Standard disclaimers apply.
================================================================
Chaos of Seven
Chapter Fourteen
By; Kissa-chan
===============================================================
"When Sin destroyed Zanarkand 1,000 plus years ago... the common people became Fayth," Rikku-sama began.
Shuyin shrugged. "I wasn't paying that much attention at the time. Mostly I was..." his voice trailed off, but all the girls knew that he had still probably been really upset about Lenne... it had taken him a long time to get over, after all.
"The Fayth made up a dream Zanarkand to replace the one that they had lost..." Ri murmured. "Then... about thirteen years ago, Sin swam close to the dream of Zanarkand and encountered Jecht -"
"My old man?" Shuyin interrupted.
"Maybe we're looking at this wrong," Rikku-sama said. "In order to be a dream of Zanarkand, it would have had to be a dream of something that was kinda real. Up to this point, I always thought that the person Tidus' dream was based on... was Shuyin; however, mabye that wouldn't be completely correct. Maybe he's based on himself -"
The door behind them all opened and Rikku sauntered in. "S'up everyone?" she called out cheerfully. "What'd I miss?"
"Tidus is Shuyin's brother -"
"Well, I guess that explains the resembelence, you know," Rikku chirped brightly. Then, smile still in place, she said; "I got some bad news."
"If it's bad... why are you smiling?" Shiroi asked softly.
"S'up?" Rikku called out to her, waving slightly. "Name's Rikku, and you are?"
"This is Shiroi; she's an Unsent," Rikku-sama said, explaining as much as she could in a couple of sentences. "What's the bad news?"
"An Unsent? You mean another one? Yeesh... before Auron, I didn't even realize that you couldn't be Unsent. Then, it's like, once you know, they start cropping up all over," Rikku said lightly.
"Don't you mean before Seymour?" Rikku-chan whispered. She shuddered. "His hair... still haunts me..."
"I have to agree about the hair part... but look on the bright side; he's Sent now and we didn't have to kiss him," Rikku said lightly.
"How bad is bad news?" Rikk demanded. "You're procasinating a lot more than usual -"
"What's 'procastinating' mean?" Rikku asked, switching gears again and smiling at everyone.
"Delaying," Rikku-sama answered. "Actually the dictonary term would be -"
"Spit it out," Rikki said, speaking up and startling Rikku. She was sitting on the ground beside Shuyin, occassionally shooting hot glances towards Shiroi.
"I got ahold of Rikku-san on the Celsious," Rikku said. "Yunie's baby has vanished... Brother was watching the little tyke, except he was doing a poor job of it..."
"We need to get back right away!" came the simotaeneous shout from all Rikkus.
"Who's Yuna?" Shiroi asked.
"Non of your bussiness!" Rikki snarled.
"Our cousin!" Rikku said brightly.
"My cousin," the other Rikkus said promptly.
"A girl that looks a lot like Lenne," Shuyin murmured.
"She married someone that looks a lot like Shuyin," Rikku-sama added. "Makes you wonder if the universe gets high off of coincidence, ne?"
Shiroi blinked and stood up. "Enough playing around." She glanced at Rikki. "It's been a long time since anyone said anything nice to me. You'll have to forgive me for kissing you -"
Rikki smiled charmingly. "Forgiven," she said smoothly.
Shiroi smiled and nodded her head slightly. "I honestly thought that you were Midori. You look so much like her... Don't you think so, Shuyin?" she added.
"Only if you're looking at physical features," Shuyin acknowledged.
"That was all I was looking at. Midori seemed rather down-to-earth, but in reality, she was a..." Shiroi's voice trailed off.
"My sister was a snob. She was famous because of her Summoning talent. She'd been in the spot-light since before she could walk. She was a nice person... but -" Shuyin glanced down at his hands. "Great," he murmured. "Now I feel like I'm badmouth, Midori..."
Rikku thumped him roughly on the back. "Don't worry; it doesn't mean you don't still care for her. Think about all the times I rag on that idiot, Brother!"
"She's got a point," Rikku-chan added.
"And we've got things to do. If you have a point, Shiroi, please continue," Rikk said. She raised an eyebrow, motioning for Shiroi to continue if she was going to.
"The point is..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced down at her hands. "The point is... I want to help you... to make up for attacking you." She glanced up and then back down quickly. "I was rasied better than to attack strangers... and I don't want to involve anyone in my vendetta against Midori."
"So you want to come with us?" Rikki murmured. She stood up, smoothing out her skirts. "That brings up an interresting question, you know."
"Yeah," Rikku-chan agreed. "What are you going to do if Akira shows up?" she sniffed. "Will you betray us..." Her eyes watered up slightly and Shuyin patted her shoulder lightly.
"I don't know."
"Come with us," Rikku said abruptly, distrubing the silence that had settled over the hall. "From what I've cleverly gathered, you're in love with Akira... but you're also a good person! There's a chance that Akira isn't the person that you think he is. In that case, seeing him might help you get over him..."
"I don't want to -" Shiroi started to say instantly.
"I'm not saying you have to," Rikku said quickly. "All I'm saying is that maybe you'll find that people change."
"Nothing lasts forever; love isn't any exception," Ri said, looking at her hands.
"I'm inclinded to disagree," Rikk said, frowning at the shy girl. "But regardless, that's my bussiness. Each person is uniquely different -"
"But are we really? We're the same people, aren't we?" Rikku-sama objected. "I am Rikku, daughter of Cid. I'll never feel differently about that."
"I agree," Rikki announced. "I'm still... 'me'... even though, I am -"
"Also 'Rikki'?" Rikk suggested.
"But maybe we're not all real," Rikku-chan murmured. "I mean -"
"Conversation for another day," Rikku exclaimed. "Yunie's baby need's our help!"
================================================================
"Where are we?" Yuna asked, starring at the vast forests sprawling underneath the airship. She whirled, orientating on Brother. "And where is Toya?"
"Ahhhhhhhhh! I lost him!" Brother screamed, clutching his head. "It was horrible; I didn't mean to -"
"Panicking won't help matters," Baralai said soothingly. "We'll have to split up and search the ship -"
"Already did," Rikku-san said, coming onto the bridge and glancing around. "He's not here, but I found this," she tossed a sphere towards Yuna.
Tidus reached out, snagging it out of mid-air and inserted it in the sphere player. "Let's see what's on it," he murmured, tapping a couple of keys to pull it up on the main screen.
Nothing happened.
"You have to push 'ready' first," Shinra announced.
"Figures," Tidus murmured, slamming his finger into the button.
"Stay calm," Baralai suggested.
"It's not so bad..." Rikku-san added.
The sphere started playing moments later. A woman dressed in a black tunic with a half-mask covering her face came up on the screen. "High Summoner Yuna... I've taken your son, but fear not. You'll get him back shortly."
The image shifted to the sleeping baby, Toya. "He's both alive and unharmed." The woman reappeared on the screen. "Currently, you are on the Forbidden Continent. In order to retrieve your son, I need you to do me a slight favor."
Lenne hesitated for a moment, then her voice reemerged. "Walk into a trap and come out alive. Considering the presence of Praetor Baralai, you already know of the plans to revive Sin. What you don't know is the fact that all members striving for this are already dead. What is more than that, they've all been Sent in the past..."
She took a deep breath. "I too have been Sent, by my own violation -" Her words cut off abruptly. "Agent 12..." she murmured, her words barely audible. "Recently, Rikku of the Gullwings purchased a Sphere Map... follow it to the treasue, but know that it is a trap... The place is called the 'Heissen. If you get lost, ask the locales..."
The images fuzzed out abruptly.
"Rikku, where is this map!" Yuna exclaimed, rounding on Rikku-san.
"And how come you haven't mentioned it before?" Paine demanded.
"I don't have it with me right now," Rikku-san said. "I'll have to pick it up from some friends that I lent it to."
"You lent Sphere Map to other sphere-hunters!" Brother exploded.
"You lost baby," Rikku-san shot back, shutting him down quickly.
"Where do we have to go?" Buddy asked, hoping into his seat. "I'll plot us a course -"
"I'll see if I can trace this sphere back to it's owner," Shinra added.
Rikku-san handed Buddy a piece of paper with the coordinates. "It's all yours," she said. She turned, waving lightly as she headed up the steps. "I'm going to my room to catch some Z's before the trap is sprung.
================================================================
Lenne slipped quietly into the cafeteria. Deserted completely with the exception of Agent 11, it was probably the quietest place at HQ. 'What do babies eat?' the question flittered across her mind. Toya had started crying and was determindly not stopping. It was fustrating.
She sent a furious gaze over the menu. 'There's got to be something here safe for a child to eat...' she thought.
"Agent 113," a man's voice called out. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, shooting a death glare at Agent 11 for touching her.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"Milk."
"You sicko!" she exclaimed, unable to help herself.
"All babies drink milk," he said with a shrug.
Lenne froze completely, eyeing him carefully. "You're Tammurin," she breathed. "You can read minds..." Fear started her heart beating furiously. If he told the leaders of the Sin Revival Cult, SRC, she was doomed. What was worse, the child would die as well...
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not on your side," Tammurin said. "But you can rest easy in the knowledge that I'm not on SRC's side either... no more then you are. Both you and I are bound by the Spell of Obedience. That means in order to be free..." he let the words trail off and smiled behind his mask.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lenne asked out loud.
"Think it and I'll answer," he responded as the door opened and Agent 12 sulked in.
'You're Tammurin, aren't you?' she asked mentally, feeling awkward with the words in her head.
"You already asked that. And yes, I am."
'Rumor in Zanarkand said that you are related to Akira. That you were in love with his financee, Shiroi, before she vanished...'
"Rumors... are most often false."
"Are they this time?" Lenne asked.
"Be your own judge." He turned away from her and then stopped. "I'd recommend that you don't keep the child here. Put him somewhere safer. The Maester plans a suprise inspection sometime today..."
==============================================================
Ri slipped out the doors into the fading twilight. Either they had spent more or less time in the Temple of Light and Illusion then anticpated, considering the fact that the sun was just now setting. Her comm crackled to life instantly.
"Rikku, come in, this is Rikku-san. Do you read?"
Ri flicked her comm. "Rikku-san, this is Ri. Did you locate the baby?"
Rikku-san sighed in relief over the comm. "I was worried I wasn't going to be able to reach you before I arrive."
"You're coming here?" Ri murmured.
"Yes, and so are the rest of the Gullwings," Rikku-san said sharply. "I swear, I haven't slept in over three hours... I'm exausted to the point where I'm wasting words."
"But did you locate the baby?"
"Who? Toya? He's with some phycho bad lady; which is why I need the Sphere Map you and Rikk got from that Guado merchant in Guadosalam," Rikku-san said. "I told the others that I lent it to a friend... think one of you could disguise yourself -"
"Shiroi could pr-probably do it," Ri stammered as the others emmerged from the Temple.
"Who?"
Rikk flicked her comm on. "Rikku-san, we need to all meet and talk together. I want to know every detail of this kidnapping."
"As do I," Rikku-sama said.
"We're homing in on your coordinates; you should be able to see us in a couple of seconds," Rikku-san announced, paying no attention to their comments.
Moments later, the Celsious came into sight, forcing all of the Rikku-gumi to dive into the bushes.
"We're landing," Rikku-san said. "Here's hoping everything comes off all right."
===============================================================
The woman walking to greet them as they came off the Celsious was a stranger. With grace and elegance, she strolled forward. "Rikku, how good to see you again," she said, her voice as soft as honey.
"Shiroi," Rikku-san guessed, keeping her tone of voice familar.
"It's nice to meet you," Yuna said, inclining her head towards Shiroi. Tidus walked up behind her, arms crossed and a worried expression on his face.
Shiroi blinked. "Tidus?" she questioned. She hurried forward and tapped his chest forcefully with her finger. "I'm amazed. I thought Akira had taken care of -" She cut herself off with a sharp shake of her head. "Here's the Sphere Map," she said, holding it up.
Paine snatched it from her fingers. "So this will lead us to our ambush...?" she said flatly. "That's interresting." She activated it and glanced over it. "It looks like we'll have to walk."
"Have fun!" Brother shouted upon hearing that. "I'll be staying with the Airship."
"I have some things to... invent," Shinra said.
"I'd better supervise them," Buddy added.
"Who said you were invited," Rikk demanded sharply. "Let me see that Sphere Map, Paine."
In the bushes, Rikku-san crawled towards the others. "Honestly; like I want to 'hoof' it to Heissen." She dropped her head onto her arm and closed her eyes. "Looks like Rikk and Rikki won't be fighting for a bit..."
She fell asleep.
==============================================================
Author's notes; I've had a couple of problems with my computer lately... Sorry for the delayed update. Chapter fifteen should be out on Tuesday, so just look at it as less time between chapters.
Next Chapter; On the way to the Hiessen, Ri passes out again. Rikku-san, finally traveling with the core of the Rikku-gumi, recommends that they stop in an odd looking villiage. There, they find a strange race of people and recieve an interresting request for help. Who are these people and what kind of help do they need? FIND OUT SOON!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
================================================================
Chaos of Seven
Chapter Fourteen
By; Kissa-chan
===============================================================
"When Sin destroyed Zanarkand 1,000 plus years ago... the common people became Fayth," Rikku-sama began.
Shuyin shrugged. "I wasn't paying that much attention at the time. Mostly I was..." his voice trailed off, but all the girls knew that he had still probably been really upset about Lenne... it had taken him a long time to get over, after all.
"The Fayth made up a dream Zanarkand to replace the one that they had lost..." Ri murmured. "Then... about thirteen years ago, Sin swam close to the dream of Zanarkand and encountered Jecht -"
"My old man?" Shuyin interrupted.
"Maybe we're looking at this wrong," Rikku-sama said. "In order to be a dream of Zanarkand, it would have had to be a dream of something that was kinda real. Up to this point, I always thought that the person Tidus' dream was based on... was Shuyin; however, mabye that wouldn't be completely correct. Maybe he's based on himself -"
The door behind them all opened and Rikku sauntered in. "S'up everyone?" she called out cheerfully. "What'd I miss?"
"Tidus is Shuyin's brother -"
"Well, I guess that explains the resembelence, you know," Rikku chirped brightly. Then, smile still in place, she said; "I got some bad news."
"If it's bad... why are you smiling?" Shiroi asked softly.
"S'up?" Rikku called out to her, waving slightly. "Name's Rikku, and you are?"
"This is Shiroi; she's an Unsent," Rikku-sama said, explaining as much as she could in a couple of sentences. "What's the bad news?"
"An Unsent? You mean another one? Yeesh... before Auron, I didn't even realize that you couldn't be Unsent. Then, it's like, once you know, they start cropping up all over," Rikku said lightly.
"Don't you mean before Seymour?" Rikku-chan whispered. She shuddered. "His hair... still haunts me..."
"I have to agree about the hair part... but look on the bright side; he's Sent now and we didn't have to kiss him," Rikku said lightly.
"How bad is bad news?" Rikk demanded. "You're procasinating a lot more than usual -"
"What's 'procastinating' mean?" Rikku asked, switching gears again and smiling at everyone.
"Delaying," Rikku-sama answered. "Actually the dictonary term would be -"
"Spit it out," Rikki said, speaking up and startling Rikku. She was sitting on the ground beside Shuyin, occassionally shooting hot glances towards Shiroi.
"I got ahold of Rikku-san on the Celsious," Rikku said. "Yunie's baby has vanished... Brother was watching the little tyke, except he was doing a poor job of it..."
"We need to get back right away!" came the simotaeneous shout from all Rikkus.
"Who's Yuna?" Shiroi asked.
"Non of your bussiness!" Rikki snarled.
"Our cousin!" Rikku said brightly.
"My cousin," the other Rikkus said promptly.
"A girl that looks a lot like Lenne," Shuyin murmured.
"She married someone that looks a lot like Shuyin," Rikku-sama added. "Makes you wonder if the universe gets high off of coincidence, ne?"
Shiroi blinked and stood up. "Enough playing around." She glanced at Rikki. "It's been a long time since anyone said anything nice to me. You'll have to forgive me for kissing you -"
Rikki smiled charmingly. "Forgiven," she said smoothly.
Shiroi smiled and nodded her head slightly. "I honestly thought that you were Midori. You look so much like her... Don't you think so, Shuyin?" she added.
"Only if you're looking at physical features," Shuyin acknowledged.
"That was all I was looking at. Midori seemed rather down-to-earth, but in reality, she was a..." Shiroi's voice trailed off.
"My sister was a snob. She was famous because of her Summoning talent. She'd been in the spot-light since before she could walk. She was a nice person... but -" Shuyin glanced down at his hands. "Great," he murmured. "Now I feel like I'm badmouth, Midori..."
Rikku thumped him roughly on the back. "Don't worry; it doesn't mean you don't still care for her. Think about all the times I rag on that idiot, Brother!"
"She's got a point," Rikku-chan added.
"And we've got things to do. If you have a point, Shiroi, please continue," Rikk said. She raised an eyebrow, motioning for Shiroi to continue if she was going to.
"The point is..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced down at her hands. "The point is... I want to help you... to make up for attacking you." She glanced up and then back down quickly. "I was rasied better than to attack strangers... and I don't want to involve anyone in my vendetta against Midori."
"So you want to come with us?" Rikki murmured. She stood up, smoothing out her skirts. "That brings up an interresting question, you know."
"Yeah," Rikku-chan agreed. "What are you going to do if Akira shows up?" she sniffed. "Will you betray us..." Her eyes watered up slightly and Shuyin patted her shoulder lightly.
"I don't know."
"Come with us," Rikku said abruptly, distrubing the silence that had settled over the hall. "From what I've cleverly gathered, you're in love with Akira... but you're also a good person! There's a chance that Akira isn't the person that you think he is. In that case, seeing him might help you get over him..."
"I don't want to -" Shiroi started to say instantly.
"I'm not saying you have to," Rikku said quickly. "All I'm saying is that maybe you'll find that people change."
"Nothing lasts forever; love isn't any exception," Ri said, looking at her hands.
"I'm inclinded to disagree," Rikk said, frowning at the shy girl. "But regardless, that's my bussiness. Each person is uniquely different -"
"But are we really? We're the same people, aren't we?" Rikku-sama objected. "I am Rikku, daughter of Cid. I'll never feel differently about that."
"I agree," Rikki announced. "I'm still... 'me'... even though, I am -"
"Also 'Rikki'?" Rikk suggested.
"But maybe we're not all real," Rikku-chan murmured. "I mean -"
"Conversation for another day," Rikku exclaimed. "Yunie's baby need's our help!"
================================================================
"Where are we?" Yuna asked, starring at the vast forests sprawling underneath the airship. She whirled, orientating on Brother. "And where is Toya?"
"Ahhhhhhhhh! I lost him!" Brother screamed, clutching his head. "It was horrible; I didn't mean to -"
"Panicking won't help matters," Baralai said soothingly. "We'll have to split up and search the ship -"
"Already did," Rikku-san said, coming onto the bridge and glancing around. "He's not here, but I found this," she tossed a sphere towards Yuna.
Tidus reached out, snagging it out of mid-air and inserted it in the sphere player. "Let's see what's on it," he murmured, tapping a couple of keys to pull it up on the main screen.
Nothing happened.
"You have to push 'ready' first," Shinra announced.
"Figures," Tidus murmured, slamming his finger into the button.
"Stay calm," Baralai suggested.
"It's not so bad..." Rikku-san added.
The sphere started playing moments later. A woman dressed in a black tunic with a half-mask covering her face came up on the screen. "High Summoner Yuna... I've taken your son, but fear not. You'll get him back shortly."
The image shifted to the sleeping baby, Toya. "He's both alive and unharmed." The woman reappeared on the screen. "Currently, you are on the Forbidden Continent. In order to retrieve your son, I need you to do me a slight favor."
Lenne hesitated for a moment, then her voice reemerged. "Walk into a trap and come out alive. Considering the presence of Praetor Baralai, you already know of the plans to revive Sin. What you don't know is the fact that all members striving for this are already dead. What is more than that, they've all been Sent in the past..."
She took a deep breath. "I too have been Sent, by my own violation -" Her words cut off abruptly. "Agent 12..." she murmured, her words barely audible. "Recently, Rikku of the Gullwings purchased a Sphere Map... follow it to the treasue, but know that it is a trap... The place is called the 'Heissen. If you get lost, ask the locales..."
The images fuzzed out abruptly.
"Rikku, where is this map!" Yuna exclaimed, rounding on Rikku-san.
"And how come you haven't mentioned it before?" Paine demanded.
"I don't have it with me right now," Rikku-san said. "I'll have to pick it up from some friends that I lent it to."
"You lent Sphere Map to other sphere-hunters!" Brother exploded.
"You lost baby," Rikku-san shot back, shutting him down quickly.
"Where do we have to go?" Buddy asked, hoping into his seat. "I'll plot us a course -"
"I'll see if I can trace this sphere back to it's owner," Shinra added.
Rikku-san handed Buddy a piece of paper with the coordinates. "It's all yours," she said. She turned, waving lightly as she headed up the steps. "I'm going to my room to catch some Z's before the trap is sprung.
================================================================
Lenne slipped quietly into the cafeteria. Deserted completely with the exception of Agent 11, it was probably the quietest place at HQ. 'What do babies eat?' the question flittered across her mind. Toya had started crying and was determindly not stopping. It was fustrating.
She sent a furious gaze over the menu. 'There's got to be something here safe for a child to eat...' she thought.
"Agent 113," a man's voice called out. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, shooting a death glare at Agent 11 for touching her.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"Milk."
"You sicko!" she exclaimed, unable to help herself.
"All babies drink milk," he said with a shrug.
Lenne froze completely, eyeing him carefully. "You're Tammurin," she breathed. "You can read minds..." Fear started her heart beating furiously. If he told the leaders of the Sin Revival Cult, SRC, she was doomed. What was worse, the child would die as well...
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not on your side," Tammurin said. "But you can rest easy in the knowledge that I'm not on SRC's side either... no more then you are. Both you and I are bound by the Spell of Obedience. That means in order to be free..." he let the words trail off and smiled behind his mask.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lenne asked out loud.
"Think it and I'll answer," he responded as the door opened and Agent 12 sulked in.
'You're Tammurin, aren't you?' she asked mentally, feeling awkward with the words in her head.
"You already asked that. And yes, I am."
'Rumor in Zanarkand said that you are related to Akira. That you were in love with his financee, Shiroi, before she vanished...'
"Rumors... are most often false."
"Are they this time?" Lenne asked.
"Be your own judge." He turned away from her and then stopped. "I'd recommend that you don't keep the child here. Put him somewhere safer. The Maester plans a suprise inspection sometime today..."
==============================================================
Ri slipped out the doors into the fading twilight. Either they had spent more or less time in the Temple of Light and Illusion then anticpated, considering the fact that the sun was just now setting. Her comm crackled to life instantly.
"Rikku, come in, this is Rikku-san. Do you read?"
Ri flicked her comm. "Rikku-san, this is Ri. Did you locate the baby?"
Rikku-san sighed in relief over the comm. "I was worried I wasn't going to be able to reach you before I arrive."
"You're coming here?" Ri murmured.
"Yes, and so are the rest of the Gullwings," Rikku-san said sharply. "I swear, I haven't slept in over three hours... I'm exausted to the point where I'm wasting words."
"But did you locate the baby?"
"Who? Toya? He's with some phycho bad lady; which is why I need the Sphere Map you and Rikk got from that Guado merchant in Guadosalam," Rikku-san said. "I told the others that I lent it to a friend... think one of you could disguise yourself -"
"Shiroi could pr-probably do it," Ri stammered as the others emmerged from the Temple.
"Who?"
Rikk flicked her comm on. "Rikku-san, we need to all meet and talk together. I want to know every detail of this kidnapping."
"As do I," Rikku-sama said.
"We're homing in on your coordinates; you should be able to see us in a couple of seconds," Rikku-san announced, paying no attention to their comments.
Moments later, the Celsious came into sight, forcing all of the Rikku-gumi to dive into the bushes.
"We're landing," Rikku-san said. "Here's hoping everything comes off all right."
===============================================================
The woman walking to greet them as they came off the Celsious was a stranger. With grace and elegance, she strolled forward. "Rikku, how good to see you again," she said, her voice as soft as honey.
"Shiroi," Rikku-san guessed, keeping her tone of voice familar.
"It's nice to meet you," Yuna said, inclining her head towards Shiroi. Tidus walked up behind her, arms crossed and a worried expression on his face.
Shiroi blinked. "Tidus?" she questioned. She hurried forward and tapped his chest forcefully with her finger. "I'm amazed. I thought Akira had taken care of -" She cut herself off with a sharp shake of her head. "Here's the Sphere Map," she said, holding it up.
Paine snatched it from her fingers. "So this will lead us to our ambush...?" she said flatly. "That's interresting." She activated it and glanced over it. "It looks like we'll have to walk."
"Have fun!" Brother shouted upon hearing that. "I'll be staying with the Airship."
"I have some things to... invent," Shinra said.
"I'd better supervise them," Buddy added.
"Who said you were invited," Rikk demanded sharply. "Let me see that Sphere Map, Paine."
In the bushes, Rikku-san crawled towards the others. "Honestly; like I want to 'hoof' it to Heissen." She dropped her head onto her arm and closed her eyes. "Looks like Rikk and Rikki won't be fighting for a bit..."
She fell asleep.
==============================================================
Author's notes; I've had a couple of problems with my computer lately... Sorry for the delayed update. Chapter fifteen should be out on Tuesday, so just look at it as less time between chapters.
Next Chapter; On the way to the Hiessen, Ri passes out again. Rikku-san, finally traveling with the core of the Rikku-gumi, recommends that they stop in an odd looking villiage. There, they find a strange race of people and recieve an interresting request for help. Who are these people and what kind of help do they need? FIND OUT SOON!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan