Urk-hello! Thank you once again for the very nice reviews, better than
last time in fact! Though I have been very busy with school since summer va-
cay is coming up and all, I'm luck enough to update at least once a week or
so.
SpHeRe HuNtEr RiKkU
Gippal honestly! And I did review but it didn't show up for some strange reason, it says I can't do it again because I've already done so once! sigh Hopefully you'll be able to concentrate in school now!
kingleby
Thank you! How very kind of you to say that. A lot of people like GippalxRikku I see...
aromatherapy
I AM continuing! giggle I'm glad you like this story idea; like I said I wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for Rikku! tackleglomps Originality=good. Thanks!
Charmed Amber
Thank you so very much for the compliment! I try to focus on characterization, but sometimes it doesn't come out quite right. And I'm glad you liked that chapter, hopefully you'll like this one as much!
craZy18gurl
Another 'love' comment. huggles THANKIES! Can't think of anything else to say except thanks for all your support guys!
aromatherapy
Glad you liked THAT chapter too! Heheh. I forget to do things like that too, don't worry.
Today's culture of the day features the wonderful, adorable Hypello! So in response to your reviews (which I loved SO much) I: Shank yoo?
I don't own Final Fantasy X-2 (sob) or anything related sadly. I own this fic and that is all right. I do not wish to be sued though...!
Enjoy the chapter; popcorn is located in the lobby along with refreshments and candy. Now where'd that chocolate go...
LennexShuyinxYunaxTidus
GippalxRikku
PainexBaralai
NoojxLeBlanc
Eternal Rhapsody
Chapter Three: A Collision
"Get back here you freak of nature!" Rikku hollered, sprinting after the Al Bhed that ran before her.
Gippal managed to get a few yards away from her while she was busy trying to figure out which path he hade taken at the fork in the road. As he turned down one leafy path, he was able to catch snippets of insults that Rikku was hooting at him, most of which were beyond inappropriate. With an overruling leap over a small gorge that was wedged between a crystal clear waterfall and a highly elevated cliff, he screeched in a Chocobo-like way. The female heard the sound and darted down the left path, determined to catch him and teach him a day's worth of lessons. As she came to the same gorge, she was faced with a problem, as she wasn't tall enough to jump over without falling. Wrinkling her nose with frustration, she stomped one boot clad foot and groaned.
"No fair Gippal! I can't jump that far!" she complained, scowling angrily. "You get back here and help me!"
The crevasse was about eight feet wide and was meters down under the sandy underbrush of the tropical forest. A rotting log with wildly growing moss was strung effortlessly across the pit. Vines and branches seemed to block any other path there was around the ravine, grinning evilly at Rikku. The teenaged Al Bhed looked up from gazing within he depths of the gorge and waited anxiously for a reply. When there was none she rolled her swirled green eyes and tried again.
"Gippy will you get back here and help me?" she cried, pouting her creamy lips. The only response she got this time was the screech of some distant Seagull. "Oh I'm gonna hurt you now!" she muttered to herself, rolling up her belled sleeves.
Running back for a head start, she went over if she should do this or not. Due to her stubborn nature, she decided on giving it a try, even if the odds of her making it over were zero to none. She began to run towards the ravine, slowly at first, and then got faster as she neared it.
"You can do this, you can do this." She chanted to herself, a grin playing across her immature features. But the closer she got, she became more unsure of herself. "You can do this, you can do this. gulp YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
With the biggest leap she could manage, she hurled her body over the crack in the land and fell head first into a boulder wedged on the other side. With a scream of terror, she grabbed the first thing she saw, that being the rough edges of the fissure. Gripping the soft grass the poked out from the ground above her, Rikku shut her eyes and held on for dear life.
"Help!" she cried, hoping someone would hear. But she was in the middle of the Besaid jungle; no one would hear her, much less care. "Oh poopie..." she groaned, biting her lip.
Gippal, of course, had been watching the girl the whole time and panicked when she made the fall. He could feel the rush of adrenaline surge through his bloodstream as he leaped out of the tree he was in.
"Hold on Cid's girl!" he reassured, making his way down the water line to the spot where she had fallen.
Rikku's forest green eyes popped open in surprise as she heard Gippal coming towards her. Had he been there that whole time? Oh well, she would kill him for that too later. If she didn't die first that is. Looking downwards while still trying to keep her hold, she came to find the pit full of growling Coeurls. Each were lashing out happily at her, opening their arms to her-their dinner. Letting out another terrified shout, she adverted her gaze back towards the cloudy sky.
Gippal found Rikku holding on for all she was worth at the edge of the ravine. Gritting his teeth, he bent over and grabbed hold of her arms. "Don't let go!" he insisted.
"No kidding!" Rikku snapped. "Or would you rather me say: Oh lets just let go and fall into the pit of angry fiends why don't we. Real smart suggestion doncha think?!"
How could she still be sarcastic with him now? He was trying to save her! Sure she got on his nerves, but still he didn't want her to die. That would be possibly the worst thing to happen in his life. After all, 'Cid's girl' did mean an awful lot to him, even though he didn't like to think about it.
"Are you just going to let me die?" Rikku asked with actual fright in her voice, breaking Gippal free of his thoughts. "Because if so I'll be sure to haunt your ass first!" she added shakily.
"Rikku will you shut up and calm down?" Gippal pleaded, glaring harmful daggers at the younger Al Bhed.
Rikku was astounded, literally in shock. 'Did...did he just call me Rikku?' For the record, he had never called her anything along the lines of something respectful. Making up childish nicknames for her was fundamentally his job, along with making her blush like crazy. In 14 years, of calling her Cid's girl he finally called her by her real name.
"A little help here! Force yourself up Cid's girl!" he demanded, this time breaking /Rikku/ free of her subconscious.
The girl felt a small portion of sweat gather at the back of her head when he called out his command. 'So much for that...' she thought, doing as he ordered her to. With a loud grunt, he was able to hoist her up onto the moist grass- a welcome sight for Rikku.
Gippal expected a thank you, or something like that instead what he got made him even more annoyed with the girl. "You jerk!" she snapped, throwing a rock at his forehead.
"What!?" he cried, stepping backwards from the enraged woman, avoiding the rock. "I just saved your damn life!"
Rikku scowled and picked up another rock, making another threat to catch him and feed him to the Coeurls. Gippal took this as a warning and started running again, panting heavily as Rikku shot after him.
The two Al Bhed continued in hot pursuit until they reached the beach. The luminescent sun that had been out until the clouds gave way gave the sand a toasty feel on Rikku's bare feet, seeing as her boots had fallen off when she was dangling over the edge of the chasm. With a powered force, Rikku shoved Gippal into the muddy banks of the ocean.
"Hey!" he shouted, wiping the brown gunk of his face. "What was that for?" Before Rikku could reply, he had grabbed her legs and dragged her into the mud.
"Jerk off!" she accused, throwing a ball of mud at Gippal's hair. "How dare you!"
"How dare /you/!" Throwing an identical wad of fused sand at her, he chuckled to himself and ducked underwater to avoid another slat in the face.
Rikku dove under and kicked him in the shin, watching as he resurfaced like a piece of toast. Exploding into a fit of giggles once she caught sight of him, jumping around in a circle, she toppled backwards and grabbed her throbbing side. "You /so/ deserved that Gippal." She growled once she had gotten over her laughing fit.
Wading through the water, she stepped onto the sand beach and rung out her scarf which was now soaked in mud. Gippal stopped howling and looked up at Rikku who was now focused on her stringy blond hair that had also taken a toll from the dirt.
She was caked in mud head to toe, her hair looked like a birds nest, her scarf looked more like a wet dog's tail than a clothing accessory, and her skirt had a rip up the side. And he loved her more than ever. Sure, he would admit it to himself, that being pretty much all. It had happened last year when he saw her in front of the Djose temple. She seemed so different before, like a completely different person.
Perhaps it was just the fact he had always liked her a bit that triggered within him that day, or maybe just the fact she had grown so much. Whatever the cause, he had found himself falling for Rikku headfirst. It may have sounded like a song lyric or something, but it was true. He would have told her before, but rejection wasn't something he could face at the moment.
Shaking his head clear of thoughts that revolved around 'Cid's girl' he growled angrily at himself for once again thinking about her. At least this time Baralai and Nooj weren't there to catch him doing so, boy he hated that.
"I think we should head back now," he started, but stopped when he found that Rikku was nowhere to be seen. "Er-Cid's girl?"
"Gippal!" came her shrill voice. "You better get over here...and fast!"
Guadosalam
"Move to the right please. Move to the right." The guard that had been currently ushering residents out of the small Spirian town, stopped to look back at the Chateau that was built in the center of the village.
Growling flames licked the outside of the building as terrified women in pink uniforms scrambled out, stolen gil in hand. A man in green ran out shouting something along the lines of 'The boss is inside'. With an abrupt lurch towards the headquarters, the guard began to bang on the outside of the door.
'Everyone is to get out of here as soon as possible' Tromell had ordered earlier. Supposedly some mysterious character in a red cloak had visited him the previous night and spoke of some threat in the Farplane. Though he didn't really believe it, he followed Tromell's directions directly. After all, the fire had been so sudden and all. What /could/ have caused it other than something in the Farplane?
Earlier that Morning
It had been a normal morning in Guadosalam, well for most anyway. The members of the LeBlanc Syndicate had been used more work than usual due to certain emotional issues with their leader. Lets just say LeBlanc hadn't been in the best of moods since her little 'Noojy Woojy' disappeared from her sight. Otherwise, every race residing in the catacombs of Guadosalam were sedately content. The fire had started so suddenly that no one, besides Tromell, as expecting it.
The two men that stood before the teetering gates of the Farplane were alarmed at a horrific sound emitting beyond the gates that many through the years had passed through. Being held responsible of the protection of the sacred grounds was one thing each of them had in mind that morning. Shrieks and whistled curled through the air, sending chills down both of their spines.
Gripping the pistol that was harnessed to his side, the first guard turned abruptly to his partner. "'You 'ear dat Adriel?" he questioned, fingering the trigger carefully.
"Yeah I hear it. Think we should be checkin' it out Gavin?" Adriel replied, taking the role of the obliged guard.
Gavin nodded, giving his friend approval for further investigation of the strange sounds. He helped Adriel open the gates, listening, as the sound appeared to be getting louder with the metallic sound of the gates being opened. As the view of the Farplane drifted into view, along with it came the darkened silhouette. Its massive size was enough to frighten the two guards beyond imagination, but it's glowing red eyes put the finishing touch on their fear.
Within the roaring flames, it's quavering shape headed towards their current location, bringing with it the growing fire.
"What in Yevon's name is that...?" Adriel directed, staggering backwards.
"It's huge whatever the hell it is." Gavin confirmed, not entirely sure what the shadow was either.
"Maybe we should you know...turn back?" Adriel suggested, edging backwards.
Gavin snorted in response. "Gimmie a break Adriel. What could a ding like dis do? Ish just an illusion or somethin'"
But Adriel wasn't so sure about what his friend thought. It may have been a mere illusion, but it still gave him the creeps. Not to mention this odd feeling that stirred within him. Where had that...thing...come from? And why was the Farplane on fire?
"Gavin let's go tell Tromell-"Adriel started, but Gavin cut him off.
"And what? So he can hog this baby all to himself? Who knows what dis ding could be? It coulda, you know, make us rich! It does look like a machina in a way ya know. And Al Bhed pay millions for new machina!" He exclaimed with greed.
Adriel gave him an uneasy scan, for he didn't really like the idea of being burned to death for gil. With a scrutinizing glance towards the inferno, the light haired man nodded and headed down the inflexible path.
"Heh, heh." Gavin snickered, following his fellow employee down towards the veil. The sound of rushing water pooled over them and made both wonder how a fire could have started anyway.
"Are you sure we should be in here?" Adriel muttered, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It is a sacred ground. Bad things happen here to intruders, man."
"Man do you gots to be such a wart sometimes? We 'ain't gonna get caught so chill out! I mean wh-Oooh!" Gavin stopped and flinched in pain.
"What's wrong?" Adriel asked calmly, blinking down at the man before him who had begun to grasp his finger desperately.
"Bloody thing," he mumbled, glaring up at the figure that no longer shook either of them. "Some rock flew from its direction. Probably threw it at me or somethin'" He laughed.
"Dude that's not funny." Adriel stated, scowling at his friend. "Sometimes I really hate you."
He had no idea of knowing those would be the last words he ever said to his best friend. With a scowl at the still laughing guard, Adriel shoved past him and got closer to the crackling inferno. He was about to attempt to call out and communicate. Whoever was controlling it couldn't be seen since its appearance was nothing more than a shadow, but was interrupted unanticipatedly.
The forbidding creature had stopped wrecking it's havoc behind the concealment that separated the Farplane from the real world, and almost grinned evilly at them. Adriel found this impossible and once more labeled it erroneously as an illusion caused by the fumes. Machina couldn't smile, for they had no feelings. Right?
It's beast-like form let out a piercing metallic sound quite similar to nails against a chalkboard. The two men veiled their ears, hoping to protect their hearing from the appalling sound. Within seconds it had gotten so close, shooting fire and painful bullets at the town beyond the gates and at the two men.
"Run Adriel!" Gavin urged grabbing his friend with such force it began to swell almost instantly. But Adriel wouldn't move, his cold grey eyes were fixed on the advancing shadow that looked like a misaligned wave within a sea of fire. "Adriel COME ON!"
Still no response.
His friend had fallen into severe shock.
Could something like that really be that frightening? It didn't seem all that scary to Gavin, but the emotions welling up within the lighter haired man were stronger than ever. Fear, anger, pain, sadness, and rage drowned his consciousness, and bathed it in darkness. A riot of Pyreflies shot up from nowhere and plunged themselves into Adriel's side.
"Adriel I-Noooooo!!" Before Gavin could finish his sentence, the creature fired at the pair, sending them plummeting to their death.
Present
From there the fire had spread to Guadosalam, baking everything into crisp ashes. Several more guards had been called in to take the place of the two that had been lost, ushering crowd of panicking people outside to the Thunder Plains.
Breaking down the door to the Chateau, the guard scurried inside and darted up the stairs. With a lively shove, he forced LeBlanc's door open and stumbled inside her bedroom. By then, chunks of foundation had begun to crumble from the ceiling and plummet to the ground, taking gripping flames down with it.
"Hello! Is anybody in here?" he called, cupping his hands over his mouth to prevent inhaling the smoke.
A blond woman came stomping up to him, not really impediment about the fact that her headquarters were on fire. In fact she looked as if she were to riotously strangle the guard with no cares what so ever.
"What do you want?" she snapped, placing her hand on her hip with the other flapping a maroon fan wildly.
"Er-ma'am. It is my duty to esc ort everyone out of the town right away and insure your safety. If you haven't noticed the village is-"
"Yes I know it's know fire!" she growled, attempting to slap the man across the face. Failing miserably in the process. "I'm not that stupid, love. Now just...just go away and leave me here to die! There's no use in living with my Noojy Woojy gone missing again."
"She's being a drama queen again," a tall voice commented from the hall. "We'll take her."
The tall slim man strode over, followed by a burly man with a mocking face. The larger man lifted her off her feet and straddled her outside and down the stairs.
"Put me down you fool!" she ordered, flailing her arms wildly. "Logos help me down! Ormi /put/ me down!"
"But boss! You woulda died in 'ere! You don't wanna die do ya?" Ormi asked, struggling to haul the frustrated woman out the door.
"I should hope not." Logos, who was a few feet ahead of the two, muttered.
"Of course I do! Now you imbecile, Put. Me. DOWN!!"
Of course, LeBlanc eventually gave in and allowed herself to be taken to the lightning shelter in the Thunder Plains along with the rest of Guadosalam. The three main members as well as the lesson important branches stood off to the side of the crowd, watching with amusement as frazzled people ran around crying.
"Poor loves..." LeBlanc muttered with mockery in her tone. "There goes what's left of Guadosalam."
"Dey could make a new Guado place." Ormi suggested, blinking at the hysterical people. "Then dey could burn that one down too! Hohoho!"
"What kind of dumb ass idea is that?!" a She-goon cried, kicking Ormi in the side. "You're gonna make LeBlanc mad so shut up!"
Ormi scowled at the woman and tried to kick her back, only to fall flat on his face that was covered already with mud. LeBlanc wasn't even paying any attention to her followers, she was thinking to herself about a few things. Like the Farplane incident as well as where Nooj could have gone off to.
'Maybe he's trying to find out what happened as well?' she thought, placing a finger to her lips. 'Of course he did! That's what Noojy does! Now all we have to do is find him.'
0-0-0-Besaid Island-0-0-0
Faces.
So many scarred, tortured faces. The tortured souls and pain that built up on her was overpowering, therefore causing her to pass out. She couldn't take it. Couldn't take the pain and suffering that came along with the visions. It was too much for her to handle, brining her down instantly. Who was that hideously deformed woman she had seen in their doorway? Why was she there, mocking her with that mangled grin?
Shuddering, Yuna looked up to see the faces of pretty much everyone. Lulu, Wakka, and Vidina had wriggled their way into Yuna's presence, looking down at her with sincere concern.
"So you have decided to awaken?" Lulu noted, pulling her son closer to her motherly body. "Are you alright?" Yuna nodded, closing her eyes slightly.
Tidus increased the embrace he was currently holding Yuna in, and began to stoke her hair softly. Nuzzling the side of her head, he tried to calm her pulse, which was still racing a mile a minute.
"Well if you're alright we'll get back to making dinner..." Lulu muttered, dragging her husband, who hadn't said a word but 'bye!' out the door. "Watch out for the weather."
A soon as the couple left, the questions immediately started pouring in. "What happened?" Baralai asked, sitting down on the cot.
"I-I don't now!" Yuna cried, wiping away a sheltered tear from her puffy red eyes. "It's like, someone else's emotions were somehow...transferred into my body or something. That raw feeling of emptiness was so..." Yuna broke down into tears again, clinging to Tidus like a leech.
Baralai blinked and laughed nervously before uttering a 'sorry' under his breath.
"Everything was so intense. It was like my feelings burst into a thousand Pyreflies and just disappeared from existence, leaving me alone. I felt so much sadness. Heartache, pain, sorrow, fear, anger...so much anger. And he faces, those unbearable images just kept getting more and more graphic. I just couldn't take it." She explained once she had recuperated. Scooting so close to Tidus that she could feel his heart beat against her own quavering ribcage, she buried her head in his chest and began muttering something that was hardly audible.
"Yuna...you're not making any sense." Nooj pointed out, narrowing his eyes with impatience. Baralai understood a little bit more and patted the gunner on the back hoping to aid Tidus in the calming of the sea of emotions raging within her.
"I'm trying!" she shouted suddenly, taking all three men by surprise. Her tears chocked back her voice, causing it t quaver off pitch with each word. "I just need to be alone for a while..."
"Alright Yuna, alright." Tidus understood, shushing her to silence.
He watched sadly as the woman stood to her feet, nearly losing her balance twice, and hobbled over to the bedside table. He watched as she secretly snatched the dull blue sphere from the table, and tucked gently into her satchel. With a weakening smile, the woman turned back and waved before heading through the flaps that separated the rest of Besaid from their home.
"Be back soon." She uttered, running her still shaking hands through her short chestnut locks of hair.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As Yuna plodded up the tedious trail that winded up the mountain, her thought began to wander back to that mistakable image that had been following her for the past ten minutes. Shaking her head as a languid attempt to clear the sempiternal visions form her already scrambled mind, she took the opposite path Rikku had gone. Just before she reached the magnificent waterfall, she stopped and clenched her fists-allowing fresh blood to pool over her knuckles.
The burning sensation that ripped through her heart was getting stronger. She began walking faster now, thorough the trees and under the ruins until she reached the deserted part of the western beach. She couldn't take it anymore; her emotions were taking over again. She fell to them, bowing to their iniquitous will, giving in to all the thoughts that were clouding over her. But instead of fear, which she expected, or passing out she felt mad. Horribly angry at everything and everyone. Her rage was overpowering, it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Un-human. For a second she felt almost...dead.
Why was she so mad all of a sudden? Of course she should be mad considering everything was so confusing now. People were always acting like she was someone worthy of respect since they had nothing better to do with their wasted little lives. They practically worshiped the ground she walked on and praised her every feature, giving her lame compliments for a chance to be within the presence of 'High Summoner Yuna'. She was indeed growing tired of the immature little games the people of Spira were playing.
They deserved so much worse. All those tortured souls had been through far worse to insure their happiness, and for what? For them to celebrate one of two things. The triumph over a war or a conflict between themselves and some 'evil force', or the triumph over winning but losing thousands of lives in the process. They didn't seemed to care who died along the way, as longs as those filthy little rats were happy.
Had she actually been willing to serve those sinful people? Was she actually at a time in her life, willing to die for the sake of her world? Afterwards, no one would care that she had sacrificed her life for them, as long as they were safe from the wrath of Sin. Fighting and arguments had solved nothing either. The conflict between the political parties of Spira proved this. War was completely and utterly useless in terms of happiness and joy. Something no one in this cruel world deserved.
Maybe she should have fed Spira to the devilish wrath of Vegnagun after all. Then would they learn how wrong they were? Would they finally see all the pain and suffering everyone went through in each fight that Spira was involved in? She shouldn't have done anything for them, at all. They didn't deserve it. They deserved to die.
Yuna's eyes flashed open almost instantly at horror of her own nefarious thoughts. She saved Spira for the good of everyone! They /did/ deserve it! What was she thinking?
Grasping the Zanarkand Abes insignia that was crested upon her chest, smearing blood all over the front of her halter-top, she had to once again choke back materializing tears. With a large gasp, she leaned over and watched helplessly as vomit poured in a steady stream from her mouth. Mixed within was shapeless blood that had come from nowhere, just the sight of it before her caused her to throw it up again.
She didn't just think that, she couldn't have. There was no way in hell that she could have thought something so...so...evil! Had she really thought that? She didn't! She loved Spira and everything about it, the people, the culture, the race, and all of Spira's beauty. There was no way she thought that. It was just her imagination over-reacting because of that image she had seen. She hadn't thought that at all.
Of course she had. For that insignificant portion of her life she had sunk so low as to think that Spira deserved nothing. She had thought that. It was all her, no one had forced her to think that. It was all her.
Wasn't it?
Half sobbing wistfully, she hobbled down the waterfront, stopping every few yards to throw up another horde of blood and stomach fluid. Clutching her stomach desperately as the sickening girl returned to mind, she finally rested at the edge of a tide pool.
Hoping to stop the mind-consuming feelings that were leaving her grief- stricken, she cautiously retrieved the blue sphere from her side bag. It's sapphire tint left her hands with the same blue color that bounced off the sphere. The cobalt clouds overhead somehow welcomed her into their arms and made her feel a lot better than she had just a few moments ago.
"I'm okay. Not hurt. Not alone. I'm okay now..." the ex-summoner murmured softly, stroking her lips with her finger.
Pulling herself to her full height she jumped half-heartedly off the dark rock and skidded down a small sand dune to where the sand met the water, gliding her boot line through the foamy waves. In her hand lay the sphere of the songstress she knew so much about. But wasn't able to see. Then she noticed it.
Something strange about the sphere that had served no more or less of a purpose than a paperclip. That morning when she had awoken she felt the dull glowing ball of drained energy against her bare flesh, cooling her from her previous night's nightmare.
It was...glowing? It shouldn't have been doing that; it stopped glowing after Lenne went to the Farplane with her love. It lost its brilliant glow, it's everlasting light. Why /was/ it glowing?! She wanted to know, she wanted to understand. How could something so stupid as a glowing sphere make her so confused and annoyed?
"Lenne? Lenne are you there?" she shook the sphere, hoping to find something. "Lenne!! Lenne please! Someone please! Help me!"
With each plead and each cry, her persistence grew stronger. Something wasn't right here, everything around her was unstable, it had been that way since that morning but she hadn't seen it due to her own blindness. She should have felt the strong presence when she saw that face in her doorway. Something wasn't right.
Running down the beach line, she shook the sphere violently yelling at it with anticipation rising through her bloodstream and into her mind. The harder she shook it, the faster she ran, and the faster she ran the more she lost focus.
She couldn't concentrate and she fell, tripped over something on the sand. With a squeak of surprise, the brunette fell headfirst into the ground, her nose coming in contact with a shell of some sort.
"Ouch..." she murmured, rubbing the spot on her nose that had received a bruise. Looking down she saw that it was not a shell, but something else. "A...belt buckle?"
She lifted the small piece of metal and examined it closely, a small engraving was carved into the back but it was too smeared for her to read. 'But who's...' The woman turned around and looked distantly at the sand before her, a gust of wind swept up from the ground and blew into her face. She furrowed her eyebrow when something else floated with the wind, something that /wasn't/ sand.
Tilting her head upwards again, the sight before her nearly scared her into shock. Who? How? Why? It was all too confusing, all too strange. She wanted to cry and scream and shout all at once. The familiar unsteady emotions returned as her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
She tried to blink it away, but it was there. This wasn't some dream she could wish away with the fluttering of her eyes or the calming from a sphere. This was her life, something she was destined to live out. This was all reality.
And she couldn't make it go away.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 I hope you liked that chapter as well! I was going to make it longer, but I knew you guys wouldn't want to suffer through all of that. So! I cut this chapter in half Is it just me or are these chapters getting longer? ;;
Well please read and review!
Songstress 'High Summoner Yuna'
SpHeRe HuNtEr RiKkU
Gippal honestly! And I did review but it didn't show up for some strange reason, it says I can't do it again because I've already done so once! sigh Hopefully you'll be able to concentrate in school now!
kingleby
Thank you! How very kind of you to say that. A lot of people like GippalxRikku I see...
aromatherapy
I AM continuing! giggle I'm glad you like this story idea; like I said I wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for Rikku! tackleglomps Originality=good. Thanks!
Charmed Amber
Thank you so very much for the compliment! I try to focus on characterization, but sometimes it doesn't come out quite right. And I'm glad you liked that chapter, hopefully you'll like this one as much!
craZy18gurl
Another 'love' comment. huggles THANKIES! Can't think of anything else to say except thanks for all your support guys!
aromatherapy
Glad you liked THAT chapter too! Heheh. I forget to do things like that too, don't worry.
Today's culture of the day features the wonderful, adorable Hypello! So in response to your reviews (which I loved SO much) I: Shank yoo?
I don't own Final Fantasy X-2 (sob) or anything related sadly. I own this fic and that is all right. I do not wish to be sued though...!
Enjoy the chapter; popcorn is located in the lobby along with refreshments and candy. Now where'd that chocolate go...
LennexShuyinxYunaxTidus
GippalxRikku
PainexBaralai
NoojxLeBlanc
Eternal Rhapsody
Chapter Three: A Collision
"Get back here you freak of nature!" Rikku hollered, sprinting after the Al Bhed that ran before her.
Gippal managed to get a few yards away from her while she was busy trying to figure out which path he hade taken at the fork in the road. As he turned down one leafy path, he was able to catch snippets of insults that Rikku was hooting at him, most of which were beyond inappropriate. With an overruling leap over a small gorge that was wedged between a crystal clear waterfall and a highly elevated cliff, he screeched in a Chocobo-like way. The female heard the sound and darted down the left path, determined to catch him and teach him a day's worth of lessons. As she came to the same gorge, she was faced with a problem, as she wasn't tall enough to jump over without falling. Wrinkling her nose with frustration, she stomped one boot clad foot and groaned.
"No fair Gippal! I can't jump that far!" she complained, scowling angrily. "You get back here and help me!"
The crevasse was about eight feet wide and was meters down under the sandy underbrush of the tropical forest. A rotting log with wildly growing moss was strung effortlessly across the pit. Vines and branches seemed to block any other path there was around the ravine, grinning evilly at Rikku. The teenaged Al Bhed looked up from gazing within he depths of the gorge and waited anxiously for a reply. When there was none she rolled her swirled green eyes and tried again.
"Gippy will you get back here and help me?" she cried, pouting her creamy lips. The only response she got this time was the screech of some distant Seagull. "Oh I'm gonna hurt you now!" she muttered to herself, rolling up her belled sleeves.
Running back for a head start, she went over if she should do this or not. Due to her stubborn nature, she decided on giving it a try, even if the odds of her making it over were zero to none. She began to run towards the ravine, slowly at first, and then got faster as she neared it.
"You can do this, you can do this." She chanted to herself, a grin playing across her immature features. But the closer she got, she became more unsure of herself. "You can do this, you can do this. gulp YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
With the biggest leap she could manage, she hurled her body over the crack in the land and fell head first into a boulder wedged on the other side. With a scream of terror, she grabbed the first thing she saw, that being the rough edges of the fissure. Gripping the soft grass the poked out from the ground above her, Rikku shut her eyes and held on for dear life.
"Help!" she cried, hoping someone would hear. But she was in the middle of the Besaid jungle; no one would hear her, much less care. "Oh poopie..." she groaned, biting her lip.
Gippal, of course, had been watching the girl the whole time and panicked when she made the fall. He could feel the rush of adrenaline surge through his bloodstream as he leaped out of the tree he was in.
"Hold on Cid's girl!" he reassured, making his way down the water line to the spot where she had fallen.
Rikku's forest green eyes popped open in surprise as she heard Gippal coming towards her. Had he been there that whole time? Oh well, she would kill him for that too later. If she didn't die first that is. Looking downwards while still trying to keep her hold, she came to find the pit full of growling Coeurls. Each were lashing out happily at her, opening their arms to her-their dinner. Letting out another terrified shout, she adverted her gaze back towards the cloudy sky.
Gippal found Rikku holding on for all she was worth at the edge of the ravine. Gritting his teeth, he bent over and grabbed hold of her arms. "Don't let go!" he insisted.
"No kidding!" Rikku snapped. "Or would you rather me say: Oh lets just let go and fall into the pit of angry fiends why don't we. Real smart suggestion doncha think?!"
How could she still be sarcastic with him now? He was trying to save her! Sure she got on his nerves, but still he didn't want her to die. That would be possibly the worst thing to happen in his life. After all, 'Cid's girl' did mean an awful lot to him, even though he didn't like to think about it.
"Are you just going to let me die?" Rikku asked with actual fright in her voice, breaking Gippal free of his thoughts. "Because if so I'll be sure to haunt your ass first!" she added shakily.
"Rikku will you shut up and calm down?" Gippal pleaded, glaring harmful daggers at the younger Al Bhed.
Rikku was astounded, literally in shock. 'Did...did he just call me Rikku?' For the record, he had never called her anything along the lines of something respectful. Making up childish nicknames for her was fundamentally his job, along with making her blush like crazy. In 14 years, of calling her Cid's girl he finally called her by her real name.
"A little help here! Force yourself up Cid's girl!" he demanded, this time breaking /Rikku/ free of her subconscious.
The girl felt a small portion of sweat gather at the back of her head when he called out his command. 'So much for that...' she thought, doing as he ordered her to. With a loud grunt, he was able to hoist her up onto the moist grass- a welcome sight for Rikku.
Gippal expected a thank you, or something like that instead what he got made him even more annoyed with the girl. "You jerk!" she snapped, throwing a rock at his forehead.
"What!?" he cried, stepping backwards from the enraged woman, avoiding the rock. "I just saved your damn life!"
Rikku scowled and picked up another rock, making another threat to catch him and feed him to the Coeurls. Gippal took this as a warning and started running again, panting heavily as Rikku shot after him.
The two Al Bhed continued in hot pursuit until they reached the beach. The luminescent sun that had been out until the clouds gave way gave the sand a toasty feel on Rikku's bare feet, seeing as her boots had fallen off when she was dangling over the edge of the chasm. With a powered force, Rikku shoved Gippal into the muddy banks of the ocean.
"Hey!" he shouted, wiping the brown gunk of his face. "What was that for?" Before Rikku could reply, he had grabbed her legs and dragged her into the mud.
"Jerk off!" she accused, throwing a ball of mud at Gippal's hair. "How dare you!"
"How dare /you/!" Throwing an identical wad of fused sand at her, he chuckled to himself and ducked underwater to avoid another slat in the face.
Rikku dove under and kicked him in the shin, watching as he resurfaced like a piece of toast. Exploding into a fit of giggles once she caught sight of him, jumping around in a circle, she toppled backwards and grabbed her throbbing side. "You /so/ deserved that Gippal." She growled once she had gotten over her laughing fit.
Wading through the water, she stepped onto the sand beach and rung out her scarf which was now soaked in mud. Gippal stopped howling and looked up at Rikku who was now focused on her stringy blond hair that had also taken a toll from the dirt.
She was caked in mud head to toe, her hair looked like a birds nest, her scarf looked more like a wet dog's tail than a clothing accessory, and her skirt had a rip up the side. And he loved her more than ever. Sure, he would admit it to himself, that being pretty much all. It had happened last year when he saw her in front of the Djose temple. She seemed so different before, like a completely different person.
Perhaps it was just the fact he had always liked her a bit that triggered within him that day, or maybe just the fact she had grown so much. Whatever the cause, he had found himself falling for Rikku headfirst. It may have sounded like a song lyric or something, but it was true. He would have told her before, but rejection wasn't something he could face at the moment.
Shaking his head clear of thoughts that revolved around 'Cid's girl' he growled angrily at himself for once again thinking about her. At least this time Baralai and Nooj weren't there to catch him doing so, boy he hated that.
"I think we should head back now," he started, but stopped when he found that Rikku was nowhere to be seen. "Er-Cid's girl?"
"Gippal!" came her shrill voice. "You better get over here...and fast!"
Guadosalam
"Move to the right please. Move to the right." The guard that had been currently ushering residents out of the small Spirian town, stopped to look back at the Chateau that was built in the center of the village.
Growling flames licked the outside of the building as terrified women in pink uniforms scrambled out, stolen gil in hand. A man in green ran out shouting something along the lines of 'The boss is inside'. With an abrupt lurch towards the headquarters, the guard began to bang on the outside of the door.
'Everyone is to get out of here as soon as possible' Tromell had ordered earlier. Supposedly some mysterious character in a red cloak had visited him the previous night and spoke of some threat in the Farplane. Though he didn't really believe it, he followed Tromell's directions directly. After all, the fire had been so sudden and all. What /could/ have caused it other than something in the Farplane?
Earlier that Morning
It had been a normal morning in Guadosalam, well for most anyway. The members of the LeBlanc Syndicate had been used more work than usual due to certain emotional issues with their leader. Lets just say LeBlanc hadn't been in the best of moods since her little 'Noojy Woojy' disappeared from her sight. Otherwise, every race residing in the catacombs of Guadosalam were sedately content. The fire had started so suddenly that no one, besides Tromell, as expecting it.
The two men that stood before the teetering gates of the Farplane were alarmed at a horrific sound emitting beyond the gates that many through the years had passed through. Being held responsible of the protection of the sacred grounds was one thing each of them had in mind that morning. Shrieks and whistled curled through the air, sending chills down both of their spines.
Gripping the pistol that was harnessed to his side, the first guard turned abruptly to his partner. "'You 'ear dat Adriel?" he questioned, fingering the trigger carefully.
"Yeah I hear it. Think we should be checkin' it out Gavin?" Adriel replied, taking the role of the obliged guard.
Gavin nodded, giving his friend approval for further investigation of the strange sounds. He helped Adriel open the gates, listening, as the sound appeared to be getting louder with the metallic sound of the gates being opened. As the view of the Farplane drifted into view, along with it came the darkened silhouette. Its massive size was enough to frighten the two guards beyond imagination, but it's glowing red eyes put the finishing touch on their fear.
Within the roaring flames, it's quavering shape headed towards their current location, bringing with it the growing fire.
"What in Yevon's name is that...?" Adriel directed, staggering backwards.
"It's huge whatever the hell it is." Gavin confirmed, not entirely sure what the shadow was either.
"Maybe we should you know...turn back?" Adriel suggested, edging backwards.
Gavin snorted in response. "Gimmie a break Adriel. What could a ding like dis do? Ish just an illusion or somethin'"
But Adriel wasn't so sure about what his friend thought. It may have been a mere illusion, but it still gave him the creeps. Not to mention this odd feeling that stirred within him. Where had that...thing...come from? And why was the Farplane on fire?
"Gavin let's go tell Tromell-"Adriel started, but Gavin cut him off.
"And what? So he can hog this baby all to himself? Who knows what dis ding could be? It coulda, you know, make us rich! It does look like a machina in a way ya know. And Al Bhed pay millions for new machina!" He exclaimed with greed.
Adriel gave him an uneasy scan, for he didn't really like the idea of being burned to death for gil. With a scrutinizing glance towards the inferno, the light haired man nodded and headed down the inflexible path.
"Heh, heh." Gavin snickered, following his fellow employee down towards the veil. The sound of rushing water pooled over them and made both wonder how a fire could have started anyway.
"Are you sure we should be in here?" Adriel muttered, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It is a sacred ground. Bad things happen here to intruders, man."
"Man do you gots to be such a wart sometimes? We 'ain't gonna get caught so chill out! I mean wh-Oooh!" Gavin stopped and flinched in pain.
"What's wrong?" Adriel asked calmly, blinking down at the man before him who had begun to grasp his finger desperately.
"Bloody thing," he mumbled, glaring up at the figure that no longer shook either of them. "Some rock flew from its direction. Probably threw it at me or somethin'" He laughed.
"Dude that's not funny." Adriel stated, scowling at his friend. "Sometimes I really hate you."
He had no idea of knowing those would be the last words he ever said to his best friend. With a scowl at the still laughing guard, Adriel shoved past him and got closer to the crackling inferno. He was about to attempt to call out and communicate. Whoever was controlling it couldn't be seen since its appearance was nothing more than a shadow, but was interrupted unanticipatedly.
The forbidding creature had stopped wrecking it's havoc behind the concealment that separated the Farplane from the real world, and almost grinned evilly at them. Adriel found this impossible and once more labeled it erroneously as an illusion caused by the fumes. Machina couldn't smile, for they had no feelings. Right?
It's beast-like form let out a piercing metallic sound quite similar to nails against a chalkboard. The two men veiled their ears, hoping to protect their hearing from the appalling sound. Within seconds it had gotten so close, shooting fire and painful bullets at the town beyond the gates and at the two men.
"Run Adriel!" Gavin urged grabbing his friend with such force it began to swell almost instantly. But Adriel wouldn't move, his cold grey eyes were fixed on the advancing shadow that looked like a misaligned wave within a sea of fire. "Adriel COME ON!"
Still no response.
His friend had fallen into severe shock.
Could something like that really be that frightening? It didn't seem all that scary to Gavin, but the emotions welling up within the lighter haired man were stronger than ever. Fear, anger, pain, sadness, and rage drowned his consciousness, and bathed it in darkness. A riot of Pyreflies shot up from nowhere and plunged themselves into Adriel's side.
"Adriel I-Noooooo!!" Before Gavin could finish his sentence, the creature fired at the pair, sending them plummeting to their death.
Present
From there the fire had spread to Guadosalam, baking everything into crisp ashes. Several more guards had been called in to take the place of the two that had been lost, ushering crowd of panicking people outside to the Thunder Plains.
Breaking down the door to the Chateau, the guard scurried inside and darted up the stairs. With a lively shove, he forced LeBlanc's door open and stumbled inside her bedroom. By then, chunks of foundation had begun to crumble from the ceiling and plummet to the ground, taking gripping flames down with it.
"Hello! Is anybody in here?" he called, cupping his hands over his mouth to prevent inhaling the smoke.
A blond woman came stomping up to him, not really impediment about the fact that her headquarters were on fire. In fact she looked as if she were to riotously strangle the guard with no cares what so ever.
"What do you want?" she snapped, placing her hand on her hip with the other flapping a maroon fan wildly.
"Er-ma'am. It is my duty to esc ort everyone out of the town right away and insure your safety. If you haven't noticed the village is-"
"Yes I know it's know fire!" she growled, attempting to slap the man across the face. Failing miserably in the process. "I'm not that stupid, love. Now just...just go away and leave me here to die! There's no use in living with my Noojy Woojy gone missing again."
"She's being a drama queen again," a tall voice commented from the hall. "We'll take her."
The tall slim man strode over, followed by a burly man with a mocking face. The larger man lifted her off her feet and straddled her outside and down the stairs.
"Put me down you fool!" she ordered, flailing her arms wildly. "Logos help me down! Ormi /put/ me down!"
"But boss! You woulda died in 'ere! You don't wanna die do ya?" Ormi asked, struggling to haul the frustrated woman out the door.
"I should hope not." Logos, who was a few feet ahead of the two, muttered.
"Of course I do! Now you imbecile, Put. Me. DOWN!!"
Of course, LeBlanc eventually gave in and allowed herself to be taken to the lightning shelter in the Thunder Plains along with the rest of Guadosalam. The three main members as well as the lesson important branches stood off to the side of the crowd, watching with amusement as frazzled people ran around crying.
"Poor loves..." LeBlanc muttered with mockery in her tone. "There goes what's left of Guadosalam."
"Dey could make a new Guado place." Ormi suggested, blinking at the hysterical people. "Then dey could burn that one down too! Hohoho!"
"What kind of dumb ass idea is that?!" a She-goon cried, kicking Ormi in the side. "You're gonna make LeBlanc mad so shut up!"
Ormi scowled at the woman and tried to kick her back, only to fall flat on his face that was covered already with mud. LeBlanc wasn't even paying any attention to her followers, she was thinking to herself about a few things. Like the Farplane incident as well as where Nooj could have gone off to.
'Maybe he's trying to find out what happened as well?' she thought, placing a finger to her lips. 'Of course he did! That's what Noojy does! Now all we have to do is find him.'
0-0-0-Besaid Island-0-0-0
Faces.
So many scarred, tortured faces. The tortured souls and pain that built up on her was overpowering, therefore causing her to pass out. She couldn't take it. Couldn't take the pain and suffering that came along with the visions. It was too much for her to handle, brining her down instantly. Who was that hideously deformed woman she had seen in their doorway? Why was she there, mocking her with that mangled grin?
Shuddering, Yuna looked up to see the faces of pretty much everyone. Lulu, Wakka, and Vidina had wriggled their way into Yuna's presence, looking down at her with sincere concern.
"So you have decided to awaken?" Lulu noted, pulling her son closer to her motherly body. "Are you alright?" Yuna nodded, closing her eyes slightly.
Tidus increased the embrace he was currently holding Yuna in, and began to stoke her hair softly. Nuzzling the side of her head, he tried to calm her pulse, which was still racing a mile a minute.
"Well if you're alright we'll get back to making dinner..." Lulu muttered, dragging her husband, who hadn't said a word but 'bye!' out the door. "Watch out for the weather."
A soon as the couple left, the questions immediately started pouring in. "What happened?" Baralai asked, sitting down on the cot.
"I-I don't now!" Yuna cried, wiping away a sheltered tear from her puffy red eyes. "It's like, someone else's emotions were somehow...transferred into my body or something. That raw feeling of emptiness was so..." Yuna broke down into tears again, clinging to Tidus like a leech.
Baralai blinked and laughed nervously before uttering a 'sorry' under his breath.
"Everything was so intense. It was like my feelings burst into a thousand Pyreflies and just disappeared from existence, leaving me alone. I felt so much sadness. Heartache, pain, sorrow, fear, anger...so much anger. And he faces, those unbearable images just kept getting more and more graphic. I just couldn't take it." She explained once she had recuperated. Scooting so close to Tidus that she could feel his heart beat against her own quavering ribcage, she buried her head in his chest and began muttering something that was hardly audible.
"Yuna...you're not making any sense." Nooj pointed out, narrowing his eyes with impatience. Baralai understood a little bit more and patted the gunner on the back hoping to aid Tidus in the calming of the sea of emotions raging within her.
"I'm trying!" she shouted suddenly, taking all three men by surprise. Her tears chocked back her voice, causing it t quaver off pitch with each word. "I just need to be alone for a while..."
"Alright Yuna, alright." Tidus understood, shushing her to silence.
He watched sadly as the woman stood to her feet, nearly losing her balance twice, and hobbled over to the bedside table. He watched as she secretly snatched the dull blue sphere from the table, and tucked gently into her satchel. With a weakening smile, the woman turned back and waved before heading through the flaps that separated the rest of Besaid from their home.
"Be back soon." She uttered, running her still shaking hands through her short chestnut locks of hair.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As Yuna plodded up the tedious trail that winded up the mountain, her thought began to wander back to that mistakable image that had been following her for the past ten minutes. Shaking her head as a languid attempt to clear the sempiternal visions form her already scrambled mind, she took the opposite path Rikku had gone. Just before she reached the magnificent waterfall, she stopped and clenched her fists-allowing fresh blood to pool over her knuckles.
The burning sensation that ripped through her heart was getting stronger. She began walking faster now, thorough the trees and under the ruins until she reached the deserted part of the western beach. She couldn't take it anymore; her emotions were taking over again. She fell to them, bowing to their iniquitous will, giving in to all the thoughts that were clouding over her. But instead of fear, which she expected, or passing out she felt mad. Horribly angry at everything and everyone. Her rage was overpowering, it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Un-human. For a second she felt almost...dead.
Why was she so mad all of a sudden? Of course she should be mad considering everything was so confusing now. People were always acting like she was someone worthy of respect since they had nothing better to do with their wasted little lives. They practically worshiped the ground she walked on and praised her every feature, giving her lame compliments for a chance to be within the presence of 'High Summoner Yuna'. She was indeed growing tired of the immature little games the people of Spira were playing.
They deserved so much worse. All those tortured souls had been through far worse to insure their happiness, and for what? For them to celebrate one of two things. The triumph over a war or a conflict between themselves and some 'evil force', or the triumph over winning but losing thousands of lives in the process. They didn't seemed to care who died along the way, as longs as those filthy little rats were happy.
Had she actually been willing to serve those sinful people? Was she actually at a time in her life, willing to die for the sake of her world? Afterwards, no one would care that she had sacrificed her life for them, as long as they were safe from the wrath of Sin. Fighting and arguments had solved nothing either. The conflict between the political parties of Spira proved this. War was completely and utterly useless in terms of happiness and joy. Something no one in this cruel world deserved.
Maybe she should have fed Spira to the devilish wrath of Vegnagun after all. Then would they learn how wrong they were? Would they finally see all the pain and suffering everyone went through in each fight that Spira was involved in? She shouldn't have done anything for them, at all. They didn't deserve it. They deserved to die.
Yuna's eyes flashed open almost instantly at horror of her own nefarious thoughts. She saved Spira for the good of everyone! They /did/ deserve it! What was she thinking?
Grasping the Zanarkand Abes insignia that was crested upon her chest, smearing blood all over the front of her halter-top, she had to once again choke back materializing tears. With a large gasp, she leaned over and watched helplessly as vomit poured in a steady stream from her mouth. Mixed within was shapeless blood that had come from nowhere, just the sight of it before her caused her to throw it up again.
She didn't just think that, she couldn't have. There was no way in hell that she could have thought something so...so...evil! Had she really thought that? She didn't! She loved Spira and everything about it, the people, the culture, the race, and all of Spira's beauty. There was no way she thought that. It was just her imagination over-reacting because of that image she had seen. She hadn't thought that at all.
Of course she had. For that insignificant portion of her life she had sunk so low as to think that Spira deserved nothing. She had thought that. It was all her, no one had forced her to think that. It was all her.
Wasn't it?
Half sobbing wistfully, she hobbled down the waterfront, stopping every few yards to throw up another horde of blood and stomach fluid. Clutching her stomach desperately as the sickening girl returned to mind, she finally rested at the edge of a tide pool.
Hoping to stop the mind-consuming feelings that were leaving her grief- stricken, she cautiously retrieved the blue sphere from her side bag. It's sapphire tint left her hands with the same blue color that bounced off the sphere. The cobalt clouds overhead somehow welcomed her into their arms and made her feel a lot better than she had just a few moments ago.
"I'm okay. Not hurt. Not alone. I'm okay now..." the ex-summoner murmured softly, stroking her lips with her finger.
Pulling herself to her full height she jumped half-heartedly off the dark rock and skidded down a small sand dune to where the sand met the water, gliding her boot line through the foamy waves. In her hand lay the sphere of the songstress she knew so much about. But wasn't able to see. Then she noticed it.
Something strange about the sphere that had served no more or less of a purpose than a paperclip. That morning when she had awoken she felt the dull glowing ball of drained energy against her bare flesh, cooling her from her previous night's nightmare.
It was...glowing? It shouldn't have been doing that; it stopped glowing after Lenne went to the Farplane with her love. It lost its brilliant glow, it's everlasting light. Why /was/ it glowing?! She wanted to know, she wanted to understand. How could something so stupid as a glowing sphere make her so confused and annoyed?
"Lenne? Lenne are you there?" she shook the sphere, hoping to find something. "Lenne!! Lenne please! Someone please! Help me!"
With each plead and each cry, her persistence grew stronger. Something wasn't right here, everything around her was unstable, it had been that way since that morning but she hadn't seen it due to her own blindness. She should have felt the strong presence when she saw that face in her doorway. Something wasn't right.
Running down the beach line, she shook the sphere violently yelling at it with anticipation rising through her bloodstream and into her mind. The harder she shook it, the faster she ran, and the faster she ran the more she lost focus.
She couldn't concentrate and she fell, tripped over something on the sand. With a squeak of surprise, the brunette fell headfirst into the ground, her nose coming in contact with a shell of some sort.
"Ouch..." she murmured, rubbing the spot on her nose that had received a bruise. Looking down she saw that it was not a shell, but something else. "A...belt buckle?"
She lifted the small piece of metal and examined it closely, a small engraving was carved into the back but it was too smeared for her to read. 'But who's...' The woman turned around and looked distantly at the sand before her, a gust of wind swept up from the ground and blew into her face. She furrowed her eyebrow when something else floated with the wind, something that /wasn't/ sand.
Tilting her head upwards again, the sight before her nearly scared her into shock. Who? How? Why? It was all too confusing, all too strange. She wanted to cry and scream and shout all at once. The familiar unsteady emotions returned as her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
She tried to blink it away, but it was there. This wasn't some dream she could wish away with the fluttering of her eyes or the calming from a sphere. This was her life, something she was destined to live out. This was all reality.
And she couldn't make it go away.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 I hope you liked that chapter as well! I was going to make it longer, but I knew you guys wouldn't want to suffer through all of that. So! I cut this chapter in half Is it just me or are these chapters getting longer? ;;
Well please read and review!
Songstress 'High Summoner Yuna'
