YES! I am officially OUT of writer's block! So now my updates should be back to normal...Unless I go back into a slump...Anyway, chapter 8 is here! Enjoy and tell me what you think!
Chapter 8: Things Just Keep Getting Better and Better
Tidus and Yuna had a little bit of trouble moving the heavy stone that blocked the entrance, being that since Yuna technically wasn't a summoner any longer, it wouldn't just move for her.
Before entering, Yuna stopped, and looked rather nervous, while Tidus entered the chamber with ease.
"Don't worry!" Tidus said from inside, "Everything'll be fine!"
"Well, it's not that," Yuna said, "I'm just not sure if we should really just...Go in like that."
"No problem, I've done it before," Tidus just said.
"Oh..." Yuna said, not entirely convince, and finally, with her fifteenth sigh, entered.
"Hmm, doesn't look like much is goin' on in here," Tidus said, staring at the no longer glowing orange orb that was once the Fayth's statue.
"That's odd," Yuna said, bending down and staring at it, "I was expecting it to be glowing, or something. Like it did when I was addressing it. But it's not doing anything. It's as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening at all."
"Yeah, I know what you mean..." Tidus said, bending down next to Yuna and staring expressionless at the orange globe, "I guess I was expecting something, anything. But it's just empty."
"Maybe we should visit the farplane," Yuna said, standing up, "What do you think?"
"Sounds fine with me," Tidus said, although the mere mention of that place gave him the creeps. That was the last place he wanted to go.
"Okay, let's go," Yuna said, and looked at the object that was clipped on her belt and then back up at Tidus, "Should I call for a ride?"
"It's up to you," Tidus said, "It would be faster. I mean, we'll have to go all the way through Machalania and the Thunder Plains. And I really need to get back by tomorrow..."
"Yeah," Yuna said, "I just don't know if I want to see that bickering family of mine. Did you know that before you came back, they all got in this huge argument over who I was going to marry?"
"Really?" Tidus asked.
"Uh-huh," Yuna said, nodding, "Cid's all like, "Oh, she'll marry that Al Bhed kid, what's his name?" And then Rikku was all like, "Oh no DAD! He's like thirty! She won't marry Keil! She'll marry someone really hot!" And then Brother put in, "Ooh! I know who she could marry!"' Yuna sighed, "And then Cid said, "Shut up Numskull; no one asked you!" Then Rikku continued naming off every Al Bhed she thought was cute, while I just sat there, not knowing what to say. Then do you want to know what happened? Brother got down on his knees and proposed to me!"
"What?" Tidus cried. He had only been halfway listening to Yuna, being that by now they were walking by the sphere pool, and as far as he was concerned, the sphere pool was much more interesting..., "Brother did what?"
"He proposed to me!" Yuna said, looking kind of disgusted, "And then Rikku jumped up and yelled at him, all while Cid just continued naming off available Al Bhed bachelors...And then Brother cried, "I'm one! I'm one!", which only made Rikku angrier, and she chased Brother around the room, all while Cid just continued naming off people! It was so embarrassing!"
"So in other words," Tidus said, breaking Yuna's conversation, "You really don't want to call them to pick us up."
"Right!" Yuna said with a smile, "But I promise we'll be back by tomorrow! Don't worry, there's things I need to get done with too."
"Okay, okay," Tidus said, "But only because I really don't want to hear Cid name off available bachelors. Now bachelorettes..."
Yuna made a disgusted sound, "You're such a..."
"Meanie!" Tidus piped in, finishing Yuna's sentence.
"There has to be something worse than a meanie," Yuna said, "'Cause that wouldd be you!"
"Oh sure!" Tidus said, "More like you!"
"How are we going to get there," Yuna said, breaking off the conversation.
"I'll tell you as soon as you admit that you're meaner than a meanie!" Tidus taunted, smiling as he did so.
"Fine," Yuna said, feeling defeated, wanting the serious Tidus back, "I'm meaner than a meanie. Are you happy now?"
"Yes I am!" Tidus said, "As for our mode of transportation...Er..." Tidus looked around the crowded area, and suddenly saw a man standing there with a chocobo that had a sign around its neck that said, "FOR SALE".
"Chocobo!" Tidus said, grabbing Yuna's hand and dragging her toward the chocobo that was for sale.
"What?" Yuna just cried, and then saw what Tidus was looking at.
"How much for the Chocobo?" Tidus asked, reaching into his pocket for some gil.
"Lady Yuna?" the man just stuttered, "Well, I...Er...The...Ch...Ch...Ocobo...Is for sale, yes! Five hundred gil!"
"WHAT?" Tidus nearly yelled, "How much?"
"Five hundred," the man repeated himself, as if honestly thinking that Tidus just hadn't heard him, "Good deal too, this bird's stubborn as heck."
"We'll take it," Yuna just said, as Tidus grabbed out the gil, and paid the man.
"That man ripped us off," Tidus said, staring at the chocobo, "Why'd we pay him?"
"Because, right now, this chocobo is our only transportation," Yuna said, scratching the chocobo, "Now come on, let's go!"
"I get to drive!" Tidus shouted, hopping onto the chocobo as Yuna hopped on behind him.
"Take it eas–!" Yuna let out a scream as Tidus started the chocobo off, going as fast as he could get the bird to go.
"Wanna go faster?" Tidus cried over the noise of the wind.
"Not real–!" again, Yuna had to let out a scream, as Tidus did the impossible and got the bird going even faster.
"YEAH!" Tidus yelled out, as Yuna clung to him. Tidus laughed, and steered the bird swiftly to the left, causing Yuna to hold onto him even tighter.
"Do you do this on purpose!" Yuna cried loudly.
"Maybe," Tidus just said, adding a suspicious tone to his voice.
"You're just a..."
"Meanie?" Tidus finished for her again.
"I wasn't going to say it that time!" Yuna said, smiling however.
"Miss Yuna," Tidus said, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Or should I call you Miss Rikku from now on? You big Rikku Wannabe!"
"I am not a Rikku Wannabe!" Yuna cried.
"Yep. Sure you aren't," Tidus said sarcastically, smiling as he could feel Yuna frown at him playfully.
"Okay, now you're being a..."
"Meanie?" They both said it together, and burst out laughing.
"No more saying the word "meanie", deal?" Tidus finally said, as they stopped their laughter.
"Deal!" Yuna said, laughing, "We don't need two Rikku Wannabe's!"
"Right you are!" Tidus said, as he slowed the chocobo down to a gallop, "Machalania, here we come!"
They turned into the familiar icy path of Machalania forest, and suddenly Tidus pulled back on the reigns.
"Whoa! What's goin' on here?" he asked alarmed, as he noticed that the forest was much smaller than it once was.
Yuna sighed, "It's nothing. Say hello to the new Machalania forest. When the Fayth disappeared...Well, let's just say a lot of different things happened. No more hymn, no more sacred Gagazet, and no more Machalania forest. The temple even sank to the bottom of Machalania Lake."
"Sad," Tidus just said slowly, as he started the chocobo back up, "But I guess it's better than having Sin around, right?"
Yuna nodded, and then sighed. "You know, there have been so many sacrifices that we have all made to have Sin gone. But I think it's worth it. Seeing Spira happy...It's just something else."
"Yeah," Tidus just said slowly, "But do you think having all this machina around is really a good idea?"
"You're starting to sound like Wakka!" Yuna moaned, "I'll do everything in my power to keep history from repeating itself. Spira won't make the same mistakes."
"Okay," Tidus said, "But remember, you won't be around for–." Tidus stopped. Of course Yuna wouldn't be around forever, but suddenly, it didn't feel right saying it, as the Fayth's words popped back into his head, "Let's just get to the farplane."
Tidus had the chocobo burst off full speed again, just wanting to get everything over with. Now, he was desperate to find the meanings behind the words that continued to fill his thoughts.
The trip through Machalania was quite quick, and Tidus and Yuna were both too into thought to utter much to each other. However, Tidus suddenly pulled the chocobo to a stop, as soon as he saw the ominous clouds that hung nearby, indicating that the Thunder Plains were near.
"Okay Rikku Wannabe," Tidus said, "Ready for the Thunder Plains?"
"Sure thing, Wakka Wannabe," Yuna replied.
Tidus rolled his eyes, and started the chocobo off toward the Thunder Plains.
The chocobo came running into the Thunder Plains at full speed, and Tidus let out a groan.
"Why couldn't this thunder stop!" he whined, "I mean, the hymn stopped, the forest is disappearing...!"
Yuna wrapped her arms even tighter around Tidus as the rain began to grow thicker. A bolt of lightning flashed a ways away, and she realized that the Thunder Plains were even more desolate than usual.
"Let's just hurry," she said over the thunder, "It's rather chilly."
"You're the one that didn't want a ride!" Tidus reminded her, "But don't worry, we should be there any second now."
"We're still in the first stretch," Yuna said through chattering teeth.
Tidus opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly opened his eyes in awe instead.
"YUNA!" he yelled, and fell over backwards, knocking her off to, just as a bolt of lightning struck the chocobo.
The chocobo let out an angry squawk, and ran off quickly away from the rest, while Yuna fell, and Tidus fell on top of her.
"Sorry, sorry," he said quickly, "Did I hurt you?" He jumped off of her, and helped her up.
"It's fine," Yuna said, "That was really close. We could have been killed!"
Even though the situation was pretty serious, Tidus couldn't help but let out a laugh. Yuna was covered in mud, and wasn't the prettiest sight. Not that he probably was either.
"It's not funny!" Yuna cried, and laughed anyway, "But you do look pretty funny!"
"Me!" Tidus said, "You should see yourself! Okay, so, what now?"
"We're almost to a travel agency," Yuna said, shivering, "We'll just go there."
Tidus put his arm around the shaking girl, and was suddenly feeling quite chilly himself. Perhaps chocobo travel hadn't been the best idea...
Walking swiftly, the two made their way to the travel agency, only to have their hopes crushed.
"What? When did this happen?" Yuna moaned, running ahead. It appeared that the travel agency had been struck by lightning, and was apparently deserted.
"Maybe you should call for a ride now," Tidus said, noticing how much Yuna shook.
"Okay," she said, and picked up the item on her belt. She clicked it on and talked into it: "Yuna here! Anybody read?" However, it just made a buzzing noise and Yuna threw it on the ground in despair. "It's ruined!" she moaned.
"Okay, no problem," Tidus said, "We'll just have to run the second stretch. Sound okay?"
"Let's just make it really quick!" Yuna cried, and, taking his hand, began to run.
After a few steps, however, Yuna wrapped her arm around her back, and looked somewhat pained.
"I must have bruised my back or something," she said, "It hurts really bad when I run."
"Things just keep getting better and better," Tidus said, and untied Yuna's side-skirt, "Here, wrap this around you. We'll just have to walk."
The two walked quickly, although suddenly Tidus wasn't feeling in the best shape either.
"I think I messed up my ankle, or something," he said, although he really didn't want to sound like he was complaining. Then, to try to make light of the situation said, "Hope this doesn't hurt my Blitz." That just made the situation worse, however.
"Aren't we just in a lovely condition," Yuna said, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
They walked a little longer without saying much, when suddenly a terrible feeling came upon him and he turned around just in time to see a giant fiend coming up behind them.
"What's that?" he cried, and Yuna turned around to see what it was, and gasped.
"I don't know," she said, eying the beast, "I've never seen anything like it!"
"Should we fight it, or try to flee?" Tidus asked, grabbing his sword anyway.
"We're too weak to flee," Yuna said, unleashing her pistols, "But I have no idea how to fight this thing!"
The fiend was a giant snake-like creature, larger than any fiend the two had seen before. It had many legs, and had fire coming out of its nostrils.
Suddenly, the sky flashed, and lightning hit the giant beast, causing Tidus and Yuna both to sigh. Perhaps the lightning had taken care of the fiend.
However, the fiend just engulfed the lightning, and to both Tidus and Yuna's horror, grew even larger.
"This can't be happening," Tidus muttered through clenched teeth.
"But it is..." the fayth's voice could suddenly be heard echoing through the plains.
"The Fayth..." Yuna said, turning around.
"Watch out!" Tidus cried, and jumped at Yuna, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her down on top of him just as the beast stomped on of its giant legs right where Yuna had been standing.
"We'll have to flee!" Tidus said, "There's no way we can fight it! Not now!"
Tidus stood up quickly, dragging Yuna with him. However, he was then struck by a strange spell, and fell back down to the ground.
"Tidus!" Yuna cried, kneeling quickly down to him.
"I'm fine!" he said, although Yuna could tell he wasn't, "Now come on! We have to go now!"
Yuna nodded, but then suddenly saw a flash of one of the beast's legs coming straight for her. The next thing she knew, she felt a surging pain to her head, and she then blacked out.