Story: Sora's Fate
Disclaimer: I own only Sha'ra. Everything else is kudos to Square/Enix and that damned...I mean darling Disney...
By: TheBabs
Gippal scratched the black eyepatch impatiently and shifted his weight from his left to his right foot. Bevelle had been boring since the pale boy named Sora left. The hooded lad called Riku left as well, as was reported by a tearful group of children. Apparently, they had loved the silent boy who silently wiped away their tears and fended off the Heartless and Fiends. Gippal, tired of the weeping and people milling about anxiously for 'Their Savior' to lock away or destroy the Heartless or even following the pale Baralai whenever he left the government center.
Flying past broken pieces of forgotten worlds and stars wasn't any less irritating to Gippal than the Bevellian people he left behind. At least now he had silence almost. He turned to the pilot of his Air-Gummi Ship, his mother's second child and his half-brother, Buddy.
Buddy and Gippal have never had a long rivalry, although Gippal's father found out that she had been with another man when Gippal was a small child and had claimed that she left wed-lock with his father years ago. Gippal met Buddy when he was seven years old. Buddy was five then, but they were almost as good friends as Gippal, Baralai and Nooj were. Gippal couldn't remember if he ever told Baralai or Nooj, and wondered if they ever guessed that Gippal had a younger brother that his mother loved more.
Buddy turned in his seat to look at his older brother, as if hearing his thoughts or feeling the negative energy radiating from him. Gippal frowned at him, not hiding his current dislike for the younger. If he wanted time alone to sulk, then no one should bother him of it. Buddy blinked at his brother through his goggles, then turned back around. Gippal grinned. He may not have been the more loved one, but he got all of the looks: great skin, hair and a body the ladies loved. Buddy was a deep tan with sand white hair the only thing they shared was their muscled bodies.
Gippal sighed and sat in a large seat reserved specifically for him while short, blue skinned Hypello ran around, asking the crew if they wanted refreshments and the like. After ordering a strong alcohol, Gippal leaned back in his seat and nodded off.
--
Gippal's last meal with his friends was more of a conference than anything else. He was disappointed at this, but there was nothing that could be done: Spira had to be reunited again into one world and a new war would commence from the old one that sparked the Heartless into movement again until one 'country' would reign over the others.
Gippal's purpose was to make sure that the Al Bhed from Bikanel Desert came out on top, even if it cost him Nooj and Baralai.
In the back of his dreaming mind, Gippal pondered the reason for the war. Bevelle had always been the capital in Spiran history, maybe that's what started the war? No, why would one start when everyone was perfectly happy...? Gippal turned in his sleep, and his thoughts shifted.
--
In the distance, Nooj had just saved Baralai's life, but was swiftly being dragged into the ground by the dark things...darklings...he quickly dubbed them. With a war cry, Gippal charged through their masses to his friend and dove down to help. For a split moment he saw Nooj's face, full of pain and worry, then he was sucked under.
'Nooj!' he cried, trying to get closer, shoving the darklings/Heartless away. One turned to Gippal slowly, then in a swift moment that Gippal barely saw, a darkling stabbed Gippal in his eye. Gippal reeled in pain and fell back. Almost just as swiftly as the one darkling stabbed him, the others shoved him back until his one eye saw sky.
He remembered a cute girl called 'Rikku' found him along with her brother...Brother...and of all people, Buddy. Brother had shielded Rikku from Gippal while Buddy tried to help Gippal stand. Gippal, being the fool that he was, refused Buddy's help until he felt something clawing at his leg. Looking down, one of the darklings had stayed with him and was trying to use him as a shield from the sun. Then the air was filled with yelling and gunshots as the Al Bhed took up arms against the Heartless, who had just morphed into forms more suited for the desert. Gippal barely remembered seeing a tall white palace in the distance with golden tops....
--
Buddy gave the controls of the Air-Ship to another Al Bhed and walked around swinging his arms to loosen them up. Navigating the ship is profoundly boring, Buddy thought. He looked at his older brother who fell asleep in his chair. He had just moved a bit so the patched eye was facing him. Buddy shuddered uncontrollably.
Damn, that day the Heartless spat him out from the ground...what had they done to his eye?! Gippal had been holding it in one hand in pain, but apparantly could still use it. Buddy wondered to this day if Gippal was aware that he was hysterically crying, or if he even saw his own eye. While the other Al Bhed were fighting, the three young Al Bhed brought Gippal into Home. The White Mage gasped when she saw Gippal, then busied herself with healing him. None of her remedies or spells worked against Gippal's eye, so she gave the excuse that he would lose sight through the eye and put his metal and leather patch over it.
Buddy frowned at Gippal as a Hypello left a tall glass of a lime green liquid next to his brother. The Hypello disappeared down the hall.
"Why don't you two just talk things out?" the Al Bhed said. Buddy turned to his replacement navigator and frowned. She was his ex-fiancé who had left Buddy after a month long war between the brothers. It came from Gippal assuming the role as the head of the Al Bhed and him not allowing Buddy any responsibility or even admit that they were brothers to the masses. Neither man was...manly enough to end the fight. It confused the hell out of the others who were in close contact with Gippal or Buddy for more than a week. Both were charming men, with positive attitudes and very helpful in a pinch. Get them in the same room...and it's a re enactment of any pointless war.
"I wish we could just be brothers again, but it's not something Gippal seems to want, and he always seems to get his way." Buddy gritted his teeth, then sighed as the Al Bhed woman, Sha'ra, squeezed his shoulder in sympathy.
"Well, your mother gave you the attention, didn't she? The love, the devotion " Buddy shrugged her off.
"That has nothing to do with now, with today Sha'ra!" Buddy said sniffily, then he sighed. "We should man the ship. Agrabah should be coming up soon unless the Heartless shifted it again."
--
Gippal awoke hours before the ship landed, and spent the time walking around the AirShip. When it finally did land, he grabbed his Machina weapons and slid them under his Ambassador robe.
As he walked towards the main exit, Sha'ra and Buddy, each dressed for the occasion, flanked his sides.
Outside the ship, the air was hot and dry, sucking the moisture from the trio's mouths. They were met by the palace guards, which were lead by a large, ugly man with a rotting tooth and an affinity towards his curved sword in his belt.
They were led through the city by the guards and were watched by scared and curious people. Many peeked through their shutters out of a slightly open door. All wore tattered, dirty cloths that the poor wore. Their faces were full of worry and hope: worry for if the Heartless were to return and hope that the Al Bhed had some sort of solution for their problems. Street peddlers bowed to Gippal, making him grin from vain while Sha'ra and Buddy nodded their heads to the people. Buddy paused once, when a dark haired girl ran to him and, while blushing, gave him a scarf she had made herself. He smiled and gave her thanks, and she ran off back into her home.
After a bit of walking, they passed into the wealthier part of Agrabah. The girls, women and children bowed and waved to the travelers, something that amused Gippal to no end, and caused Sha'ra to slap Buddy's arm in jealously when another woman stopped him and thanked him for giving their people an opportunity to be safe again.
Like the Al Bhed women, The wealthy Agrabanian women dressed little, as to escape the heat. Only here, their outfits were adorned with flashy colors and gems and the wearers were thin little women with dark skin and bright smiles. Sha'ra self examined herself as she watched other women flirt from windows to the brothers. She was well enough muscled so that she was built almost like a boy, but she still had the figure of a woman...just not the figure of the bronze skinned women.
In a short while, they reached the palace gates, which were wide open for the first time since before the Heartless attacked. There were extra guards there, surrounding the short, plump man standing in the center of the door way. On his right and slightly behind, there was another woman in a small blue top and 'puffy' blue pants. To his left, a tall man wearing a cream tunic and breeches, much like the guards, but he did not seem to be a part of them. He even had the brown sash that served as a belt that held his own sword close to his body. His hair was unkempt, as if he had done some fighting, and his eyes kept flickering to the girl in blue.
Gippal, Buddy and Sha'ra stopped and bowed, then the three did the same. The party was quickly moved inside to a conference area. After Gippal had the room cleared of guards, the Sultan sat at the head of a long table. The boy-guard, sat on one side, and the blue-clad girl sat on his other. Gippal, Buddy and Brother sat in the same fashion. Gippal, smiled at the girl in blue, who turned her head away to the man across from her, making her long braid flick over her shoulder. Gippal grinned, then pressed his fingertips together and smiled at the Sultan.
"So, tonight the final correspondence will commence for the betterment of Spira, correct?" Gippal asked with a smile. He asked the question, but his tone was commanding. This WOULD be the last meeting. The Sultan had held out 4 years too long, costing it's people more lives and more and more of the world slid away, for whatever lay beyond the Cave of Wonders was merely sand, and sand cannot hold together on it's own.
Yes..." The Sultan said slowly.
"Father..." Princess Jasmine interjected, narrowing her eyes at Gippal. The blonde smiled as innocently as possible. She turned to face her father again, but he nodded.
"Jasmine is worried about the agreement between our worlds, just like me," the youth burst out. The Sultan tried to calm both with kind words and smiles, but Aladdin and Jasmine felt something was wrong.
"The agreement would not need to be like this if the Sultan had...listened to us previously." Gippal said carefully. "Now the measures are more desperate, and neither of our worlds can stand the loss of the other, and both are needed to rebuild our world."
"So, what do you need of us?" Jasmine snapped. The Sultan took his daughter's hand as the ground shook.
"Jasmine, you must not get angry! You left Hollow Bastion to make the shield for this conference. If you feel too much, then your shield will disappear and we may not be able to get you back!" the Sultan whispered hoarsely. Gippal smiled a bit at this, as if he heard 'be a good little girl'. Jasmine frowned, then closed her eyes. The ground stopped moving as her breathing calmed. Aladdin looked over at Jasmine, a bit worried, then smiled when she opened her eyes.
"Because of the dire situations, Sultan, Agrabah may need to house injured Al Bhed fighters, and the Cave of Wonders will provide metal for weapons and armor. Also, Agrabah will relinquish all governmental powers in the future Spira for protection against the Heartless and other enemies."
"So, for giving up everything we have, you'll protect us against a few Heartless?" Aladdin snapped, standing quickly and knocking his chair back. Buddy frowned and looked up at him.
"As I recall, you personally called upon the Al Bhed to rescue you, the palace guards and the Knights of Ramond from a small hoard of Heartless. The Knights were beyond rescue and you were treated for your wounds for a year, correct?" He asked. Aladdin frowned and balled his hands into fists.
"And didn't your Knights, Guards and yourselves outnumber the Heartless nearly 20 to 1?" Sha'ra asked. Aladdin sat down in his chair slowly. Agrabah was indeed weak after Sora left. In the palace's pride, they did not ask for his help until a majority of guards had perished fighting Kurt Ziza. After Sora left, new guards weren't trained as well or as fast as the previous ones, mostly because the youths had been killed fighting Heartless or taken and shaped into Shadows and Soldiers.
"Also," Gippal said, to add insult to injury, "your few fighters must battle with close range weapons, one on one. Didn't you tell me before, Aladdin, that you would not have made it through the Cave of Wonders if it weren't for Donald and Sora's magic to stretch across long distances to you enemies before they even detected you? Or was it a lie to make the KeyBlade wielder seem more mystical and legendary then before?" There was a moment of silence before Aladdin mumbled a 'no'. Gippal grinned and slapped his hands together.
--
The debate lasted hours, and it was dark when the Sultan finally signed the document, handing all of Agrabah to the hands of Gippal: sand, buildings, metal, and even people, all for the promise of protection.
"Ah...soon we'll be at our full, one hundred and ten percent strength with Agrabah in our hands!" Gippal crowed, leaning far back into his AirShip seat, kicking his feet up on a stool. The Hypello milled around, serving drinks and complimenting Gippal in their odd speech.
"You make Shpia shtrong, yesh?" asked one, wearing a green bow tie. Gippal drank his shot and handed it to the Hypello.
"Yes, yeah I will!" Gippal said, then laughed. Sha'ra rolled her eyes and went back to navigating the ship. After internally debating, Buddy went to sit with her. Other crew members, all Al Bhed, milled around the ship, drinking in their celebration. Buddy waved at them, then sat on the ground and rested his head on Sha'ra's arm. Irritated, she shoved him away.
"Just trying to be friendly..." he grumbled, turning to put his back towards her. He heard Sha'ra curse in Al Bhed.
"Don't you think it's wrong we are stripping an entire world of the few things it has? I mean, what do we need everything for?" she asked, only loud enough for Buddy to hear.
"We need to get as many allies as we can in case a war breaks out. That's what caused the Heartless to attack Spira in the first place: the War. If we make as many allies as we can, Nooj will make his peace with his allies and so will Baralai, then the three of them can settle any disputes between our 'pieces' and we can combine them again!"
"And how will our worlds join together?" Sha'ra snapped. "By melting all of the gold in the Cave of Wonders and using it as some sort of glue?" she snapped angrilly. Buddy sighed and shook his head and left.
– – – – – – – – – – –
Thanks to Kawaii Keiko for suggesting this chapter takes place in Agrabah.