**
Part Nine: Exploration and Inquisitions
**
Lulu's scalp itched intolerably.
She fought the uge to scratch with long nails, plain and stripped of their paint. Her hair had been unplaited and rewoven into a simply style, a single bun at the back of the head, held in place with dull wooden pins, and was pulled so tight that Lulu was sure her face would sag when her hair was set free again. She was clad in simple blue garments that any moderately wealthy individual who lived in Bevelle could be found to be wearing, as was Wakka, a matching set to her own. His hair had been forced into a slightly less recognisable style by a matronly Al-Bhed woman who had assisted them in donning their disguises. The woman had clucked over him, and Wakka had been less than amused to learn that she had been comparing him to a cockatoo.
Thus disguised they, together with Rikku, walked the highbridge to Bevelle, intent on entering the city, looking like nothing more than a couple and a Yevonite companion, a relation perhaps, returning to the city after being absent during the exodus from the city during Yevon's lockdown.
Rikku was clad in the garments of a Temple Acolyte, that being the only clothing that had been available that was in Rikku's size and would conceal her bandages that still wound their way about her chest. Wakka had asked where the Al-Bhed had found the garments, and Brother had answered in their language, that Rikku had awkwardly translated, as it quite often being to the advantage of the Al-Bhed to pass for the last person an enemy would expect them to be.
Lulu had refrained from saying how good Rikku looked in them merely to tease the girl.
Perched on her nose, Rikku wore a pair of reflective sunglasses, which hid the green swirls that gave away her status as an Al-Bhed very effectively, and it took Lulu a moment to work out what was so strange about such a logical addition to Rikku's disguise. Then it hit her: they were Auron's glasses. They had broken in half after an encounter with one fiend or another. Auron had a second pair about his person, apparently so self-conscious about his eye that he felt the need to keep it hidden, or at least masked, but as he had been about to discard the broken pair, Rikku had taken them from him and promised to mend them.
Apparently she had kept her word, but not quickly enough to return them to their owner.
The gates to the city were wide open, and though there were two warrior monks standing one on either side of the entryway, they seemed to be in no mood to ascertain whether or not those who passed through had business in the city. They simply ignored the trio, though one roused himself enough to make a half-hearted gesture of reverence towards Rikku, and they passed unhindered onto the main road that ran straight through Bevelle to the palace.
It was in a small square, about a mile inward from the city limits that they paused. The square had the rather attractive name of 'a thousand fountain square', although the actual number present was in fact one. But it was very large, with water spouts gushing fresh liquid into the wide and shallow pool that occupied most of the square. Two bridges crossed the circular pool at right angles to each other, forming a circular platform at the centre, atop which was a short stone plinth. There was hardly anyone there, only a couple of souls braving the morning to pass through on their way to the market or other shops.
"So," Wakka said, looking to Lulu. It had become an unspoken matter amongst them. In the absence of anyone else, Lulu had become the group's de facto leader. "What do we do now?"
"Yeah. I don't think we can walk into the Temple and ask 'Where's Yuna?'," Rikku said, frowning.
Wakka looked at her in her Yevonite robes and smirked. "You could."
Rikku didn't look impressed. "And how long before they asked about wearing sunglasses indoors, huh?"
Wakka shrugged. "They never asked Sir Auron to take his glasses off."
"Yeah, well," Rikku sniffed faintly. "I'm not a legendary guardian."
Lulu looked at the young girl in amusement. "Yes," she said, kindly, "You are. Hence the reason we are in disguise."
Rikku opened her mouth, but apparently at a loss to come up with a suitable retort, she simply folded her arms and put a sour look on her face.
"Still," Wakka said, turning to Lulu, "She has a point, ya? We can't just ask them where Yuna is. If they took her, they'll know we're onto them."
Lulu tapped her lip thoughtfully, casting her eyes around the area as she 'hmm'ed thoughtfully. It wasn't until she had looked around more than once that she finally realised what it was that had been pulling at her mind.
"I do have an idea," Lulu said, leading them across the square as she explained. "When I was Guardian to Lady Ginnem, she came to Bevelle and was fascinated by it, the largest city to still stand proud against Sin. She wanted to know everything she could about the place." Lulu smiled, faintly, wistfully. "So she explored, and being a good Guardian, I went with her. We wandered all over the city, poking our noses in alleys and passages, investigating side streets and squares." Lulu stopped at her destination, waiting for Wakka and Rikku to join her. "She found something very interesting."
They stood next to a stone plinth, upon which was fastened an etched metal plate. A closer look at the plate would reveal it to be a map, with the twisting turns of the Bevelle streets carefully plotted out and labelled in neat Yevon script.
Lulu pointed to the map. "Lady Ginnem found an old servant's entrance to Bevelle Palace, a tunnel that ran under the streets and into the compound proper. If we want to get inside unseen then that would be the best way."
Lulu's lips quirked slightly. "Of course, there is a slight problem."
There was. The street Lulu had indicated on the map was near enough dead centre of the devastation caused by Sin. Even with all the repair work that had been going on, they would be extremely lucky to find that the tunnel wasn't buried underneath piles of rubble.
Still, it was the only option they had.
**
Rikku trailed slightly behind her companions as they picked their way through the streets of Bevelle. There was the only slight problem in their travels of being unable to tell which way they were going, but Lulu was insistent that if they looked like they knew what they were doing, no one would question their presence. So far, it seemed to be working, and from the way that the streets were becoming dustier, dirtier, and from the fact that more cracks in walls and pavements could be found as they moved on, Rikku guessed that they were slowly approaching the area they wanted to be in.
It was strange to see the destruction, albeit most of it had been cleared away by this point. When Rikku had seen Bevelle last, it had been from a vantage point high above the city, watching as Sin crashed to earth and tore apart buildings and roads alike.
She hadn't even given a thought to the people who had been on the ground. It had been an almost abstract numerical concept to her; numbers of lives lost, of buildings destroyed, of the cost in gil to repair and reconstruct lives. But now she sidestepped a mother and two grimy children, the youngest of whom was perpetually crying, all looking haggard and worn. She passed by a young man, his arm torn away above the elbow, only just repaired thanks to spells and stitchery. In the dust and debris there played a solitary child, his robes dirtied and torn, kicking a ball almost absent-mindedly around the alleyway. Suddenly, it seemed a lot more real.
And here she was, passing through in her pristine robes, her mind focussed on a mission, so removed from these people and their lives.
A vicious part of her soul was glad, in a way. Why should the suffering of the world be limited to the Al-Bhed alone? Why should they be the only ones to lose their home, their friends and families, and be forced to painfully reconstruct their lives, knowing, though, that everything they once had was gone, and could never be replaced. It gave her a feeling of smug satisfaction that rapidly turned her stomach, and she felt physically ill for having thought such things.
Then she reminded herself that Sin had killed all equally. She shouldn't lower herself to Yevon's standards in their opinions of those with who they shared Spira. She wore their robes, but she should not let their sentiments cloak her heart.
So she walked through the ruined streets of Bevelle, and smiled kindly at those who recognised the robes of Yevonite, and bowed to her. She wouldn't destroy their illusions for the sake of a bow, even if she could not bring herself to return it.
And then a woman, old and weathered, stepped in front of her, bringing Rikku up short. She wondered, for a heart-stopping second, if she had been identified as a fake, and Al-Bhed. She wondered if the woman was confronting her, and delaying her until the warrior monks arrived.
It was, she found, nothing of the sort.
"Oh! Priestess!" The old woman made a gesture of obeisance.
"I have a son who was killed when Sin fell from the sky," the old woman said, wringing her hands anxiously, "And no one knows if he is one of the Sent. You will say a prayer for Him in the Temple, won't you, priestess?"
Rikku swallowed back what she wanted to say, her opinions on the Temples and Yevon in general, but she couldn't bring herself to so easily destroy the old woman's hopes and damage her grief. "The blessings of Yevon upon you, grandmother," she says, awkwardly forcing her body into a prayer position. "And upon your son. I will pray."
The relief on the old woman's features only increased Rikku's sense of guilt at having said the words, lying about her own beliefs. And then a younger woman closed in on her, and Rikku found herself mouthing platitudes once more.
**
For all that it had been what felt like a lifetime (Lady Ginnem's lifetime, perhaps) since Lulu had walked the back streets of Bevelle, she was rather pleased by the progress their group was making through the streets. They seemed to be finding their way easily through the roads to the devastated area that Sin had landed atop of. Lulu did her best to ignore what she saw as they progressed. She was hardly a stranger to the sorrow Sin left behind in its wake, after all.
But no more, she thought with satisfaction, and the idea gave her step a determined spring.
Lulu turned her head to call out to Rikku to keep up, only to spy that the Al-Bhed had been accosted by a few devout Yevonites seeking what was presumably spiritual guidance. To her credit, Rikku was playing along, offering them was comfort she could, and Lulu's estimation of the girl's compassion went up a notch. She called Wakka to a halt and they settled against a wall to wait for the girl to extricate herself.
"What're you thinking?" Wakka said, after spending a good few minutes looking at her in concern over her distant expression.
"Yuna," She answered, almost idly. As if she could think about anything else, as if she could worry about anything else. It wasn't just her job that made her worry. If it was only her guardianship which caused her to hold allegiance to Yuna, their bond would have broken with Sin's death, and Lulu would hardly feel obligated to go after the girl now. But Yuna was family, and so there was hardly any decision to be made.
"We'll find her, ya," Wakka said, shifting against the wall beside her. "You know we will. Ain't nothing can keep us from helping Yuna."
"I admire your optimism," Lulu said, trying, and failing, to smile at the sentiment. "Even if I don't share it."
"You're the black mage," Wakka said, teasingly. "You don't get optimistic. You get mad and burn things."
Lulu did laugh at that, and felt an odd longing for her dolls, her magic enhancers. She'd like to burn her way through Bevelle's ranks until she got some answers, though it could be argued that her approach lacked subtlety, as Yuna had once reminded her.
And thinking of the girl's smiling face as she had said that to Lulu caused the smile to become hollow, to falter, and to finally fall away.
"I thought it was over, Wakka," she said, reaching up a hand to smooth over her face, as if such an act could erase the bags she knew lurked beneath her eyes, or the tiredness she felt. "I thought now Sin was gone we wouldn't have to worry about anything, about Yuna dying..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I was a fool."
"Not a fool," Wakka said firmly, looping an arm about her shoulders. Lulu leaned into the half-embrace. "We all thought that, ya? And it's still going to be that way. This is just a little bump on the road, ya know?"
Lulu smiled faintly. "I wish I could believe that," she said, quietly. "But I still fear for Yuna. Hybrid births are... dangerous. Even if she carries to term... I fear for her. This is even if she does not die at someone else's hands before then."
Wakka just hugged her, and tried to provide reassurance in his presence that he could not in his words.
It was sometime later that the scrabbling of footsteps caught Lulu's attention, and she raised her head from where it had rested on Wakka's shoulder to look over to where the sound was coming from.
Rikku had finally managed to remove herself from the centre of the group of devotees, making her way towards them cautiously, glancing about her as if wary for another ambush of fervant religious sentiment. Lulu didn't smirk as she got to her feet, leaving Wakka's comforting arms behind. Rikku's look was chilled, and thoughtful. She thought it best not to disturb whatever thought processes the girl was going through, merely gesturing for her to follow as they began their journey again.
And so she turned, and walked straight into Maroda.
**
Maroda looked rather amused at the shocked expression that crossed Lulu's face as she jumped back, after having physically walked straight into the man. Wakka looked rather affronted, and Rikku could only wonder where he'd come from, as she hadn't seen him approach.
"Ah, Ladies Lulu and Rikku, and Sir Wakka," Maroda offered a sketchy bow to them in greeting. "I was rather surprised to find that you'd graced Bevelle with your presences." His eyes raked across Rikku's form, taking in her most unusual attired. "Especially garbed in such a manner as one might think you didn't want to be found."
"How did you know we were here?" Rikku demanded, balling her fists unseen within the copious sleeves of a Yevonite's gown.
Maroda smirked, looking over Rikku's shoulder. "You're not terribly good at being stealthy, I'm afraid," He said.
Rikku jumped in surprise. Behind her stood the child she'd seen playing in the dirt, holding in his hands a partially deflated and greyed ball. Behind her stood Pacce.
"Hello, Miss Rikku," he said, with a toothy grin.
She just smiled back uncertainly at him, somewhat at a loss for words.
"We're looking for Yuna," Lulu said, staring at Maroda with a piercing glint in her eye. "Do you know where she is?"
Maroda looked taken aback, as if of all the possible reasons he could have thought for finding them within the city walls thus attired, that wasn't one of them. "No," he said, after a moment's thought. "Yuna isn't in the city, and I don't think she has been since she left the council of the clergy."
None of the guardian's glanced at each other, but Rikku could feel the disappointment in the air almost tangibly. Maroda seemed to pick up on it.
"Come to our home," he said to them, "And I'll see what I can do to explain things."
**
The quarters which Maroda and Pacce occupied were in a reasonably well-to-do area of the city, just between the barracks and the palace's accomodation, presumably so they could be in contact with both at any one time with equal ease. Maroda and Pacce pulled out chairs for them, offered damp cloths to wipe the worst of the grime from their skin, and when they were comfortable, sat down to listen to the trio's story. They explained the situation and while Maroda was sympathetic, he could not help.
"Lady Yuna has not entered the city," he said, shaking his head as he poured tea for the guardians. Rikku was too busy taking off her headdress and shook her head in refusal, though Wakka and Lulu both accepted a cup. "While the guards at the gate might seem lax, we do keep sphere recordings of all those who come in and out of the city. It's how we knew you were here after all. I was rather curious as to why the guardians of the Lady High Summoner were sneaking around like theives, though it seems I have my answer."
Maroda leaned back in his chair. "As guardians of Bevelle, my brother and I keep watch on all the ways in and out of the city. I promise you that Lady Yuna has not walked in through the door recently, and with the debris around Bevelle still to be cleaned up, no ships have been able to approach without being sunk." His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I'm sorry that I cannot help you, but it seems that Lady Yuna is not here."
Lulu's sigh was heartfelt, Rikku fidgeted with the headdress in her hands, and Wakka looked like he wanted to hit something. Maroda shook his head, repeating, "I am sorry."
"But if Yuna's missing, maybe..." It was Pacce, and he fell silent at Maroda's sharp look, staring down at his hands.
"What?" Rikku said, looking at Maroda with narrowed eyes. "What was he going to say?"
Pacce, it seemed, didn't want to wait for his brother's permission. "It's Isaaru!" He exclaimed, practically jumping off his chair in his anxiety. "We don't know where he's gone, and it was only a week ago, not long before Lady Yuna disappeared. Maybe... maybe they're connected."
Maroda was glaring at his brother in disapproval. He hadn't wanted anyone to know that Isaaru was missing, Lulu realised.
"Do you know what happened?" Lulu asked.
"He just vanished one morning," Pacce said quietly, looking up at the three guardians with wide eyes. "We woke up and he was gone. We're worried about him."
"The Temple might know," Maroda interrupted, his lips pressed into a line. "We think that they talked to him the night before he disappeared. They haven't said anything at all, to confirm or deny, which is very much a case of an unspoken admittance when it comes to Yevon."
Pacce again, his voice full of worry. "But, Isaaru's... he's not well. I don't want him to be on his own now. He can't be. He needs us!"
Rikku's eyes moved from one brother to the other, her brow furrowed. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Maroda and Pacce looked at each other, and, heavily, the former sighed. And so he told them everything.
- End of Part Nine
Part Nine: Exploration and Inquisitions
**
Lulu's scalp itched intolerably.
She fought the uge to scratch with long nails, plain and stripped of their paint. Her hair had been unplaited and rewoven into a simply style, a single bun at the back of the head, held in place with dull wooden pins, and was pulled so tight that Lulu was sure her face would sag when her hair was set free again. She was clad in simple blue garments that any moderately wealthy individual who lived in Bevelle could be found to be wearing, as was Wakka, a matching set to her own. His hair had been forced into a slightly less recognisable style by a matronly Al-Bhed woman who had assisted them in donning their disguises. The woman had clucked over him, and Wakka had been less than amused to learn that she had been comparing him to a cockatoo.
Thus disguised they, together with Rikku, walked the highbridge to Bevelle, intent on entering the city, looking like nothing more than a couple and a Yevonite companion, a relation perhaps, returning to the city after being absent during the exodus from the city during Yevon's lockdown.
Rikku was clad in the garments of a Temple Acolyte, that being the only clothing that had been available that was in Rikku's size and would conceal her bandages that still wound their way about her chest. Wakka had asked where the Al-Bhed had found the garments, and Brother had answered in their language, that Rikku had awkwardly translated, as it quite often being to the advantage of the Al-Bhed to pass for the last person an enemy would expect them to be.
Lulu had refrained from saying how good Rikku looked in them merely to tease the girl.
Perched on her nose, Rikku wore a pair of reflective sunglasses, which hid the green swirls that gave away her status as an Al-Bhed very effectively, and it took Lulu a moment to work out what was so strange about such a logical addition to Rikku's disguise. Then it hit her: they were Auron's glasses. They had broken in half after an encounter with one fiend or another. Auron had a second pair about his person, apparently so self-conscious about his eye that he felt the need to keep it hidden, or at least masked, but as he had been about to discard the broken pair, Rikku had taken them from him and promised to mend them.
Apparently she had kept her word, but not quickly enough to return them to their owner.
The gates to the city were wide open, and though there were two warrior monks standing one on either side of the entryway, they seemed to be in no mood to ascertain whether or not those who passed through had business in the city. They simply ignored the trio, though one roused himself enough to make a half-hearted gesture of reverence towards Rikku, and they passed unhindered onto the main road that ran straight through Bevelle to the palace.
It was in a small square, about a mile inward from the city limits that they paused. The square had the rather attractive name of 'a thousand fountain square', although the actual number present was in fact one. But it was very large, with water spouts gushing fresh liquid into the wide and shallow pool that occupied most of the square. Two bridges crossed the circular pool at right angles to each other, forming a circular platform at the centre, atop which was a short stone plinth. There was hardly anyone there, only a couple of souls braving the morning to pass through on their way to the market or other shops.
"So," Wakka said, looking to Lulu. It had become an unspoken matter amongst them. In the absence of anyone else, Lulu had become the group's de facto leader. "What do we do now?"
"Yeah. I don't think we can walk into the Temple and ask 'Where's Yuna?'," Rikku said, frowning.
Wakka looked at her in her Yevonite robes and smirked. "You could."
Rikku didn't look impressed. "And how long before they asked about wearing sunglasses indoors, huh?"
Wakka shrugged. "They never asked Sir Auron to take his glasses off."
"Yeah, well," Rikku sniffed faintly. "I'm not a legendary guardian."
Lulu looked at the young girl in amusement. "Yes," she said, kindly, "You are. Hence the reason we are in disguise."
Rikku opened her mouth, but apparently at a loss to come up with a suitable retort, she simply folded her arms and put a sour look on her face.
"Still," Wakka said, turning to Lulu, "She has a point, ya? We can't just ask them where Yuna is. If they took her, they'll know we're onto them."
Lulu tapped her lip thoughtfully, casting her eyes around the area as she 'hmm'ed thoughtfully. It wasn't until she had looked around more than once that she finally realised what it was that had been pulling at her mind.
"I do have an idea," Lulu said, leading them across the square as she explained. "When I was Guardian to Lady Ginnem, she came to Bevelle and was fascinated by it, the largest city to still stand proud against Sin. She wanted to know everything she could about the place." Lulu smiled, faintly, wistfully. "So she explored, and being a good Guardian, I went with her. We wandered all over the city, poking our noses in alleys and passages, investigating side streets and squares." Lulu stopped at her destination, waiting for Wakka and Rikku to join her. "She found something very interesting."
They stood next to a stone plinth, upon which was fastened an etched metal plate. A closer look at the plate would reveal it to be a map, with the twisting turns of the Bevelle streets carefully plotted out and labelled in neat Yevon script.
Lulu pointed to the map. "Lady Ginnem found an old servant's entrance to Bevelle Palace, a tunnel that ran under the streets and into the compound proper. If we want to get inside unseen then that would be the best way."
Lulu's lips quirked slightly. "Of course, there is a slight problem."
There was. The street Lulu had indicated on the map was near enough dead centre of the devastation caused by Sin. Even with all the repair work that had been going on, they would be extremely lucky to find that the tunnel wasn't buried underneath piles of rubble.
Still, it was the only option they had.
**
Rikku trailed slightly behind her companions as they picked their way through the streets of Bevelle. There was the only slight problem in their travels of being unable to tell which way they were going, but Lulu was insistent that if they looked like they knew what they were doing, no one would question their presence. So far, it seemed to be working, and from the way that the streets were becoming dustier, dirtier, and from the fact that more cracks in walls and pavements could be found as they moved on, Rikku guessed that they were slowly approaching the area they wanted to be in.
It was strange to see the destruction, albeit most of it had been cleared away by this point. When Rikku had seen Bevelle last, it had been from a vantage point high above the city, watching as Sin crashed to earth and tore apart buildings and roads alike.
She hadn't even given a thought to the people who had been on the ground. It had been an almost abstract numerical concept to her; numbers of lives lost, of buildings destroyed, of the cost in gil to repair and reconstruct lives. But now she sidestepped a mother and two grimy children, the youngest of whom was perpetually crying, all looking haggard and worn. She passed by a young man, his arm torn away above the elbow, only just repaired thanks to spells and stitchery. In the dust and debris there played a solitary child, his robes dirtied and torn, kicking a ball almost absent-mindedly around the alleyway. Suddenly, it seemed a lot more real.
And here she was, passing through in her pristine robes, her mind focussed on a mission, so removed from these people and their lives.
A vicious part of her soul was glad, in a way. Why should the suffering of the world be limited to the Al-Bhed alone? Why should they be the only ones to lose their home, their friends and families, and be forced to painfully reconstruct their lives, knowing, though, that everything they once had was gone, and could never be replaced. It gave her a feeling of smug satisfaction that rapidly turned her stomach, and she felt physically ill for having thought such things.
Then she reminded herself that Sin had killed all equally. She shouldn't lower herself to Yevon's standards in their opinions of those with who they shared Spira. She wore their robes, but she should not let their sentiments cloak her heart.
So she walked through the ruined streets of Bevelle, and smiled kindly at those who recognised the robes of Yevonite, and bowed to her. She wouldn't destroy their illusions for the sake of a bow, even if she could not bring herself to return it.
And then a woman, old and weathered, stepped in front of her, bringing Rikku up short. She wondered, for a heart-stopping second, if she had been identified as a fake, and Al-Bhed. She wondered if the woman was confronting her, and delaying her until the warrior monks arrived.
It was, she found, nothing of the sort.
"Oh! Priestess!" The old woman made a gesture of obeisance.
"I have a son who was killed when Sin fell from the sky," the old woman said, wringing her hands anxiously, "And no one knows if he is one of the Sent. You will say a prayer for Him in the Temple, won't you, priestess?"
Rikku swallowed back what she wanted to say, her opinions on the Temples and Yevon in general, but she couldn't bring herself to so easily destroy the old woman's hopes and damage her grief. "The blessings of Yevon upon you, grandmother," she says, awkwardly forcing her body into a prayer position. "And upon your son. I will pray."
The relief on the old woman's features only increased Rikku's sense of guilt at having said the words, lying about her own beliefs. And then a younger woman closed in on her, and Rikku found herself mouthing platitudes once more.
**
For all that it had been what felt like a lifetime (Lady Ginnem's lifetime, perhaps) since Lulu had walked the back streets of Bevelle, she was rather pleased by the progress their group was making through the streets. They seemed to be finding their way easily through the roads to the devastated area that Sin had landed atop of. Lulu did her best to ignore what she saw as they progressed. She was hardly a stranger to the sorrow Sin left behind in its wake, after all.
But no more, she thought with satisfaction, and the idea gave her step a determined spring.
Lulu turned her head to call out to Rikku to keep up, only to spy that the Al-Bhed had been accosted by a few devout Yevonites seeking what was presumably spiritual guidance. To her credit, Rikku was playing along, offering them was comfort she could, and Lulu's estimation of the girl's compassion went up a notch. She called Wakka to a halt and they settled against a wall to wait for the girl to extricate herself.
"What're you thinking?" Wakka said, after spending a good few minutes looking at her in concern over her distant expression.
"Yuna," She answered, almost idly. As if she could think about anything else, as if she could worry about anything else. It wasn't just her job that made her worry. If it was only her guardianship which caused her to hold allegiance to Yuna, their bond would have broken with Sin's death, and Lulu would hardly feel obligated to go after the girl now. But Yuna was family, and so there was hardly any decision to be made.
"We'll find her, ya," Wakka said, shifting against the wall beside her. "You know we will. Ain't nothing can keep us from helping Yuna."
"I admire your optimism," Lulu said, trying, and failing, to smile at the sentiment. "Even if I don't share it."
"You're the black mage," Wakka said, teasingly. "You don't get optimistic. You get mad and burn things."
Lulu did laugh at that, and felt an odd longing for her dolls, her magic enhancers. She'd like to burn her way through Bevelle's ranks until she got some answers, though it could be argued that her approach lacked subtlety, as Yuna had once reminded her.
And thinking of the girl's smiling face as she had said that to Lulu caused the smile to become hollow, to falter, and to finally fall away.
"I thought it was over, Wakka," she said, reaching up a hand to smooth over her face, as if such an act could erase the bags she knew lurked beneath her eyes, or the tiredness she felt. "I thought now Sin was gone we wouldn't have to worry about anything, about Yuna dying..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I was a fool."
"Not a fool," Wakka said firmly, looping an arm about her shoulders. Lulu leaned into the half-embrace. "We all thought that, ya? And it's still going to be that way. This is just a little bump on the road, ya know?"
Lulu smiled faintly. "I wish I could believe that," she said, quietly. "But I still fear for Yuna. Hybrid births are... dangerous. Even if she carries to term... I fear for her. This is even if she does not die at someone else's hands before then."
Wakka just hugged her, and tried to provide reassurance in his presence that he could not in his words.
It was sometime later that the scrabbling of footsteps caught Lulu's attention, and she raised her head from where it had rested on Wakka's shoulder to look over to where the sound was coming from.
Rikku had finally managed to remove herself from the centre of the group of devotees, making her way towards them cautiously, glancing about her as if wary for another ambush of fervant religious sentiment. Lulu didn't smirk as she got to her feet, leaving Wakka's comforting arms behind. Rikku's look was chilled, and thoughtful. She thought it best not to disturb whatever thought processes the girl was going through, merely gesturing for her to follow as they began their journey again.
And so she turned, and walked straight into Maroda.
**
Maroda looked rather amused at the shocked expression that crossed Lulu's face as she jumped back, after having physically walked straight into the man. Wakka looked rather affronted, and Rikku could only wonder where he'd come from, as she hadn't seen him approach.
"Ah, Ladies Lulu and Rikku, and Sir Wakka," Maroda offered a sketchy bow to them in greeting. "I was rather surprised to find that you'd graced Bevelle with your presences." His eyes raked across Rikku's form, taking in her most unusual attired. "Especially garbed in such a manner as one might think you didn't want to be found."
"How did you know we were here?" Rikku demanded, balling her fists unseen within the copious sleeves of a Yevonite's gown.
Maroda smirked, looking over Rikku's shoulder. "You're not terribly good at being stealthy, I'm afraid," He said.
Rikku jumped in surprise. Behind her stood the child she'd seen playing in the dirt, holding in his hands a partially deflated and greyed ball. Behind her stood Pacce.
"Hello, Miss Rikku," he said, with a toothy grin.
She just smiled back uncertainly at him, somewhat at a loss for words.
"We're looking for Yuna," Lulu said, staring at Maroda with a piercing glint in her eye. "Do you know where she is?"
Maroda looked taken aback, as if of all the possible reasons he could have thought for finding them within the city walls thus attired, that wasn't one of them. "No," he said, after a moment's thought. "Yuna isn't in the city, and I don't think she has been since she left the council of the clergy."
None of the guardian's glanced at each other, but Rikku could feel the disappointment in the air almost tangibly. Maroda seemed to pick up on it.
"Come to our home," he said to them, "And I'll see what I can do to explain things."
**
The quarters which Maroda and Pacce occupied were in a reasonably well-to-do area of the city, just between the barracks and the palace's accomodation, presumably so they could be in contact with both at any one time with equal ease. Maroda and Pacce pulled out chairs for them, offered damp cloths to wipe the worst of the grime from their skin, and when they were comfortable, sat down to listen to the trio's story. They explained the situation and while Maroda was sympathetic, he could not help.
"Lady Yuna has not entered the city," he said, shaking his head as he poured tea for the guardians. Rikku was too busy taking off her headdress and shook her head in refusal, though Wakka and Lulu both accepted a cup. "While the guards at the gate might seem lax, we do keep sphere recordings of all those who come in and out of the city. It's how we knew you were here after all. I was rather curious as to why the guardians of the Lady High Summoner were sneaking around like theives, though it seems I have my answer."
Maroda leaned back in his chair. "As guardians of Bevelle, my brother and I keep watch on all the ways in and out of the city. I promise you that Lady Yuna has not walked in through the door recently, and with the debris around Bevelle still to be cleaned up, no ships have been able to approach without being sunk." His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I'm sorry that I cannot help you, but it seems that Lady Yuna is not here."
Lulu's sigh was heartfelt, Rikku fidgeted with the headdress in her hands, and Wakka looked like he wanted to hit something. Maroda shook his head, repeating, "I am sorry."
"But if Yuna's missing, maybe..." It was Pacce, and he fell silent at Maroda's sharp look, staring down at his hands.
"What?" Rikku said, looking at Maroda with narrowed eyes. "What was he going to say?"
Pacce, it seemed, didn't want to wait for his brother's permission. "It's Isaaru!" He exclaimed, practically jumping off his chair in his anxiety. "We don't know where he's gone, and it was only a week ago, not long before Lady Yuna disappeared. Maybe... maybe they're connected."
Maroda was glaring at his brother in disapproval. He hadn't wanted anyone to know that Isaaru was missing, Lulu realised.
"Do you know what happened?" Lulu asked.
"He just vanished one morning," Pacce said quietly, looking up at the three guardians with wide eyes. "We woke up and he was gone. We're worried about him."
"The Temple might know," Maroda interrupted, his lips pressed into a line. "We think that they talked to him the night before he disappeared. They haven't said anything at all, to confirm or deny, which is very much a case of an unspoken admittance when it comes to Yevon."
Pacce again, his voice full of worry. "But, Isaaru's... he's not well. I don't want him to be on his own now. He can't be. He needs us!"
Rikku's eyes moved from one brother to the other, her brow furrowed. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Maroda and Pacce looked at each other, and, heavily, the former sighed. And so he told them everything.
- End of Part Nine