probably kinda cute, in a hulkish way. (You know, the green dude, who goes round destroying things when he gets angry.) She kept glancing at him, trying to imagine it. He noticed and smirked. "You just cant keep your eyes off me, can ya Cid's girl?" Rikku's cheeks turned a deeply unattractive shade of red. She was going to say something cunning and witty, (She could practically hear Paine go, 'Yeah, right.') when she decided the truth would surprise him more. "Actually, Gippal, I was imagining you, green. If you want to know." She stuck her nose in the air and looked to see what his reaction was. She was pleased with it. Gippal looked horrified. "Don't worry, I think you'd look good in green." There. She was being nice. But of course, with him being Gippal and all, he couldn't return it. "You think I'd look good in anything. Admit it! You think I'm hot!" Rikku let out a scream. "You are such a pig headed...MEANIE!" She screamed again, and stomped ahead. "What? What I say?" Gippal had no idea about her did he? What happened to the other Gippal? Did her pops scare him away? Hmm. Rikku turned round and narrowed her eyes at him, as if that would help her see. It didn't, if you're wondering. It completely sucked. Before he was so nice, now he was...Gippal. Great. "Are you checking me out? You are aren't you?" He was grinning at her. He reached out and pulled her bandana over her eyes. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"You'll have to wait and see!" he started spinning her round. "Aaaaaahhhhh! No! I'm getting dizzy!" He grinned wider. He stopped, and watched her. She could barely stand up straight. Perfect. She was trying to get the bandana back up. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her. "What are you do...no! No stop! Stop!" But she was giggling too much to be understood. Why did he tickle her? Her weakness!
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Paine stepped up to another dead end. This was getting to be really annoying. She kicked the wall. This was definitely her least favorite place. Tidus glanced up at her. That was the closest to her showing an emotion he had seen. Not counting the whole Rikku thing. Unless sarcasm was an emotion, but he doubted that. His eyes floated to the wall. She had made a deep dent in it. Bits were crumbling off. No she hadn't made a dent. She had made a hole.
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Lea jumped back. A foot had come through the wall. A big hole was there now. Lea looked through it. "Hey! Stop damaging my cave!" she found herself looking at two people. A man and a woman. The woman had crimson eyes and greyish hair. She was dressed in black and had a sword gripped in her hands. Lea looked the person over and knew she was Paine. Then she looked to the man. Blonde hair and blue eyes. That would be Tidus. He also held onto his sword. Lea turned back to Yuna. "I think your friends are here." Yuna looked at her, confused. How did she know them? "I can do that thing, remember?" Yuna frowned at her. "Oh yeah, I was gonna stop doing that." She shrugged at Yuna. Then she gestured to the whole, and Yuna put her head there. She found herself bumping heads with Tidus, who was doing the same thing. "Ow!" he complained. Yuna rubbed her forehead. "Where have you two been? You left me!"
"That was Tidus's fault. I was just saving his life." Yuna tried to look at Paine, but Tidus's head was in the way. She spoke to Tidus instead. "Why was she saving your life?" Tidus felt his cheeks go red. "Fiend" he mumbled. Yuna heard, yes she heard, Lea and Paine roll their eyes together.
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Rikku started swiping her arms out to get Gippal. Not very easy when you have a bandana over your eyes. It makes it even harder when you being tortured. By tickling. She felt her arm whack something. Gippal stopped. Rikku seized this opportunity and sat up and pushed her bandana into place. She shook her head and looked over at Gippal. He was holding his nose and his one eye was glaring at her. "What?" he glared harder. "You boke my dose!" Rikku giggled. "What?" he moved his hand. "You broke my nose!"
"That's the second time I've done that in a couple of weeks." He frowned. Rikku looked at his nose. She smiled sweetly. "I can't have broke it. It's not bleeding. Didn't you know that? Uh-oh! Evil glare!" She hadn't seen him look at her like that since they were kids, and she'd 'accidentally' dropped a cake on his head. He deserved it. Rikku smiled even sweeter. Gippal put his hand out and pushed her forehead. "Ow! Meanie."
"I'm so horrible aren't I?" Rikku looked at him. She wondered if she should ask... "Gippal?"
"Mm?"
"Why...what...uh..."
"Why? Because I wanted to. What? What, what? Uh? Duh." Now it was Rikku's turn to glare. "Let me finish the question! Um, what were you...never mind."
"No what?"
"Uh, doesn't matter!" She turned to go, but Gippal grabbed her arm. "What were you gonna say? C'mon, you can ask." Rikku looked at him. "Did you ever kill anyone?"
"That was your question?"
"No I'm lying. But did you?"
"Yep! Thousands." He walked ahead of her. She followed him. "No, really, did you ever kill anyone?"
"Yeah, thousands, I already told you."
"No, really?"
"Thousands."
"Gippal!"
A/N: My, my. What a nice ending to the chapter. Gippal sounds like my brother at the end! But anyway...
What will happen next time? Will Rikku ask the question? Will Yuna be able to stop Lea from reading her mind? And I'm sure next time they will kick Seymour's butt! Promise! Well, maybe.
Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy x2 and all that, but I do own the character that I made up for this chappie! Yay! :p
Special note for...Ultimate Xdeath: yes! Yes it does! I knew that! No I'm lying. I didn't. Ain't I dumb? Which makes me wonder why I'm in the top group for almost everything at school... Thanks!
Cid looked at the man. His mouth hung open. He took a deep breath. "Did you just say, we're falling?" the man nodded. Cid rushed over to the window. "Well I'll be. So we are" he whispered. "So we are." He watched as the ship took a vertical dive down. The sky got further, and the sea closer. He closed his eyes. And then he heard a crash. And that was it.
Yuna wrinkled up her nose, as a damp, musty smell came from the cave, up to her. "Ugh! Does it always smell like this?" she asked Tidus. He shrugged. "I don't remember it." She looked to Paine. Paine just shook her head. Yuna sighed. This was going to be a long day. She jumped into the cave. Her boots landed in something very, very squelchy. "Ewwww! This place is getting worse!"
"Its almost like its, rotting." Tidus looked at Paine. "How do you mean, rotting?" Paine looked at the floor, then jumped in herself. "Hey! What do you mean rotting!" Paine turned to look at him. Her face had a sarcastic look on it. Tidus wasn't sure he wanted to know what she was going to say. Yuna looked back at them. "Hey, you guys coming or what?" Paine blinked at Tidus, then turned and walked to Yuna. Tidus sighed, and jumped in the cave, landing in the squelchy thing, and slipped up. Yuna laughed. He was becoming more like Rikku. She half expected him to say owie. She had forgiven him for what he said, put it down to stress, as Buddy said she should. But she couldn't help enjoying the position he was in at the moment. Whatever the squelchy thing was, it was all on him now. She stopped laughing when a crackly voice spoke to her. "Yunie, its Rikku, are you alright?" Yuna smiled as her cousin's voice picked up hopefully. "Yes we're fine, but even if we weren't, there is no way you're getting out of that bed to help us! If we need help we'll ask Gippal or someone. Ok?" She heard her cousin give out a frustrated sigh. "Yunie, I have never been so bored in my whole entire life! Get me out of here!" Yuna rolled her eyes and switched off her transmitter. (I don't know if that's what it's called, but it sounded kinda right.)
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Rikku stared at the wall. It was the most interesting thing to do at the moment. She sighed, kicked her legs around, under the covers. Honestly, she felt fine. Her back barely hurt anymore. But no one believed her. She was bored of waiting around. She was bored of sitting there doing nothing. She was so bored! She let out a small scream. Unfortunately, Brother had his radar way up, for anything sounds of distress, and was up there in seconds. "What's wrong?! What happened?! Rikku?" She stared at him. Then she kicked the covers off, and shakily stood up. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm getting up, and I'm going to help Yunie!"
"Oh no you're not! Vydran fuimt gemm sa!"(Father would kill me)
"E tuhd lyna!" (I don't care) and she reached into her pocket. "Cunno." (Sorry) and she pulled out a sleep grenade. She threw it at him. He fell asleep instantly. Smiling, she picked up her garment grid. Then she changed into songstress and put the grid in her pocket.
Rikku poked her head round the door. Buddy was there. She smiled and stepped out. Buddy noticed her. "Hey! Shouldn't you be in bed?" She smiled wider. "I think maybe you should be in bed. You look tired."
"Really? I don't feel tired."
"I can change that." Buddy frowned at her. Then Rikku danced sleepy slumber. Buddy stared at her, then found himself falling asleep. He slumped against the wall and slid down. Rikku grinned. Now she only had to deal with Shinra.
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Yuna slid along the floor. It was like ice. It was like the cave had melted, but now they were walking on, it had frozen over. She spotted a fiend nearby, and shot it. She killed it in one hit. "Too easy. Got anything better?"
"Maybe I can be better." Yuna's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. She looked behind her to Paine and Tidus, but they weren't there. She looked in front of her, but she couldn't see them anywhere. "Paine? Tidus? Are you there?" She waited for an answer, but all she could hear was silence. Then, "I don't think you'll find your friends." Yuna bit her lip. "W-who's there?" a figure stepped out from the shadows. Yuna had stopped sliding along the floor. She stepped towards the figure. The figure stepped towards her. It was like a shadow itself. She couldn't see anything apart from its outline. She was reminded of when they fought Maechen down there. That battle was over quickly. It was hard, but not hard enough she thought. She wondered if this would be the same. But she couldn't do it alone. She hadn't defeated Sin on her own. Or Vegnagun. Although an ordinary fiend she could do on her own. She remembered something Beclem had said to her, ages ago, when she first met him. "Summoners are worthless now. I don't know how you beat Sin anyway." Or something like that. She wasn't sure if he did say I don't know how you beat Sin, but she could tell that's what he meant. She showed him though. She beat his gunner's gauntlet. But it would have been so much easier to do these things if she could still summon. Maybe summoners really were worthless. "Indeed. Maybe they are." Yuna's eyes widened, and she bit her tongue to stop herself from gasping. Whoever or whatever the figure was, it had just read her thoughts, and that was not allowed! "It's allowed for me." Yuna's mouth dropped open. She checked herself though, and closed it. "Who are you?" the figure stepped closer. She caught a glimpse of its face. Or her face. She was beautiful, but Yuna could see the sadness on her face. Long black hair flowed down her back. She had dark blue eyes that seemed to know everything. She had olive coloured skin. But what really surprised Yuna, was that she gave off a feeling. A feeling like you shouldn't worry. A feeling like you were safe in her presence. And apart from the mind reading and snobby way of saying things, it looked like that was true.
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Tidus skidded to a halt. Paine stopped behind him, neatly. "Its official. We've lost her." Paine rolled her eyes. "And whose fault is that?"
"Not mine!"
"Yes it is! You had to stop to get that fiend instead of following her! You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?" Tidus winced. "Well, you didn't have to help!"
"Oh, so next time I'll leave you to die then, shall I?" she retorted. Tidus sighed. "Alright, you made your point. So how are we gonna find her?" Paine stepped forward, and overtook him. She carried on walking without saying anything. "So, we'll do it your way then?" Paine didn't even bother to look back at Tidus.
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"I for one, don't think summoners are worthless. But that's just me. But if you look at it, you were a summoner, and you went on to save the world without your aeons for a second time. And Dona still manages to make herself useful. And Isaaru, actually forget Isaaru, all he does is play with the monkeys, but Seymour still managed to..."
"Wait! What about Seymour?" the girl looked annoyed at being interrupted. "I was going to say, that Seymour still managed to hurt your friend, and, sadly, many others. And take it away."
"What away?" the girl looked even sadder. "My kingdom. My people. Almost all of them. He destroyed my palace, turned the white marble into disgusting black stone."
"Wait. White marble into black stone? I think Rikku said something about that! She said she..."
"Woke up in what looked like a palace? And that it had white marble? But as she looked at it, it changed? And maybe, that it changed to black stone?"
"Ok, you are freaking me out here!"
"I'll stop." For the first time, Yuna saw her smile. Yuna smiled back at her. The girl straightened up. "You're probably wondering who I am, right?" Yuna nodded. The girl looked at her for a moment. "I'll tell you my name soon, but first I'd better explain some things." She smiled wider, and put on a Maechen voice. "Would you like to hear a story?" Yuna laughed. "You sound just like him!"
"But younger?"
"No, I don't think so!"
"Uh! Well I'd better stop! But anyway. That white marble palace was where I lived. But Seymour came. He threw me out. He changed everything." She whispered the last bit. Yuna saw tears form in her eyes. The girl looked down. "I-I'm so sorry." The girl looked up when Yuna said this. "It' ok. I want revenge though. I want to help you. Please." Yuna blinked. She certainly didn't waste time making her point. Yuna chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." The girl brought her fists to her heart. "I wont. He can't hurt me more than he already has. Please? I can help!" Yuna sighed. She sounded so pleading. And kinda whiney. Like Rikku would. Yuna looked at her. "Are you sure you want to do this? I can't guarantee anyone's safety. Not even mine."
"You never could! You thought you were going to die, but still fought Sin!"
"Yeah, but I almost changed my mind, didn't I?" the girl grinned at her. "But that was because of him wasn't it?" Yuna felt a blush crawl up her cheeks. How did she know so much about her? "I can see your story by looking at you. I can see everyone's."
"You said you were going to stop doing that!"
"Oops! Sorry!" the girl raised her arm to her hair. As she did, Yuna noticed a charm bracelet on her wrist. It tinkled as she patted her hair. There was something strange about it. "What is that?" She looked to where Yuna was pointing. "My bracelet? It's like your garment grids, only prettier! Each charms a dressphere. Why?" Yuna shrugged. "It looks cool." The girl started digging around in her pocket. "What are you doing?"
"Finding you one of course! Oh, here we go." She handed Yuna a bracelet with dresspheres already on it. "You can attach yours if you like, but they're basically the same. Mine are a bit stronger though!" she added with a laugh.
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Rikku looked towards the sky. As she did she saw a gull. She remembered Buddy's story of how the found the ship. And above them they saw a gull. It was like it had come to save them. And then they ate it. Rikku grimaced. Well, she certainly wasn't eating any gulls. No matter how starving. She began walking towards Djose temple. Everybody just nodded at her. They didn't know she wasn't supposed to be there. They didn't know she had been hurt. Gippal however, might be more difficult. Well, she'd just have to dance him to sleep. But then she would have to put everyone who saw to sleep too. She hoped she was up to it.
She walked into the entrance. Her eyes floated to the cave. When she looked at it, she felt pain all the way up her back, and in her stomach. And laughter in her ears. She felt dizzy. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked around the room to check Gippal wasn't there. He was. But he didn't even realize she was there. To busy flirting with Elma. "Cocky bastard." she muttered under her breath. "Well, why don't you go tell him off, shorty?" Rikku jumped at the sound of the guard's voice. The same one that made fun of her before. She spun round to look at him. She was happy to see his nose looked kinda broken from where she hit it. She smirked. "Want me to break your nose again?"
"No! Geez! You women! Can't take a joke!" He walked off, sighing and shaking his head. Rikku turned back to Gippal. He was still flirting with Elma! Oh well, at least it kept him busy. She would have to tell him off about it later. She glared at his back. Then Elma noticed her. She frowned then looked at Gippal, and back to her. A smile crept on her face. Rikku shook her head violently. Elma smiled harder. She pointed at her. Gippal started to turn to look. Rikku looked around desperately. She saw the cave again. She hadn't realized she was that close to it. Her back hurt again. "Rikku? Hey! You should be in bed!" Rikku was about to jump in, when she felt a powerful hand shove her in, instead. Right on her back. "Eeeep! Owie!" she landed on her butt.
She rubbed her back. That had hurt. She heard the chilling laughter in her ears again. The boulder in front of the entrance slid into place, trapping her inside. "No! Oh poopie!"
"Oh poopie!" she heard a voice mock her. "Seymour, I swear, I will kill you!" she growled. The laughter was louder this time. It wouldn't stop. Louder and louder. She clapped her hands over her ears. "Stop! Stop!" But the laughter got even louder. It was deafening. Over the top of it she heard someone shout out to her. "Rikku? Rikku! Hey Cid's girl! What are you doing?" She had closed her eyes, and even though only one person ever calls her 'Cid's girl' she just couldn't figure out who it was. Well, actually, she thought it was Seymour, but then he was deafening her, and she was about to go crazy, so she had her reasons for not realizing it was Gippal. "Why wont you die? Why won't you die! Just go ahead and DIE!!!!!!"
"Uh, excuse me? How about a hello or something? I don't think that's the nice way of greeting people, telling them to die. But I guess my manners aren't as good as yours."
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Die! Die! Die, god damn you, die! Wait a minute...are you saying I've got bad manners! How dare you! I've got better manners than you, Gippal!" Gippal widened his eyes. "At least I don't go round telling people to die!" Rikku pouted. "I thought you were Seymour. And I may go round telling people to die, but I don't go round flirting with other people! Well, except Buddy, but I have my reasons!" she folded her arms across her chest and stared up at Gippal. Who stared down at her. "You flirt with Buddy?"
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"You know, I don't think Yuna will be down there anyway, so how about we just go ahead and leave? Huh? Please?" Paine turned back to look at Tidus. "Scared?" she couldn't believe it. She'd expect this thing from Rikku, but Tidus? Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought. Tidus went red. "No! It's just I think that maybe we should have the whole team together before we go charging into bad guy head quarters!" Paine turned to look back at the palace. If you could call it that. It was made of a gross black stone, and had huge gargoyle statues in front of it. Definitely something Seymour would go for. At least that's what Tidus said. She sighed. "Alright, but if we don't find Yuna anywhere else, we're coming straight back! Got it?" Tidus pulled a face. "Alright," he sighed, "If I have to."
"You wanna find Yuna, don't you?" Tidus nodded eagerly. Paine couldn't help but notice how much he looked like a little kid then. Or maybe a puppy. Even if he was older, she was charge at the moment. And that was the way it was staying!
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"So, what did you say your name was again?"
"Um, I didn't?"
"Yeah I know. It's like an expression to get you to say your name. So what is it?" the girl smiled at her. "Princess Leanna IV, of Cayra."
"Right. And where's that?" she laughed. "Well right here, silly! Of course that's my title, my friends call me Lea. Well, they would but..." She trailed off and bit her lip. Yuna thought she was going to cry again, so she said something hastily. "Right! Lea it is! Or princess Lea, if you prefer."
"Nope! Lea is fine! So, we are we going?" Yuna was taken aback by this. "Well, I thought you would know?"
"Oh! We're going to battle straight away?"
"Oh! No! Uh, I guess we'd better find everyone then. Where are they?" Lea looked at a wall. Yuna couldn't help staring. Lea walked up to it and laid her hand on it. She turned back to Yuna. "The cave is dying. The palace kept it alive, but Seymour ruined it. Our protector will soon be gone. And our land open to everyone. We can't let that happen! My people aren't ready for that! The machine faction shouldn't have been here anyway!" Yuna gaped at her new friend. She sounded so angry. It was different to how she had been before. Yuna got the feeling that Lea had incredible power. She wouldn't want to be on her wrong side. Suddenly Yuna felt anger too. This was the second time her eternal calm had been threatened. Whatever Seymour was up to, he couldn't be allowed to do it. They had to stop him! She felt all of her anger fade, so quickly. She couldn't work out where it came from. Then it hit her. They were Lea's feelings. They had passed on to her, in her own anger. In her own style, as Tidus would say. She frowned at the princess. She really was powerful. But the feeling of safeness increased. Yuna would've thought it would decrease. Why did everything have to be so confusing? "That's what makes life interesting." Yuna blinked at her. "You said you would stop doing that."
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For either Rikku or Gippal, the walk in the cave wasn't a nice one. Seeing as they weren't talking to each other, it wouldn't be. Rikku was sulking because Gippal had been flirting with Elma, and Gippal was sulking, because she had kept telling him to die. And that she flirted with Buddy. "Why do you flirt with Buddy anyway?" he had asked her. Rikku smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know." Gippal had glared at her. For the rest of the time they hadn't spoken since. Rikku didn't plan on telling him this, but her flirting with Buddy was one of their childhood jokes. When Rikku, 13, had come to Buddy, 15, and asked him how to flirt. She was good friends with him, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. So they had practiced on each other, and had been doing so ever since. But Rikku didn't think this was the sort of story that would make Gippal turn green with envy. Not that he could turn green. She couldn't help wondering what a green Gippal would look like. Probably kinda cute, in a hulkish way. (You know, the green dude, who goes round destroying things when he gets angry.) She kept glancing at him, trying to imagine it. He noticed and smirked. "You just cant keep your eyes off me, can ya Cid's girl?" Rikku's cheeks turned a deeply unattractive shade of red. She was going to say something cunning and witty, (She could practically hear Paine go, 'Yeah, right.') when she decided the truth would surprise him more. "Actually, Gippal, I was imagining you, green. If you want to know." She stuck her nose in the air and looked to see what his reaction was. She was pleased with it. Gippal looked horrified. "Don't worry, I think you'd look good in green." There. She was being nice. But of course, with him being Gippal and all, he couldn't return it. "You think I'd look good in anything. Admit it! You think I'm hot!" Rikku let out a scream. "You are such a pig headed...MEANIE!" She screamed again, and stomped ahead. "What? What I say?" Gippal had no idea about her did he? What happened to the other Gippal? Did her pops scare him away? Hmm. Rikku turned round and narrowed her eyes at him, as if that would help her see. It didn't, if you're wondering. It completely sucked. Before he was so nice, now he was...Gippal. Great. "Are you checking me out? You are aren't you?" He was grinning at her. He reached out and pulled her bandana over her eyes. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"You'll have to wait and see!" he started spinning her round. "Aaaaaahhhhh! No! I'm getting dizzy!" He grinned wider. He stopped, and watched her. She could barely stand up straight. Perfect. She was trying to get the bandana back up. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her. "What are you do...no! No stop! Stop!" But she was giggling too much to be understood. Why did he tickle her? Her weakness!
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Paine stepped up to another dead end. This was getting to be really annoying. She kicked the wall. This was definitely her least favorite place. Tidus glanced up at her. That was the closest to her showing an emotion he had seen. Not counting the whole Rikku thing. Unless sarcasm was an emotion, but he doubted that. His eyes floated to the wall. She had made a deep dent in it. Bits were crumbling off. No she hadn't made a dent. She had made a hole.
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Lea jumped back. A foot had come through the wall. A big hole was there now. Lea looked through it. "Hey! Stop damaging my cave!" she found herself looking at two people. A man and a woman. The woman had crimson eyes and greyish hair. She was dressed in black and had a sword gripped in her hands. Lea looked the person over and knew she was Paine. Then she looked to the man. Blonde hair and blue eyes. That would be Tidus. He also held onto his sword. Lea turned back to Yuna. "I think your friends are here." Yuna looked at her, confused. How did she know them? "I can do that thing, remember?" Yuna frowned at her. "Oh yeah, I was gonna stop doing that." She shrugged at Yuna. Then she gestured to the whole, and Yuna put her head there. She found herself bumping heads with Tidus, who was doing the same thing. "Ow!" he complained. Yuna rubbed her forehead. "Where have you two been? You left me!"
"That was Tidus's fault. I was just saving his life." Yuna tried to look at Paine, but Tidus's head was in the way. She spoke to Tidus instead. "Why was she saving your life?" Tidus felt his cheeks go red. "Fiend" he mumbled. Yuna heard, yes she heard, Lea and Paine roll their eyes together.
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Rikku started swiping her arms out to get Gippal. Not very easy when you have a bandana over your eyes. It makes it even harder when you being tortured. By tickling. She felt her arm whack something. Gippal stopped. Rikku seized this opportunity and sat up and pushed her bandana into place. She shook her head and looked over at Gippal. He was holding his nose and his one eye was glaring at her. "What?" he glared harder. "You boke my dose!" Rikku giggled. "What?" he moved his hand. "You broke my nose!"
"That's the second time I've done that in a couple of weeks." He frowned. Rikku looked at his nose. She smiled sweetly. "I can't have broke it. It's not bleeding. Didn't you know that? Uh-oh! Evil glare!" She hadn't seen him look at her like that since they were kids, and she'd 'accidentally' dropped a cake on his head. He deserved it. Rikku smiled even sweeter. Gippal put his hand out and pushed her forehead. "Ow! Meanie."
"I'm so horrible aren't I?" Rikku looked at him. She wondered if she should ask... "Gippal?"
"Mm?"
"Why...what...uh..."
"Why? Because I wanted to. What? What, what? Uh? Duh." Now it was Rikku's turn to glare. "Let me finish the question! Um, what were you...never mind."
"No what?"
"Uh, doesn't matter!" She turned to go, but Gippal grabbed her arm. "What were you gonna say? C'mon, you can ask." Rikku looked at him. "Did you ever kill anyone?"
"That was your question?"
"No I'm lying. But did you?"
"Yep! Thousands." He walked ahead of her. She followed him. "No, really, did you ever kill anyone?"
"Yeah, thousands, I already told you."
"No, really?"
"Thousands."
"Gippal!"
A/N: My, my. What a nice ending to the chapter. Gippal sounds like my brother at the end! But anyway...
What will happen next time? Will Rikku ask the question? Will Yuna be able to stop Lea from reading her mind? And I'm sure next time they will kick Seymour's butt! Promise! Well, maybe.